There's no place like 'Home' for laughs There's no place like home for the holidays - unless, of course, you're home alone and burglars are lurking. Then it's every man for himself, robbers beware. Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister finds himself in the unlikely position when his parents and siblings leave for Christmas in Paris and, accidentally, forget to wake him. How he handles the situation forms the basis of writer/producer John Hughes' hilarious holiday comedy, "Home Alone." Equally as funny as last year's "Christmas Vacation," it shows a different side of the holiday that's just as heartwarming. In 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin, director Chris Columbus has an adorably impish leading man. He's a living, breathing Bart Simpson who isn't afraid to confront anything - certainly not two dumb thugs who leave the water running at every house they hit. When Culkin's Kevin discovers that they're in the neighborhood, he turns the house into a Rube Goldberg invention that would make Rambo look like a rookie. The VCR provides appropriate sound effects, a train set helps provide festive movement. Every trap is carefully planned. When the two (the Laurel and Hardyesque Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci) break in, By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer Review Culkin's ready. He uses every household appliance known to pre-teen boy and succeeds where adults could only dream. Clearly, "Home Alone" is a kid's fantasy film. What boy wouldn't love to have the house to himself? None, perhaps. But consider the consequences. Culkin recoils every time he goes into the basement to face the roaring furnace. When he's confronted by adults, he's forced to do some fast thinking. After all, he didn't know his family left him. He thought he made them disappear. To drive home the story's poignancy, Columbus introduces a horror subplot and shows the pains parents John Heard and Catherine O'Hara take to get home. When they discover their mistake, she's on the first plane out. Her journey is a carbon of Steve Martin's "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (also done by Hughes), but certainly not as manic. O'Hara encounters a polka band (led by John Candy) and has her run-in with uncooperative ticket agents. There are touchstones here from previous Hughes films and a mood that doesn't stray from the creator's successful formula. Still, Columbus has tapped into a more sentimental style that removes the hard edges normally found on smart-mouthed comedies. The director doesn't hide anything. He just puts it in a more acceptable context. That's something that wasn't evident in Hughes' earlier comedy, "Uncle Buck." The humor here springs out of necessity. It's outrageous, obvious stuff. But it works because Columbus doesn't give viewers time to think about what they've seen. Dissect any of it and the movie falls apart. Who, after all, could possibly forget a child on a trip to Paris? Even the obligatory passport check would have turned up the problem. Still, the film's joy isn't its method. It's its madness. Once Culkin is left to his own devices, the film takes off. The last 45 minutes are achingly funny - the perfect pre- Christmas present. Enjoy the laughs and don't leave anyone home alone. This is a picture the whole family can enjoy. Rated PG, "Home Alone" features cartoon violence, mild profanity. HOME ALONE, directed by Chris Columbus; written and produced by John Hughes; starring Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stem, John Candy. On : a scale of four stars, "Home Alone" gets: ***