25 Greatest Christmas Films: #8 — ‘Home Alone’ (1990)

by John Nolte

His remake might have proved they can’t make ‘em like Miracle on 34th Street anymore, but nearly twenty years later, Home Alone proves they can’t make ‘em like John Hughes anymore. The Hughes canon increases in stature with each passing year and will long outlive the likes of today’s Judd Apatows because the Midwestern-raised Hughes was a genius at crafting the simplest of plots, keeping them moving, and dropping into them sympathetic and memorable characters we relate to. Characters who themselves were frequently the products  — not of lofty Manhattan or some other trendy city –  but Midwestern small towns and suburbs populated with ice rinks and churches and beautiful homes filled with good and decent people (not the Wheelers and Lester Burnham).

UP IN THE AIR

With an eye for physical comic comedy a Keaton or Chaplin could appreciate, Christopher Columbus does a fine job directing but this perennial holiday favorite and surprise box-office smash ($486 million domestic in today’s dollars) is through and through a John Hughes film. Not just in the sense that he produced and wrote the screenplay (which happens to be one of the best structured of the last two decades), but that his unique sensibility is all over it; from the perfect amount of sentiment to a genius understanding that no matter how big or small the role, a movie is always better for the presence of John Candy.

With all the tired, flat overlong comedies released every year (The Hangover being a recent exception), you have to appreciate the belly laughs Hughes crafts without ever letting the effort show. Honest-to-goodness bent over, feet-off-the-floor belly laughs. This too was Hughes’ genius. He understood that great comedies had to have something more than set-up/punchline — gross-out gag/filthy word — that they created a rolling laughter with one laugh built upon the other. This is why Home Alone is as funny the first time as the twentieth (not to mention Planes Trains and Automobiles, Vacation and Uncle Buck.)

Great comedy also comes from character, not just situation, and what delightful Wile E. Coyotes Harry and Marv (the perfectly cast Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) make to eight year-old Kevin’s (Macaulay Culkin in a piece of once-in-a-generation casting) Roadrunner. No matter how many times I watch, no matter that I know every beat of the story, by the time the tarantula lands on Marv’s face and he screams like a girl, I am convulsing on the floor.

UP IN THE AIR

And then there’s the heart, the great big beating John Hughes heart wrapping all the mayhem and silliness around the very simple theme of what it means to be family. Of course, young Kevin comes to learn this through his own experience, but the real kicker comes from the subplot with the old man next store (Robert Blossoms). You’re intentionally led to forget all about that plot thread until it hits with a real tenderness at the very last second before the credits roll. One of my favorite moments in the film sets this up beautifully. A simple scene with Kevin and the old man sitting in a church as a children’s choid sings O’ Holy Night in the background. Using rollerblades as a metaphor for what you lose if you hesitate in life isn’t as trite as it sounds.

But first last and always, Home Alone is a Christmas film. From the beautiful production design, to the exquisite score, to a perfect choice in songs, to It’s a Wonderful Life in French, you are enveloped in the richness of the season.

John Hughes not only understood America and the everyday people who make it great, he liked us and respected us. He was one of us, after all, and although he died just this past summer, the loss of  his remarkable talent was immediately felt ten years ago when he made the wise decision to leave Hollywood and return the to real world.

SIDE NOTE: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” which is essentially a remake of the first but this time set in Manhattan. The Bird Lady is no substitute for the Old Man, but the Mighty Rob Schneider and the hilariously smarmy Tim Curry more than compensate. In the past, the sequel’s been included in my countdown, somewhere in the 20s, but since it could get a good word here, it seemed the logical one to pull and replace after seeing “Remember the Night” last year for the first time. 

Read the full countdown here.


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Posted Dec 18th 2009 at 6:41 am in Classic Hollywood, Film | 59 Comments