have <\/em>they decided to remake the film?<\/p>\nIt will come as no surprise that several of the hallmarks of the original Home Alone \u2013 released more than 30 years ago now \u2013 are present in the new version. There\u2019s a rich, spoilt kid accidentally left behind in an opulent mansion by his absent-minded family. There\u2019s a couple of incompetent would-be thieves desperate to get into that house whatever the cost. And of course, there\u2019s all manner of intricately planned out booby traps, leading to a handful of slapstick scenes and unimaginable pain for the hapless villains.<\/p>
Much of the joy of the original film is derived from the relative simplicity of that premise \u2013 here are two dastardly baddies getting their comeuppance at the hands of a spoilt but ultimately likeable kid. And this is where the new film differs: the first half of Home Sweet Home Alone is dedicated to setting up a needlessly convoluted plot that on the one hand makes it almost impossible to root for the young kid, and on the other is just plain boring to sit through.<\/p>\n
The two scoundrels played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern in the 1990 film are replaced here by a down on their luck couple \u2013 Jeff, an unemployed \u2018data migration officer\u2019 played by Rob Delaney, and his wife Pam, played by Ellie Kemper. When we meet Jeff and Pam, they are deeply worried that they may need to sell their house due to a lack of funds \u2013 but this difficulty seems to resolve itself when Jeff discovers an old-fashioned doll that once belonged to his mother could be worth as much as $200,000.<\/p>\n
Only, it turns out that a young child, Max (Archie Yates) has stolen the doll while he was attending an open house at Jeff and Pam\u2019s property with his mother. The only course of action, naturally, is for the couple to break into the youngster\u2019s house and steal the doll back \u2013 just a misdemeanour, and not a felony, Jeff explains. And of course, when they do so, Max is completely alone \u2013 with his family having travelled to Japan for the festive period without realising they\u2019d left him behind \u2013 leaving him free to draw up his complex and exceedingly violent battle plan.<\/p>\n
The confused nature of that set-up would be forgivable if the film was able to deliver some laughs along the way, but much of the dialogue throughout the runtime is awkward and stilted, with Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell\u2019s dismally unfunny script barely raising a single chuckle. There are excruciating running jokes about speaking German, naff one-liners from Max and several slapstick scenes completely devoid of charm, before a frankly weird ending that feels totally unearned.<\/p>\n