Movie Critic Hum/150
6/6/2016

The film I chose to critique this week is the classic family comedy Home Alone (1990) directed by Chris Columbus. Leading actors in this film is eight year old Kevin McCallister played by Macaulay Culkin, along with Peter McCallister, the father, played by John Heard, Mrs. McCallister played by Catherine O’Hara, Marv, who is the first burglar, played by Daniel Stern, and Harry, the other burglar played by Joe Pesci. Other characters in this film are Buzz the brother, mean Uncle Frank, and creepy old man Marley. The title of the film hints to the audience that someone is home alone, but the viewer does not know what happens in the story until watching the film, which makes it more interesting. This film is about a large family who gets together for a Christmas trip to Paris, but the night before they leave there is a wind storm, which knocks out all of the power, which means their alarm clock does not go off, and they sleep in. This puts them in a mad rush to get to the airport, in turn leaving Kevin behind, and the rest continue on to a fun family adventure.

One part of a filmmaker’s goal among others is to create the right mood through a believable mise-en-scene; different settings that took place in Home Alone were McCallister’s home, the airport, inside the airplane, church, a grocery store, the tree house, and Santa exhibit. The two filming locations used in this film were in Chicago, Illinois, and in Paris, France. This film mostly consisted of realistic settings, revealing the character of each individual. In the beginning of the film, without any subjects or words, I could tell a little about the subjects and background because of the way the filmmakers arranged the scene. They showed McCallister’s neighborhood full of snow and houses decorated in Christmas lights that told me it took place in the winter and during the holiday season. The McCallister home was also very large with several windows and rooms that told me they may be wealthy, especially as the year was 1990.

I thought the actors fit this film perfect. The acting they conveyed is credible and they definitely bring their characters to life. It was not just about their acting, but I thought they each connected with each of their names too such as Marv, Harry, Peter, mean Uncle Frank, and especially Kevin. The subject’s appearance added even more to their roles, such as Harry and Marv wearing dark color clothing, fuzzy curly hair on Marv with a beard creating a dirty look, some gloves, and Harry with his gold tooth with his beanie. They fit the typical burglar stereotype of the time perfectly. The settings and subjects were filmed with good spacing throughout the film, even with most of the film taking place at the McCallister’s home.

Editing was appropriate for Home Alone (1990). I think the editing process is what will make or break any film. The appropriate music was added where it needed to be added, such as when the family are in a hurry running in the airport trying to make their flight. The viewer can hear their steps, chattering, and the music playing “Run run Rudolph…” making the viewer believe the adventure and feel the time constraint. The time of this film was appropriate as well, long enough to tell its story and get its message across but not too long where the viewer gets bored or zones out. The camera shots and angles were all well done. Sometimes it was from the subject’s point of view to other angles facing the subject. The scene transition to another was smooth and made sense. It was long enough to have a scene with Kevin being home alone, to what the burglars were planning to do as well as going back to the family and the parents showing what they are doing.

The sounds used in this film were effective. The different sounds made by objects and people enhanced the director’s intention for every scene. These sounds make the viewer more involved in every scene as well as more intrigued to see what will happen next. The art that was portrayed in the movie showed the comic side to a bad situation that can happen to anyone. I feel this is the ultimate family movie how it displays a mischievous child that got his wish to get rid of his family and how his crazy antics helped him save his home for his family that he eventually missed. The meaning to the movie for me is that we all want to eliminate ourselves from our families but at the end of the day they are the ones that love us and we can't live without them. All my nieces and nephews love this movie I recommend this as a good family night for laughs and entertainment. A clean yet informative film that will keep your kids on their toes. In my eyes this movie gets 5 out of 5 stars I loved it.
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