The original Home Alone has become one of most iconic and beloved Christmas films of all time. What followed was a barrage of sequels that, with the exception of HA2, sucked pretty bad. And, although the second film was nowhere near as good as the first, it was, at the very least, an entertaining and occasionally funny follow up. So, now we have Home Sweet Home Alone. And there are not enough negative adjectives in the English language to desribe it. Awful, terrible, awfully terrible (or terribly awful, if you prefer), crap show, dumpster fire, and so on and so forth. HSHA is a text book example of a production company seeing just how far they'll stoop, while making a mockery of, and stomping the hell out of the childhood of many people. And it's all in the name of making quality pictures...just kidding. We all know that it's all in the name of $$$. It's so disappointing. It is becoming more and more obvious that executives of the "super-production" companies don't give a damn about striving to make quality films. They'll hijack any successful film or film series, hire writers and directors who will give said executives whatever the hell kind of movie they want, even at the expense of making them badly. HSHA is devoid of any sort of original thought or circumstance. It also completely misses the point of the original, or of part 2 for that matter. The kid is barely likeable. The so-called intruders are just completely misunderstood, and the sense of urgency exhibited by the mother character has no real emotional impact. Almost every bit of fan service...every bit of nostalgia...all of it only exists in such a way, that one could almost picture the executives and the production team making sure that all the proverbial boxes had been checked. Jokes that harken back to HA '90, gags that do the same...all present in a way that illustrates duplication, not admiration. Even the performance of the, usually solid, actress and comedian Ellie Kemper. She falls a bit flat here, but that has more to do with the poorly written dialogue, storyline, and direction, than with her acting ability. And there are past performances of Kemper on the t.v. Show The Office and in the film Bridesmaids that prove she can, with the right screenplay or teleplay, and the right direction, be an effective actress. So, if you've already seen HSHA, then I can't help you. But if you haven't seen it yet, then you are envied by the lot of us who have seen it. As always, this is just my opinion.
Review of Home Sweet Home Alone
