Review of Home Alone 3 (1997) by Deb S — 24 Sep 2010

Alex D. Linz plays a small boy who lives in Chicago suburbia and has just caught chicken pox. The result is that he has to stay home while his brother and sister (a young Scarlett Johansson) go to school and his parents go to work. His mother can't find a baby-sitter so Alex is left home alone.

From his "Rear Window" perspective, he sees a couple of thieves breaking into people?s houses and naturally he calls the police. Nothing is found, no one believes him so he takes it on himself to prove that he is telling the truth. This group of criminals is searching for a microchip which they put inside a remote control car. Accidentally, they got their bags mixed up with an old lady (Marian Seldes), who then gives the car to little Alex for shoveling snow.

Sure, international terrorists in a kids' movie are not what we consider to be pleasant, but it staged a more intense feeling. The fact that Alex's parents did not believe him at first was very interesting and it's a lot of fun seeing how this little boy outwits slick and (supposedly) well-trained international terrorists. While the 'gags' used are not new, in a sadistically humorous way they were pretty damn funny. In addition to the new cast is Alex's pet rat Doris and his brother's (Seth Smith) pet parrot to help him.