#3 Home Alone

Joseph Unger ’15
Placing in 3^rd on our list is everyone’s favorite 90’s Christmas comedy featuring neglectful parents in charge of a dysfunctional group of kids who all have no sense of time when a trying to catch a flight.
Home Alone follows the misadventures of Kevin McCalister during the days approaching Christmas who is left ‘home alone’ by accident after his family leaves on a flight to Paris to visit their relatives.  As he spends time alone, Kevin carries on taking care of the house as if he were an adult while still maintaining his innocence.  Meanwhile, two bumbling house robbers peruse the neighborhood raiding the empty houses and attempting to rob the McCalister house.
The reason this falls at 3 on our list is its ability to fulfill the needs of all viewers during the Christmas season.  On the child level, this acts as a fun movie about a kid who nonchalantly deals with being in charge of a house for several days over break.  On the teen/adult level, there are many subtle jokes hidden throughout the movie such as the shaving cream bit and the magazine bit.  Additionally all viewers will enjoy the slapstick humor that is throughout the movie especially as the burglars our outsmarted by Kevin.   Most importantly in my opinion is its ability to deliver a wholesome message to viewers that doesn’t involve any cheesy monologues on the part of the main characters.  In this case, the movie deals with the fears of adulthood that a child.
This movie is a must see for the holiday season no matter how many times you have watched it.
(Just stay away from the four sequels; well maybe watch the second one provided you are willing to accept that you are watching a repeat of the first one set in New York.  Read our review of Home Alone 2 from earlier this month at http://stedsman.com/2013/12/07/19-home-alone-2/http://stedsman.com/2013/12/07/19-home-alone-2/)