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"HOME ALONE" (1990) (Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Minor Heavy *Mild Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy None Heavy None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild Minor Moderate Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Comedy: An 8-year-old boy must fend for himself and ward off some bumbling burglars when he's accidentally left home alone for several days. PLOT: 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (MACAULAY CULKIN) doesn't think he gets any respect. His siblings -- including older brother Buzz (DEVIN RATTRAY) -- think he's a doofus, as does his uncle Frank (GERRY BAMMAN). His parents, Kate (CATHERINE O'HARA) and Peter (JOHN HEARD), are too busy prepping for the family's vacation to Europe the following day, thus making Kevin wish they would all just disappear. He unexpectedly gets his wish the next morning when a rushed mix-up causes a neighbor kid to be counted for Kevin as the family races to the airport to catch their plane. Unbeknownst to any of them, they've accidentally left him home all alone. At first, he can't believe his good fortune of having his home and life to himself. Yet, the basement heater and creepy neighbor Old Man Marley (ROBERTS BLOSSOM) frighten him, as do two burglars, Harry (JOE PESCI) and Marv (DANIEL STERN), who's targeted his home. With the phone line out and the neighbors gone, Kate tries to make her way back home, eventually catching a ride with Gus Polinski (JOHN CANDY) and his polka band. As she does so, Kevin -- undeterred by the fact that he's a kid dealing with seasoned burglars -- decides to defend his home from them by setting elaborate booby traps, all while wishing his family would come back. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? It's a good bet many younger ones will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG The official reason was not available, but it's presumably for slapstick violence/comic action and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: MACAULAY CULKIN plays an 8-year-old who feels put upon and made fun of by the rest of his family and thus wishes they'd go away. When they accidentally leave him home alone, he acts up and goofs off, but eventually takes care of everyday chores as well as thwarting the efforts of two burglars who want to rob his house. He briefly uses a little profanity. JOE PESCI plays one of the burglars who becomes increasingly irritated by Kevin's booby traps that prevent them from robbing their home. DANIEL STERN plays his equally bumbling but more dimwitted partner in crime. CATHERINE O'HARA plays Kevin's mom who worries about him when they accidentally leave him home alone and then sets out to get back to him any way possible. ROBERTS BLOSSOM plays Kevin's senior citizen neighbor who initially scares him through reputation only, but turns out to be a lonely grandfather who's estranged from his family. JOHN HEARD plays Kevin's father. DEVIN RATTRAY plays Kevin's jerk of a brother who briefly uses profanity. GERRY BAMMAN plays Kevin's uncle who's just as mean to him as his siblings are. JOHN CANDY plays the leader of a polka band who gives a ride to Kate so that she can get back to Kevin. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG. Profanity consists of at least 1 "s" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are present. There's a brief comment about nude beaches, and an 8-year-old boy finds his brother's Playboy magazine (we only see the non-explicit cover) but tosses it aside after a brief and unimpressed look inside. All sorts of imitative behavior is present, ranging from acting wild while home alone to setting up various booby-traps to deal with burglars trying to gain entry to the house. While most of it's played for comedy, some of the slapstick style material gets a bit rough and some people are injured. Other struggling and hitting occurs, while footage from an old movie shows a gangster shooting another guy with a Tommy gun (done in an old-fashioned, non-graphic way). Some of those moments and various others may also be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to very young viewers, but probably few others. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some tense family material involves a kid feeling picked on and not appreciated, as well as a grandfather estranged from his family. Brief smoking and drinking occur. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Frank asks if the champagne in first class is free and then has some. A comment is made about drunken family members. BLOOD/GORE There's talk that Kevin's younger cousin wets the bed (but we never see that happen). We see Old Man Marley with a slightly bloody fabric of some sort wrapped around his hand (from an injury). Kevin spots him in a store and then runs away screaming. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Harry poses as a cop to find out when residents will be away from their homes so that he and Marv can break in and rob them. They then rob one place and repeatedly try to get into Kevin's home to rob it. Kevin's siblings and uncle (who calls him a little jerk) are mean to him. While mad at her for not taking his side, Kevin calls his mother a "dummy." Frank has his wife place the first class utensils in her bag during a flight. While looking at a picture of Buzz's girlfriend, Kevin jokingly states, "Woof!" We see Harry and Marv ransacking a place that they're robbing. Kevin inadvertently shoplifts when he runs out of a store (in fright from seeing Old Man Marley) carrying a toothbrush. He then eludes a police officer who chases after him (and falls on some ice) and later feels bad about taking the toothbrush. Marv stops up a sink and turns on the water in a house that he and Harry have just robbed (so that it floods). Kevin tells a white lie to a grocery store clerk about his situation. FRIGHTENING SCENES The following may be suspenseful or scary to very young viewers, but likely few others. Buzz tells Kevin and their younger cousin that Old Man Marley murdered half his family and others (as the three watch the old man outside at night with his snow shovel). He then says that they never found the bodies, but that the salt Marley uses turns the bodies into mummies (which scares the two kids). While in the basement, Kevin imagines the furnace coming on (glowing red hot) and then seeming to come to life (all as some suspenseful music plays on the soundtrack). This later happens again, but he tells it to stop and it does. As Kevin sleeps, the robbers try to get into his home (younger kids may find that suspenseful or scary), but Harry and Marv leave when Kevin turns on the lights (but he's then seen hiding under the bed). Kevin spots Old Man Marley on the sidewalk, screams and runs away. Buzz's pet tarantula gets on the loose. We see Old Man Marley with a slightly bloody fabric of some sort wrapped around his hand (from an injury). Kevin spots him in a store and then runs away screaming. Harry nearly drives into Kevin who's not looking where he's walking. Marv slowly (and initially unknowingly) steps down onto a nail with his bare foot (shown in agonizing detail). As Kevin tries to escape, Marv grabs him by the foot. In response, Kevin puts Buzz's tarantula on Marv's face. The robbers catch Kevin in another house, with Harry putting Kevin up on a hook off the floor. Old Man Marley suddenly arrives, however, and knocks out both robbers by hitting them on the head with his snow shovel. GUNS/WEAPONS Harry (posing as a cop) wears a sidearm. We see Buzz's BB rifle on the wall and Kevin later uses it doing some target practice of shooting small action figures. We see footage from an old movie on TV where a gangster shoots another man with a Tommy gun, presumably killing him (he falls, but there's no blood and it's all done in a very "old school" way). Kevin later plays this clip a few times as a joke and/or to scare away the robbers (we hear the gunfire). IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "He's just being a jerk," "Hang up the phone and make me why don't you?" "Dope," "You're an idiot," "Puke breath," "Shut up," "Les incompetent," "Babes," "Phlegm-wad," "If you were growing on my ass," "You moron," "You little jerk," "You're such a disease," "Shut up," "Scum," "Nuts" (crazy), "Dummy," "Families suck," "I hope I don't see any of you jerks again," "Hit the road," "Beat it," "Don't be a moron," "Get the hell out of here," "Your ugly, yellow, no good keister," "Keep the change, you filthy animal," "Wimp," "You're sick," "We're the wet bandits," "This time he caught it in the butt" (Buzz about Kevin being a jerk in his opinion), "Pain in the butt," "Egghead," "Where the hell am I?" "You little creep," "You morons," "You guys give up, or are you thirsty for more?" "Cajones" (testicles), "You jerk," "You big horse's ass" and "Shut it." Some kids briefly do some mock swashbuckling on the stairs. We see Buzz's BB rifle on the wall and Kevin later uses it doing some target practice of shooting small action figures. Realizing he's home alone, Kevin jumps up and down on a bed, runs around like a crazy kid and eats a ton of sweets. While looking at a picture of Buzz's girlfriend, Kevin jokingly states, "Woof!" We see footage from an old movie on TV where a gangster shoots another man with a Tommy gun, presumably killing him (he falls, but there's no blood and it's all done in a very "old school" way). Kevin later plays this clip a few times as a joke and/or to scare away the robbers (we hear the gunfire). Kevin slides down the stairs on a sled/toboggan, out the open front door, down the outside stairs and across the lawn. Kevin does lots of exaggerated screaming and related facial expressions. Kevin climbs up the wall shelving in Buzz's room trying to get to his hidden stash of cash, but the shelves collapse and crash to the floor. Marv stops up a sink and turns on the water in a house that he and Harry have just robbed (so that it floods). Kids may want to imitate various things that Kevin does, such as making the house look like there's a party going on (with moving figures, mannequins, etc.), loudly playing a movie on TV (with gunfire sounds) to scare away others and setting up his house with all sorts of booby-traps. The latter includes pouring water on the outside steps so that they become icy; placing a heating element on the doorknob so that it becomes red hot; and putting tar and then a shingle with the nail side up on stairs leading into the basement. He also prepares a fan with feathers to cover a person; sets up a blow torch to singe a person's head; leaves Christmas ornaments on the floor in front of a window so that someone might step on them with their bare feet; lets paint cans fly on ropes so that they hit people on the head; and more. Kevin puts firecrackers in a pot to accentuate the sound of Tommy gun fire on the TV. Kevin climbs up a ladder and cuts off the top of a tree with a saw to make a Christmas tree. Kevin rides a zip line from his house to a tree house, but is going too fast and his feet blast out through part of the makeshift wall. Harry and Marv then try to make their way across the wire, but Kevin cuts it and the two swing and slam back into the outside of the house. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film (albeit occasionally in somewhat of a comedy style). MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 "s" word, 6 hells, 2 damns, 1 ass, 1 crap and 1 incomplete S.O.B. SEX/NUDITY Buzz mentions something about French babes and then nude beaches. Kevin finds a copy of Playboy magazine in Buzz's trunk (we briefly see the cover that isn't explicit). He briefly looks through it, but is unimpressed and then tosses it aside. SMOKING A miscellaneous guy (dressed as Santa) briefly smokes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Kevin's siblings and uncle (who calls him a little jerk) are mean to him. While mad at her for not taking his side, Kevin calls his mother a "dummy." Kevin thinks that his family hates him and hopes that they'll all disappear. Old Man Marley tells Kevin that he (Old Man Marley) isn't welcome with his son due to a previous argument, that they haven't spoken since, and that he has to sneak off to see his granddaughter. Kevin tells him that he should call his son, and we later see that he apparently did, as they're all back together and happy. A polka guy mentions that one band member has never met his own kid. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Getting along with family members (Kevin thinks that his family hates him and hopes that they'll all disappear). What to do if you're left home alone. How kids shouldn't imitate what Kevin does (regardless of whether the adults or burglars or not), particularly regarding the booby traps and such. To call the police if someone tries to break into your home. VIOLENCE Almost all of the following is played for comedy. A pizza delivery guy does some wild/erratic driving and then runs over a small lawn statue. He later does this again. Kevin suddenly rushes and attacks the much larger Buzz when mad at him (and they knock over some things in the kitchen while struggling). We see footage from an old movie on TV where a gangster shoots another man with a Tommy gun, presumably killing him (he falls, but there's no blood and it's all done in a very "old school" way). Kevin later plays this clip a few times as a joke and/or to scare away the robbers (we hear the gunfire). Kevin climbs up the wall shelving in Buzz's room trying to get to his hidden stash of cash, but the shelves collapse and crash to the floor. We see Harry and Marv ransacking a place that they're robbing. Kevin shoots Harry in the crotch with a BB gun and then shoots Marv in the face. The following occurs in a slapstick fashion. Harry slips on ice-covered steps and falls hard on them. Marv then does the same and is then hit on the head with a crowbar. Harry then falls down the icy steps again. A hot iron lands on Marv's head from a laundry chute above him. Harry burns his hand on a red hot doorknob. Marv slowly (and initially unknowingly) steps down onto a nail with his bare foot (shown in agonizing detail). A blow torch singes Harry's hat and hair. Marv steps on Christmas ornaments with his bare feet. Harry and Marv fall to the floor and are then hit on the head with paint cans that swing down toward them and knock them off their feet. Harry falls over a tripwire and then hits Marv hard with a crowbar while trying to strike a tarantula that's on him. Marv does some damage to a door frame while trying to pry the door open with a crowbar. Kevin rides a zip line from his house to a tree house, but is going too fast and his feet blast out through part of the makeshift wall. Harry and Marv then try to make their way across the wire, but Kevin cuts it and the two swing and slam back into the outside of the house. The robbers catch Kevin in another house, with Harry putting Kevin up on a hook off the floor. Old Man Marley suddenly arrives, however, and knocks out both robbers by hitting them on the head with his snow shovel. Harry kicks Marv. Reviewed July 24, 2004 / Posted July 26, 2004