KEVIN! 33 years ago, the McCallister family entered our lives and left us at home in Chicago while they were ratting in some apartment in Paris. Although not initially received particularly well, Home Alone has since become a classic, and remains a staple of the Christmas movie-watching season across the globe.1 In fact, it remains my favorite movie of all time, to this day. Not my favorite Christmas movie, but my favorite movie of all time. There is so much that works in this movie – the casting, the slapstick humor, the physical comedy, the soundtrack, the set pieces – but let’s start with the most basic of all, the premise.
John Hughes made a name for himself by creating some of the most iconic coming-of-age films of the 20th century, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He also wrote other classics like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, Beethoven, Dennis the Menace, Miracle on 34th Street, and 101 Dalmatians. The idea for Home Alone came when Hughes was packing for a family vacation: “I was going away on vacation, and making a list of everything I didn’t want to forget. I thought, ‘Well, I’d better not forget my kids.’ Then I thought, ‘What if I left my 10-year-old son at home? What would he do?'”2 The concept is simple, and the execution was perfect – throwing in the wrench of every child’s fear of home invaders adds the extra spice that the movie needs to keep the attention of viewers of all ages, from start to finish. One thing you begin to appreciate after you’ve watched the movie as many times as I have (I believe the number is close to, if not over, thirty full times), is that Kevin never understands that his family forgot him at home. He wakes up thinking that his wish for his family to disappear has come true, and we see evidence that he continues to believe that this happened throughout the movie: asking Santa for his family back, going to church because he feels guilty for wishing his family away, and promising the picture of his family that he will be better to them if they re-appear. It’s a genius detail that shows the pure innocence of Kevin, while still hitting home the emotional lesson of being kinder to your family, because it’s the only one you’ve got. None of this comes together, though, without the amazing cast that was put together.
Macaulay Culkin and John Hughes had worked together in 1989 on Uncle Buck, and Culkin was suggested to director Chris Columbus to play the lead role. After seeing over 200 other actors, Columbus decided that Culkin was indeed the best fit for the role. Speaking at his recent Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, co-star Catherine O’Hara pointed out the ease at which Culkin played the role of Kevin: “I know you worked really hard. I know you did,” she said. “But you made acting look like the most natural thing in the world to do. It really was as if we had ambushed the home of this real little boy named Kevin to make a movie and he just went along with it for the fun of it. It’s the dearest thing.” It is quite remarkable how Culkin is able to make us feel sympathy and love for him for nearly the entire movie, right after he viciously berates his mother by telling her “I don’t want to see you again for the rest of my whole life. And I don’t want to see anybody else either.”3
Surprisingly enough, Joe Pesci wasn’t the first choice to play Harry – the role was first offered to Robert De Niro and then Jon Lovitz, who both turned it down. I for one cannot imagine this movie with anyone other than Pesci, but I think Lovitz was absolutely the wrong call to have played this role – it required someone who carried themselves like a macho alpha male, that ended up being a bit of a dope. Lovitz is too much of a fun-loving, in-your-face dopey kind of actor, where nobody would’ve have taken him seriously. Pesci, on the other hand, was coming off of the best performance of his career in Goodfellas, where he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Tommy DeVito. Pesci even believed himself to be “above” the role, and was said to be more difficult to work with on set than anyone else. He even got the call-times pushed back to 9am so that he could continue to get in his daily nine holes of golf in the morning before going to set. If you’ve ever wondered why Pesci’s character uses “menacing gibberish” throughout the film, it was due to his difficulty of refraining from cursing not only in the movie, but on set altogether, since Culkin was present on set as well. The way Pesci is able to carry himself throughout the movie isn’t much different than how he does in Goodfellas: I’m better than you, I’m a tough guy, I know best, and I am the best at what I do. His co-conspirator, played by Daniel Stern, was another slam dunk choice. The level of physical comedy that both of them are able to achieve (along with their stuntmen) is so crucial to the climax of the film, and they deserve a lot of the credit for the success of the film.
Getting back to the character of Kevin McCallister, I wanted to briefly touch on the absolute nightmare of his life at home. It is no wonder that the kid hates his family and is constantly talking about living alone and wishing his family would disappear. His siblings are constantly bullying him, his cousins can’t stand him, his uncle is borderline mentally and verbally abusive to him and his parents view him as nothing more than an inconvenience. Here are some of the insults lobbed at him within the span of thirty real-time minutes by his family (the people who are supposed to love you the most):
- Kevin, you’re such a disease.
- You know, Kevin, you’re what the French call “les incompétents.”
- I wouldn’t let you sleep in my room if you were GROWING ON MY ASS.
- Look what you did, you little jerk.
- There are 15 people in this house and you’re the only one who has to make trouble.
- (After Kevin asks if anyone ordered cheese pizza) Yeah we did, but if you want any someone’s gonna have to barf it all up cuz’ it’s gone.
As a quick sidenote, who orders ten pizzas, with at least five of them having olives on them?! That’s a red flag if I’ve ever seen one. Anyways, let’s now talk about arguably the most underappreciated part of this entire movie: the music.
When you think of some of the greatest film composers of all time, you think of John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, Ludwig Göransson, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and more.4 Each of them have some credits to them that you’ve probably forgotten, or never even knew about. Hans Zimmer has Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and The Lion King, Ludwig Göransson has Community and New Girl, and John Williams has Home Alone. Director Chris Columbus initially planned to bring in Bruce Broughton to score the film – you may recognize his work from Hawaii Five-O or Dallas, but he hadn’t contributed too many well-known movie scores. Columbus talked about Broughton needing to leave and John Williams signing on in an interview with EW in 20155: “…as we were getting closer to finishing the film we got a call from Bruce saying that he was under a deadline to finish his score for The Rescuers Down Under and he couldn’t do Home Alone. So we were left without a composer. I had known Steven Spielberg for years … Steven got me in touch with John Williams’ agent, and John agreed to screen the film and he fell in love with it. His score took the movie to a different level.” I couldn’t agree more – the movie does great with any other composer, but John Williams brings the same energy to Home Alone that he did to Star Wars and Jurassic Park. It elevates the movie to another stratosphere and, coupled with the brilliant soundtrack, creates one of the most memorable Christmas movie soundtracks of all-time. One of my favorite nuances about the main overture is that there is a tinge of mystery and darkness to it. It reminds us that none of the characters in the movie are particularly redeemable, and all have a dark side to them.
We also need to talk about the movie’s signature original song, “Somewhere in My Memory.” At first listen, it seems to be a lovely, cute song about Christmastime – you might not even really know any of the lyrics to it. But when you actually listen to what is being said, it evokes something entirely different. It’s about someone who only has Christmas joy in their memory; it isn’t present anymore, it only lives on in their head. Couple that with the subjective narrator being Kevin McCallister, and it turns into a heart-wrenching plea from a young boy to get to experience Christmas cheer with his family once more. “Somewhere in my memory / Christmas joy’s all around me / Living in my memory / All of the music, all of the magic / All of the family home here with me.” Ugh. So sad.
On a lighter note, can we talk about what exactly it is that Peter McCallister’s brother, Rob, does for a living? He works for a company that is large enough to have an office in Paris which he was transferred to, which also means they have quite a large international presence. We learn in Home Alone: Lost in New York that he also owns a three-story Brownstone in the Upper West Side, one of the most expensive places to live in the USA. He pays for fifteen people to fly from Chicago to Paris, with four of them being first-class tickets. As of right now, that would cost around $47,500. On top of that, he lives in a penthouse apartment in the heart if Paris, as we can see the Eiffel Tower in clear view from their living room window. Lest we forget that Peter and Kate McCallister themselves aren’t doing too bad themselves, owning a 10-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 5,400 square-foot house in the suburbs of Chicago that is currently valued at $2.38 million.
Before we move on to the categories, I thought it would be fun to take a quick look at the injuries sustained by Harry and Marv throughout their night in the house of horrors. According to trauma surgeon Annie Onishi and Internist Diego Ponieman, here are their diagnoses for the Wet Bandits:
- Harry falls on the front steps: Broken ribs (plus potential hemopneumothorax and splenic laceration), herniated disks, deep tissue bruising
- Marv gets hit with an iron: Axial loading injury, probable concussion and potential orbital fracture (plus coup-Contrecoup injury as well as brain bleeding)
- BB Gun to the head and groin: minor pain/injuries sustained
- Harry gets his hand branded: second-degree burns
- Marv steps on a nail: puncture would, high likelihood of infection
- Harry has his head barbecued: first degree burns
- Harry gets dressed like a chicken: high likelihood of burn wound contamination
- Marv steps on multiple glass ornaments: major pain, no lasting effects
- Paint cans to the face: hangman’s fracture, whiplash, broken ribs, soft tissue damage, probable concussion, broken nose, fractured skull
- Crowbar to the chest: bruised/lacerated organs, cracked ribs, internal bleeding
- Rope to treehouse being cut: muscular tears from deceleration injuries
- Shovels to the head by Old Man Marley: herniation, epidural hematoma, concussion
- All told, we are looking at a potential total of 85 distinct injuries
With that in mind, let’s head to the categories!
By the Numbers:
- Budget: $18 million
- Box office: $476.7 million6
- Run time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
- Letterboxd rating: 3.8 ★
- My Letterboxd rating: 4.5 ★
- Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
- Accolades – 16 total nominations, 10 total wins
- Two Academy Award nominations, zero wins (Best Original Score, Best Original Song)
- Two Golden Globe nominations, zero wins (Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy [Macaulay Culkin])
Best Scene
We don’t need to beat around the bush – it’s the climax of the movie! For about twenty or so minutes, we are treated to a masterclass in physical comedy that proves, sometimes watching people get hurt is funny. We get Pesci trying his best not to curse, Stern playing the bumbling crook who never looks where he is walking, and Culkin laughing all the way. The argument here should really be, which part of this scene is specifically the best. My vote goes to the section where they are working their way upstairs – we get the hot wheels set up at the bottom of the stairs, the paints cans to the head, Harry losing his gold tooth, and most importantly, the scream heard ’round the world. If you asked my dad, he would say it is the best scream in movie history. This entire scene is where the movie kicks it into sixth gear for me – they dial up the slapstick and the pacing is perfect. We never dwell on a specific booby trap for too long, but we get just enough of each of them to get a good laugh out of it.
What’s Aged the Best
This is going to sound weird, but the movie itself has aged the best, and let me explain: outside of the sequel, Home Alone: Lost in New York, every installment afterwards gets progressively worse. From the third movie onward, they continue to prove why the original is the best, and that sometimes leaving it be is the best thing for the franchise7 (even though this shouldn’t have even turned into a franchise). The house itself, along with Chicago at Christmastime, has aged wonderfully – the house is iconic and everyone recognizes it, while something about a cold city with trees and lights and decorations just feels best represented by Chicago (or New York). The stunts have aged really well, too. After you’ve watched the movie a few times, you know exactly what is coming around every corner, but it still makes you laugh. John Hughes knowing exactly how every one of us would act as an eight year old left to their own devices is great too – rummage through your siblings stuff, shoot a BB gun in the house, jump on the bed, eat nothing but ice cream and marshmallows, and watch a movie you don’t actually want to, but were always told you couldn’t, so now you’re watching it. It’s spot on! At the end of the day though, I think the casting is what has aged the best for me. I can’t imagine anyone else playing any of the main roles, including even the smaller roles like Old Man Marley or Peter McCallister. Everyone fits the bill perfectly and makes for the perfect comedy movie.
What’s Aged the Worst
I honestly can’t really think of much – and that is probably owed to the fact that I love this movie more than anything else, and am looking through rose-tinted glasses. You could definitely make the case for the CPD aging pretty badly here: they don’t do any digging to find out why this woman calling from Paris wants a cop to go check on her son who is home alone. If you work at dispatch and get that call, I feel like you should probably be following up with, “Hey, why do we need to go and check on your son? Do you think he is in danger? How old is he?” Something along those lines. And then the cop who finally goes to the house, knocks on the door twice and hits us with this zinger: “There’s no one home, the house looks secure…tell ’em to count their kids again.” Thank you for your service, officer. They definitely just mis-counted their kids.
The Jason Clarke Award
I may get some flak for this one, but I feel like the answer is John Heard? I never remember his name, and I know I’ve seen him in other movies and TV shows, and I always know him as “the dad from Home Alone.” Some of you out there probably know him as John Heard, the guy from Big or Cutter’s Way or even The Sopranos. But I just know him as the dad from Home Alone. Other than that, I either know who everyone is, or I’ve never seen them in anything else.
The Jack Nicholson Award
This category is fairly loaded with options. So much so, that I’m actually going to list them all here and then we can talk about who wins it.
- Roberts Blossom as Old Man Marley
- Devin Ratray as Buzz McCallister
- Gerry Bamman as Uncle Frank
- John Candy as Gus Polinski
- Kieran Culkin as Fuller
- Jeffrey Wiseman as Mitch Murphy
- Ralph Foody as Johnny (from Angels with Filthy Souls)
- Ken Hudson Campbell as Santa Claus
They all offer so much, and most of them have incredibly limited screen time. Old Man Marley probably has the most of all of them, but I think he is just a little too pivotal to the storyline to truly qualify for this, and the same goes for Buzz. Jeffrey Wiseman playing the neighbor’s kid who just won’t shut up is so great, and he is in and out in less than five minutes. It’s a tight race for everyone, but I have to go with John Candy here. Not only is he hilarious, and pretty iconic at the time to just be making a small cameo like this, but the story behind his appearance makes him even more worthy of the award. As legend has it, Candy was available for one day only to shoot his scenes, which ended up taking 23 hours in total to shoot. Not only that, but he appeared in the movie as a favor to John Hughes, so he was paid a whopping $414 for his services. Since he had a good rapport with Hughes, he was the only character in the movie who didn’t have a single line written for him – that’s right, every single line from John Candy in this movie was improvised! Give that man the award!
The Roger Deakins Award
This is an interesting one…with this being a family comedy, they aren’t setting out to dazzle you with establishing crane shots or wide angles of a landscape. It’s the little things for this movie that make you appreciate cinematographer Julio Macat. You can make the case for some of the shots of Winnetka, but there really isn’t anything too memorable about them. The one scene I will give honorary mention to is the scene in O’Hare where they are running to their gate. According to Senta Moses, who plays Tracy McCallister, that was one of the most difficult scenes to shoot8: “There were thousands of extras, all expertly choreographed so none of us would be in danger running at full speed through the American Airlines terminal … And we ran at full speed. Sometimes we’d bump into each other, like a multi-car pileup on the expressway, and just crack up laughing … There were so many setups and narrowly missed moments of disaster, but to my knowledge, no one got hurt.”
Instead, this award is going to the way they shot basically the entire movie – with low, wide angles, as if they were being perceived by a child. Did you ever notice when watching this film, that you never really see how short Kevin McCallister is? There are a handful of shots where you see his fully body next to the full body of an adult, but most of the movie is shot looking straight at Kevin, and looking up at everything else, as though you were watching it through the lens of an eight-year-old. Pretty cool stuff, which helps subconsciously but you in Kevin’s shoes for the whole movie and really feel like you are experiencing it along with him.
Conclusion
I love this movie with my whole heart. It makes me smile every time I watch it, and I can quote the entire thing from memory (just ask my parents or my partner, I think it sometimes annoys them to watch it with me). Macaulay Culkin turned into a bona fide superstar because of this movie, John Hughes continued to establish himself as the king of family movies set in Chicago, and John Williams reminded us why he is often considered the greatest film composer of all time. It’s an absolute treat to watch this movie every December, and I highly recommend you add it to your holiday traditions as well. And just remember, you can be too old for a lot of things, but you’re never too old to be afraid. Happy Holidays!
- I say globe and not just the USA, because it has become an absolute necessity in places like Poland. The film is broadcast on TV there every Christmas eve, with about 12% of the entire population tuning in. ↩︎
- https://web.archive.org/web/20190519015208/http://time.com/4105161/home-alone-1990/ ↩︎
- During her speech at his Walk of Fame ceremony, O’Hara also revealed the trouble she had in delivering her lines: “The scene where I had to drag him upstairs to sleep in the attic ‘cause he’d misbehaved, he’s mouthing off about the family and I say, ‘Well, you’d be pretty sad if you woke up tomorrow morning and you had no family,’ and he says, ‘No, I wouldn’t.’ And I was supposed to say, ‘Then say it again – maybe it’ll happen.’ I can’t tell you how much that killed me – I could not wrap my head around saying something so horrific to this beautiful child.” ↩︎
- Can we start spotlighting more female composers, by the way? If you do a Google search for “greatest film composers”, a list of forty-eight names pop up. All forty-eight are males. ↩︎
- https://ew.com/article/2015/11/06/home-alone-turns-25-chris-columbus/ ↩︎
- By the time the film had run its course in theaters, Home Alone was the third-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, as well as in the United States and Canada behind only Star Wars ($322 million at the time) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($399 million at the time), according to the home video box. ↩︎
- Daniel Stern was offered to reprise his role as Marv in the fourth Home Alone movie, but shot it down, “believing the script to be an insult to the original motion picture.” ↩︎
- https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/home-alone-at-30-actress-recalls-disgusting-pizza-sprinting-through-ohare-and-pescis-annoying-gold-tooth-4092064/ ↩︎
