Home Sweet Home Alone – Film Review

Max Mercer (Archie Yates) is a mischievous and resourceful young boy who has been left behind while his family is in Japan for the holidays. So when a married couple – Pam (Ellie Kemper) and Jeff (Rob Delaney) – attempting to retrieve a priceless heirloom set their sights on the Mercer family’s home, it is up to Max to protect it from the trespassers… and he will do whatever it takes to keep them out. Hilarious hijinks of epic proportions ensue, but despite the absolute chaos, Max comes to realize that there really is no place like home sweet home.

For millions of people all around the world (myself included), watching John Hughes‘ classic comedy Home Alone around Christmas time is an absolute must. There is just something so incredibly endearing about that film and it continues to make people belly laugh and get emotional every single time they watch it. Macaulay Culkin is quite literally child actor perfection in that movie and the script by Hughes finds brilliant ways to tell a genuinely heartwarming story of family and love.

But, as I am sure we are all aware, the Home Alone sequels are absolutely terrible, mostly the straight-to-television ones (I’m looking at you Home Alone: The Holiday Heist). And yet, here we are in the year 2021 with yet another Home Alone film titled Home Sweet Home Alone. Kind of a cool title I guess, right? Sadly, the movie itself is absolutely awful and doesn’t do anything it should. This should’ve been a re-invention of the franchise that reminded us what made it so great in the first place while also expanding upon it.

This is where movies such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens excelled immensely. That film took iconic characters such as Han Solo and Princess Leia as well as new characters, blending in an amazing mix of nostalgic and new. Home Sweet Home Alone tries so incredibly hard to be like the first film that it ends up becoming a legitimately embarrassing movie by the time the second act comes into play.

What I will say, though, is that Archie Yates is amazing in the role of Max Mercer. Just like Culkin, Yates finds some truly hilarious quirks to make the character of Max Mercer his own, and he finds the right balance between devilishly scheming and charming. As for Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney? Yeah… not so much. Unlike Harry and Marv, the characters of Pam and Jeff are absolute bumbling idiots and have no personality whatsoever. They just want to retrieve a valuable doll and, weirdly, that’s kind of their entire personality. It’s bizarre.

It’s honestly embarrassing that this film even exists because of how sloppy it is in almost every regard. The story is just a retread of the first with humor that’s way more dumbed down for a younger audience. No clever humor to be found here at all. The new characters are annoying except for Max, and the whole thing is just unbelievably predictable. It’s so apparent what’s going to happen even just ten minutes in. And where is the emotional side of this movie? The first movie had such heart to it, but this movie’s heart just isn’t beating. John Hughes would not want his name anywhere near this movie. If you’re a fan of Home Alone, stay away from this disaster at all costs.