Despite what my dad says, Home Alone is one of the essential Christmas movies. Macaulay Culkin was born to play Kevin McCallister (if, perhaps, for little else), who in the original kid-boobytraps-house-to-outwit-criminals tale is the perfect blend of precocious and likable. The movie fires on every facet: deftly delivering comedy both physical and character-driven, conjuring the best of suburban Christmastime, an utterly charming and believable cast, integrating an authentic pain and sadness, and a family love that pays off cathartically in the end.
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