Does the premise of Home Alone work?

Mr Trick

Mr Trick

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I know its family entertainment, but do you believe that the set up about the Parents going on holiday and leaving their child at home and then only noticing when on the plane could actually happen. Its made a bit more credible by the fact that its a massive family and they are all going and there's a million things to do, but I still don't quite buy it.
 
I think it's realistic. As a parent I imagine you're so glad to have some peace and quiet that your mind will happily accept it and wouldn't stop to question the reason for it.
 
I was watching a Siskel and Ebert review of it earlier and they think that all the slapstick stuff ruined the film and that it would have been more interesting if they had explored what a big deal it is for a child to be left home alone for the first time. Would have been a very different film of course and maybe not as a family friendly.
 
It's a classic the way it is. Just a very silly and over the top idea and something that most kids can relate to and enjoy when they watch it. It would be completely different if they changed the focus like that.
 
I do agree. I think maybe the audience isn't as broad working the way it does, but then there's nothing wrong with having a target audience. The second film was dumb though, you kind of lose the appeal of the first film when expending it to a big city.
 
The Bronze
The Bronze
Compared with the third and fourth it's a masterpiece!
Well, on a grim side of things I mean - there have been plenty of reports in the news about parents that are so stressed that they forget their infants in hot cars (leading to the child's death which is terrible and I'm not sure how you could live with a guilt like that) so if we're talking realism then sure, under certain circumstances I'm sure a child could be forgotten in that way.

What's a bit of a stretch to me is that they wouldn't discover it later at the airport, but I suppose that wouldn't be impossible either. Stress can really mess with your mind.
 
Well, depends on the parents I guess, some parents have shown to be incredibly irresponsible when it comes to children.
 
Taake said:
Well, on a grim side of things I mean - there have been plenty of reports in the news about parents that are so stressed that they forget their infants in hot cars (leading to the child's death which is terrible and I'm not sure how you could live with a guilt like that) so if we're talking realism then sure, under certain circumstances I'm sure a child could be forgotten in that way.

What's a bit of a stretch to me is that they wouldn't discover it later at the airport, but I suppose that wouldn't be impossible either. Stress can really mess with your mind.
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Yeah I think that is just a movie thing to make it more dramatic that it doesn't dawn on the mother unit she's on the plane. Then again the longer you go without noticing the longer it might take you, if you see what I mean?
 
Forgetting a child in a moment of stress? Sure, I'd believe that.

It's the incredibly resilient-to-damage burglars that I don't credit. Those guys should've been dead ten times over and little Kevin should've been put in an institute for building various fatally damaging traps.

I mean, if we're talking about being realistic- otherwise its just a knockabout comedy. 🙂
 
Mr Trick said:
I was watching a Siskel and Ebert review of it earlier and they think that all the slapstick stuff ruined the film and that it would have been more interesting if they had explored what a big deal it is for a child to be left home alone for the first time. Would have been a very different film of course and maybe not as a family friendly.
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I'm sure that's the opposite of what the studio/exec producers wanted the film to be about though.

As for leaving a child behind, I'd have no excuse for that since I only have the one!
 
thetopher said:
Forgetting a child in a moment of stress? Sure, I'd believe that.

It's the incredibly resilient-to-damage burglars that I don't credit. Those guys should've been dead ten times over and little Kevin should've been put in an institute for building various fatally damaging traps.

I mean, if we're talking about being realistic- otherwise its just a knockabout comedy. 🙂
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Something tells me he would get off on self-defence😀 But it is those scenes which really appeal to the children and maybe not so much to the adults. For that reason I'm not sure I see it as a great family film.
 
A little off-topic here, but allegedly John Hughes' original concept for Home Alone 3 involved Harry and Marv being released from jail and moving to the suburbs with their own families, only for Kevin to return and exact his revenge. I assume at that point we'd have been meant to sympathize with them rather than Kevin.
 
Samuel Reyes said:
A little off-topic here, but allegedly John Hughes' original concept for Home Alone 3 involved Harry and Marv being released from jail and moving to the suburbs with their own families, only for Kevin to return and exact his revenge. I assume at that point we'd have been meant to sympathize with them rather than Kevin.
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Possibley. It sounds a little out there to me, but at least it would have been doing something different with it.
 
Well moving it to NY and having it take place in the open totally defeats the purpose. I think it was a one movie deal.
 
The second movie I think they just wanted it to take place in NY around Christmas time. To make it more of a family movie. The fact that the same villains are there was a bit ridiculous though.
 
Something similar happened to me when I was a kid. My whole family went to a church homecoming. When it came time to leave, my parents thought that I was in my grandmother's car. They didn't know until they got home. Not exactly the same situation, certainly, but close enough to illustrate that such a thing actually could happen, especially on an airplane, where groups don't always sit together, and may not even board at the same time.

It's been a long time since I saw that movie, so I don't recall the exact circumstances as to why and how the boy got left behind, but I think that at least that part of the story is possible. Him living alone all that time, when all that the parents would have had to do would have been to pick up a phone and call friends, relatives, or even the Police Department to check and see if he were at home, highly unlikely.
 
white avenger said:
Something similar happened to me when I was a kid. My whole family went to a church homecoming. When it came time to leave, my parents thought that I was in my grandmother's car. They didn't know until they got home. Not exactly the same situation, certainly, but close enough to illustrate that such a thing actually could happen, especially on an airplane, where groups don't always sit together, and may not even board at the same time.

It's been a long time since I saw that movie, so I don't recall the exact circumstances as to why and how the boy got left behind, but I think that at least that part of the story is possible. Him living alone all that time, when all that the parents would have had to do would have been to pick up a phone and call friends, relatives, or even the Police Department to check and see if he were at home, highly unlikely.
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They do actually do that during one point of the film, but I think he is too scared to answer the door or something like that. Can't remember now.
 
Mr Trick said:
They do actually do that during one point of the film, but I think he is too scared to answer the door or something like that. Can't remember now.
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My mistake, then, but it's been years since I saw the movie, and the main thing that I remember about it was how stupid the would be burglars were and what a twisted, diabolical mind that kid must have had. He probably went into politics when he grew up.
 
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