Burglars roast over an open fire. Adults taking a billiard ball in the nose. So go ahead with the Christmas cries of Dan Mazer’s “Home Sweet Home Alone,” a painful spiritual sequel to the 1990 hit that made a meme of child star Macaulay Culkin. Culkin’s Kevin McCallister does not appear, although his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) has appeared to mention that the rascal has become a security alarm impresario.
Now is the right time because two homes are now in jeopardy: the Mercers, who, due to a carpool confusion, flew to Tokyo without Max (Archie Yates), their 10-year-old son with a mouth like Don Rickles; and the McKenzies (Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney), who suspect Max of stealing an inheritance they need to pay off their mortgage.
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This leveling of moral stakes reveals that Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell’s screenplay is aimed at nostalgic people, not kids. It’s hard to imagine an elementary school student laughing at a runner about the proliferation of alternative milks in the grocery store, even with the hopelessly whimsical woodland partition. And when the darts (and kettlebells and fishing lures) start to fly, it’s the adults who learn a lesson in family meaning. Max’s emotional reveal mysteriously occurs offscreen in the middle of the film, minutes after dressing like Scarface and inhaling whipped cream.
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Who is the real victim here? The audience – yet Kemper’s pragmatic pixie who suffers from a dozen face bugs comes in second.
Home Sweet Home Alone
Classified PG. Duration: 1 hour 33 minutes. Watch on Disney +.
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