Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

 4/10

Starring

Ellie Kemper

Rob Delaney

Archie Yates

Aisling Bea

Directed by Dan Mazer

The best way to see this is with an open mind. There is no way this is anywhere as entertaining as the 1990’s John Hughes Home Alone, but it gets some points for the attempt at something new. The problem is that the attempt is so lacking in entertainment it feels like there was no point for them even trying.

Acting wise the adults in this movie seem to be hell-bent on making sure this movie becomes the new go to thing on Christmas. The new child actor who plays this movie’s version of Kelvin McCallister is Archie Yates. Yates plays Max Mercer, the child left at home by his mother Carol (Aisling Bea).

The leaving behind setup is similar to what we know, the family is joined by their extended counterparts and they planned a family get away together. Here is where the movie lost me. The total pure negligence of Carol in this film should be a crime in all countries.

In the original, Kelvin is left behind because he was being a pain and sent to stay in a room in the attic. The next morning one of his cousins was tasked with counting all the kids and making sure than none is left behind. Thanks to one nosy neighbor the cousin made an error, counting the neighbor as Kelvin and making everyone think all the kids were complete.

Here, the mother flies to Japan without her son and did not telling him about it either. She also did not leave a message to her husband that she has gone without their son. So he flies to Japan leaving him behind. Pure negligence on the mother’s side and the father was not innocent either.

Now as the movie starts we meet a couple who are struggling financially Jeff and Pam McKenzie (Rob Delaney and Ellie Kemper respectively). Carol took her son Max to their house while the couple were showing it off to potential buyers so that Max can use the opportunity to use the toilet there. It was there Max and Jeff met. Max liked a doll he saw, but Jeff seeing Max reach for it made it clear that the doll was not for sale or for Max to touch.

The next time we see Jeff having anything to do with that doll was when he check the value online to discover that the doll was now worth over $200,000. A sum which will save them from their financial troubles. He goes to where he kept the doll and it was missing and suspects that Max took it.

He traces Max to his home, saw the family traveling and decided to come back when they are gone.

He did with Pam and Max thinking that the pair have come to kidnap him decided to protect his home.

The movie like I said, had a new take on everything. It just was not funny and the damage to the adults looked more mean spirited than the craziness from the original. There was a part where Jeff woke up with a VR headset on him. That VR prank was heart breaking. I have heard of losing your glasses on your head, but not knowing that you have a VR headset on your eyes, that was too far for me to believe.

Well you can catch this movie on Disney+, I just do not expect to watch this anytime again in the future.