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Home Alone 3
A pre-teen fends off thieves in this, the third film in the John Hughes-fashioned franchise
It bares all the marking of a straight-to-video cash-in but Home Alone 3's a bona fide cinematic offering, presumably made to prove that John Hughes's baby could survive the departure of original lead Macaulay Culkin. With the erstwhile Kevin McCallister now all-grown up and busy suing his parents, child actor Alex D Linz takes over as Alex Pruitt, another little chap in trouble. This time round, a bunch of villains are bent on separating the brat from his favourite toy car on the grounds that the vehicle houses a top secret micro-chip. With danger on his doorstep, few could criticise Alex if he gave up the goodies or, more daringly still, called the cops. This, though, is America where a man's home is his castle. So, while he's barely out of short trousers, it falls to young Master Pruitt to see off the invaders using the sort of devices more readily associated with Wile E Coyote. Even more malicious and moronic than Home Alones I and II, episode three demonstrates just how far writer-producer Hughes has fallen since the halcyon days of the early 1980s. Not that his best movies were that brilliant, but there was a charm and smart comic sensibility that is completely missing from this and other later offerings such as Baby's Day Out and Reach The Rock. In short, he's much better at writing for teens than tots. Hughes's shoddy script, an early Scarlett Johansson appearance and the utter resistibility of Alex D Linz aside, Home Alone 3 is remarkable for having been the first feature directed by Raja Gosnell, the man who'd have no qualms about directing Big Momma's House and Scooby-Doos I and II. Those keen on spotting the first seeds of shamelessness, this is your object lesson. Verdict A film so bad, Macauley Culkin's presence might actually have improved it. |
