Mark (Elijah Wood), still grieving over his mothers death, goes to live with cousins in Maine while his father takes care of business. One of his cousins is a boy his age, Henry (Macaulay Culkin). Henry turns out to be a psychopath and is determined to do anything to stop Mark from telling anyone else.
This movie originally had a different director attached to it who (understandably) did not want Culkin in it. Culkins' father made it clear that if Macaulay didn't get this movie he wouldn't do "Home Alone 2". So, the studio bowed to pressure--the original director quit--and Culkin destroys what could have been a great movie. As we now know, Macaulay was treated like dirt by his father and forced into projects, so he can't be blamed for this entirely. Still he's just lousy. He says all his lines in a monotone and has a blank look on his face all through the movie. He really weighs this movie down. Still, this isn't totally worthless.
It's well-directed; contains three very good performances by Wood, Wendy Crewson and David Morse; has just beautiful locations (most filmed in Cape Ann, MA) and has a lush, sweeping music score. Also it seems to have been cut down to its bare bones--it's only 84 minutes long--and moves very quickly.
Still, I can only give it a 6 because of Culkin. That's too bad.
Also, it doesn't really deserve the R rating. There's no nudity, sex, very little swearing and all the violence is off screen.
This movie originally had a different director attached to it who (understandably) did not want Culkin in it. Culkins' father made it clear that if Macaulay didn't get this movie he wouldn't do "Home Alone 2". So, the studio bowed to pressure--the original director quit--and Culkin destroys what could have been a great movie. As we now know, Macaulay was treated like dirt by his father and forced into projects, so he can't be blamed for this entirely. Still he's just lousy. He says all his lines in a monotone and has a blank look on his face all through the movie. He really weighs this movie down. Still, this isn't totally worthless.
It's well-directed; contains three very good performances by Wood, Wendy Crewson and David Morse; has just beautiful locations (most filmed in Cape Ann, MA) and has a lush, sweeping music score. Also it seems to have been cut down to its bare bones--it's only 84 minutes long--and moves very quickly.
Still, I can only give it a 6 because of Culkin. That's too bad.
Also, it doesn't really deserve the R rating. There's no nudity, sex, very little swearing and all the violence is off screen.