HOME ALONE 3 (18)

Directed by: Raja Gosnell

Starring: Alex D. Linz, Olek Krupa, Haviland Morris

The Pitch: An eight-year-old boy has the chicken-pox and...well, you know the rest.

Theo Sez: Two things made the original HOME ALONE so unexpectedly charming : the enjoyably intricate plotting that contrived our hero's home-aloneness, and the fact that said hero was a klutzy sort of kid, seemingly unable to look after himself - let alone defend his home against intruders. None of that remains in this perfunctory threequel : the tyke in question is alone because, quite simply, he's sick in bed and his folks have to go to work (deputising a neighbour to look in on him). Most damagingly, he's no helpless innocent but a thoroughly savvy youngster who's got the whole neighbourhood wired up through various hi-tech gadgets, is invariably a step ahead of everybody else, and even does a neat line in smart-ass retorts ("What about the Family Leave Act?") : never mind being home alone, this kid's ready for a place of his own and a job in communications. Even without Macaulay Culkin's wistful gravity, about two-thirds of it remain serviceable - expectations are lower for a kidfilm ; but the violent slapstick climax, clocking in at a good half-hour, just feels endless. All in all, mostly notable as an extended commercial for its most obvious tie-in : it's called the "Mutator", it's a remote-controlled truck, and it's coming soon to a toy-store near you.