* * * ( out of 4 ) at first glance , it appears that the home alone movies are brainless slapstick intended for those with minds of 8-year olds . that's true of home alone 2 and i'd bet money that it's true of home alone 3 ( opening soon ) . but home alone actually has a lot going for it , and the cartoon slapstick doesn't get in the way . the mcalisters , all 15 of them , are going to france for the holidays . four adults and eleven kids are spending the night together before heading to the airport en masse . the littlest kid , kevin , is the victim of the older kids' cruelty . kevin's patience runs out when he learns that his plain-cheese pizza has already been eaten , and he's going to have to starve . he attacks his big bully brother buzz , who had been teasing him . the fight disrupts the already-chaotic dinner , spilling milk and soft drinks all over the table , a few cousins , and an uncle . the knee-jerk reaction is for everyone to blame kevin . nobody came to his rescue when he was being teased , but they all point their fingers when he fights back . the ultimate punishment comes from mom ( catherine o'hara ) who sends him up to the spare bedroom in the attic for the night . on his way up the stairs , he tells her that " families suck " and that he hopes never to see any of his family again . that night the power goes out , knocking out the alarm clocks , so the mcalisters wake up in a big hurry to get to the airport . in a surprisingly plausible setup , kevin is mistakenly accounted for , and the family heads off without him . it's interesting that , in a subtle way , his parents never noticed him missing because of their deliberate desire to separate themselves from their children . first they delegate the headcount to an older sibling , and second , they put all the kids in coach while they fly first class . they're two-thirds of the way across the atlantic before they realize they are missing a child . meanwhile , kevin believes that somehow his wish has come true . he's finally rid of his family ! life is a dream come true . he can jump on the beds , watch r-rated movies , eat gobs of ice cream and potato chips , and dig through his big brother's secret box . slowly , the novelty wears off and he settles into the mundane . he grooms himself , he does the laundry , he goes shopping ( " i bought some milk , eggs , and fabric softener " ) . he also starts to miss his family , not just for their company , but for the security they bring . the furnace in the basement is a scary monster , the old man next door is a snow-shovel murderer , and two crooks are trying to break into his house . macaulay culkin is cute but he isn't much of an actor . still , we can see that kevin's character grows , thanks to some good direction and editing . for example , acting has little to do with the emotional impact of the scene where kevin searches out a seasonal santa at night , just as " santa " is getting in his car . kevin asks the man to pass on his request - he wants his family back - to the real santa . he learned how to deal with the furnace . you turn on the lights and it's not so scary anymore . he goes to a church one evening and there he sees the snow-shovel murderer , who actually turns out to be a nice man . they talk about their fears and kevin learns that age alone does not make you less afraid . finally , in the last 20 minutes , kevin confronts his last fear - the bandits , head on ( literally ) . this last act is full of violent comedic slapstick , and after the movie's genuine dramatic setup , it is dessert . it's a lot of fun , and it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the movie . on the whole , home alone is a great holiday movie . john williams' original score has the sound and feel of holiday music without the disadvantage of being overplayed at the malls , and the christmas setting can put you in the mood for those family gatherings . but it does have its flaws . the smallest problem is that culkin doesn't act very well . as i said before , he is cute , but repeated viewings reveal more about how columbus covered himself than about culkin's insight into his character . the biggest problem is that during the cartoony coda , the villains threaten kevin's life about five times . instead of " i'm gonna get that kid " they say " i'm gonna kill that kid . " some might argue that the tone is the same , but i strongly disagree . mixing comedy with specific and viable threats of murder is a sociopathic faux-pas . i'll probably never see home alone 3 , and i wish i had skipped home alone 2 , but i do enjoy home alone almost every year . don't let your impressions of the others detract from the original , which has much more to offer than cartoon slapstick . check out more current movie reviews at <a href= " http : //www . indra . com/~mmapes/ " >http : //www . indra . com/~mmapes/</a> 
