The McAllisters are heading to France for their Christmas break, but in the ensuing confusion and panic trying to get to the airport on time, they forget one thing – their youngest child Kevin (Macaulay Culkin, UNCLE BUCK)
Left to fend for himself in the house, he becomes aware of two hapless burglars (Joe Pesci, GOODFELLAS, Daniel Stern, BLUE THUNDER) keen to claim what they want from those who aren’t available, but is equally intimidated by an elderly neighbour (Roberts Blossom), who scares him.
The burglars plan their attack on the McAllister house, but Kevin is ready, creating all manner of devices to try and repel them….
For the majority of HOME ALONE’s duration, this is a standard Christmas film and as high concept as they come (what if a kid was left behind in a house to fend for himself?), but it is well worth watching for the climactic battle between Kevin and the thieves, which plays out like a classic Looney Tunes cartoon (repeated in BABY’S DAY OUT, another fun kids film in which a baby instead of a kid is the catalyst for prat-falls all over!)
This was Culkin’s biggest hit of all time and played off the appeal he had in UNCLE BUCK – and led to an even bigger hit, HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK. However, it is Pesci and Stern who have the fun moments and laugh-out-loud reveals.