The Good Son
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Movie Reviews of The Good Son
Movie Review: MAC and CHEESE!
Summary: 5 Stars
After Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin - apparently tired of slapping himself in front of the mirror over forgetful parents, bumbling bandits and PG ratings - gave his fans the R-rated psycho kid from hell thriller The Good Son, and in the process took an axe to his image and his career. Here Mac pushes little girls onto thin ice, drops life-sized dummies onto busy highways and barks back at ferocious dogs. And you sit there laughing at Culkin's best comedy ever. If only this movie wasn't supposed to be a horror picture.
It all starts when Culkin's good cousin Mark, (the far more talented child actor Elijah Wood ) promises his cancer-stricken mother he'll save her. She doesn't make it. Wood blames himself. An opportunity for rustic therapy presents itself when Wood's father (David Morse), who has to make a business trip to Japan, dispatches his son to Culkin's New England home for two weeks. Maybe atop a craggy coastline, Wood can break through the grief and make friends with sweet-faced Culkin. As the boys scramble off to Culkin's treehouse, Culkin's mother (Wendy Crewson) smiles warmly. "I think he's going to be fine," she tells Wood's father. (Insert "Jaws" music here. )
Near the top of the lofty treehouse, Wood nearly tumbles to his death. Culkin saves him but keeps Wood dangling. "If I let you go," says MacPsycho, "do you think you could fly?"
There are more ominous signs of things to come than there are billboards on Route 1. "I took a real good look when my brother Richard drowned in the bathtub," says Culkin, when the subject of death comes up. And there's a photograph of Little Richard clutching a rubber duck. Remember that duck, it's part of a canard-motif.
The forebodings pile up: Culkin shows Wood his homemade crossbow, which fires lethal metal-bolt projectiles. Down goes the local nasty dog. Culkin introduces Wood to his favorite "fun" game, in which he takes a dummy, called "Mr. Highway," to a bridge and drops it into dense traffic. Look! A ten car pile-up! How Culkin smiles.
For the plot to survive, characters must lower their intelligence considerably. Culkin's parents remain as oblivious to their son's psychotic tendencies as they are heedless of Wood's perpetual warnings. Like most Hollywood villains, Culkin has a talent for turning the tables on accuser Wood and making him look like the Bad Seed. Everyone suffers from stupidity, from child psychologist Jacqueline Brookes, who believes Culkin's lies, to the ice-skating crowd that watches from a distance as Culkin attempts to drown his sister (Quinn Culkin) under the ice. (What joy!) The ending, featuring more bodies dangling from great heights, is too laughable to outline. Culkin's murderous ways, it turns out, go back to that quacker in the photo. (Don't ask.)
Culkin's father Kit apparently held Fox to ransom to extend his son's range with this role (no Good Son, no Home Alone 2.) In any event, young Mac is decisively upstaged by Wood at almost every turn. One can only imagine what the film could have been had the boy's roles been reversed. But it really doesn't matter. Just sit back... strap in... and enjoy the delirium of a successful child star in career freefall.
Movie Review: child star x2 = brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
Two great child stars blended together into one suspense movie.
Although, you don't really get the feel of suspense because of the peaceful and flowing music, the message behind the plot would really give you the chills.
Elijah Wood acted out every expression he had to act out fully with his face. You could really see the fear in his eyes when he realizes Henry(Macaulay Culkin) is planning to hurt someone.
The story begins with a vast highland then starts off with Mark (Elijah) playing soccer with his friends. Then, out of the blue, his dad appears and we are brought to a hospital scene where Mark sits beside his mother's deathbed. He promises her that she won't die.
Unfortunately, she does and Mark is full of sadness at her funeral. His dad has to go to a business trip to Japan for 2 weeks leaving him behind with Henry's family. At first, he gets along well with Henry but soon finds out his evil schemes. Henry always gets away with all his schemes with his angelic smile.
I thought Elijah was great, as he always is in all his movies. Though he was only a kid back then, he acted from his heart. As for Macaulay, I thought he really showed a sense of madness and jealousy but lost expression at times. He was great at expressing silent anger and suspense. He showed that he was fully in the dark side. Although he had little changes in facial expressions and reactions from that of 'Home Alone', I still have to give him credit for acting such a difficult role. If you've never been on stage or films before, you'd never know how hard it is to act as a villain than a hero.
Some scenes really impressed me especially the cliff scene. It's amazing how the production managed to shoot that part without any visual effects especially with two young lads.
All in all, I thought the movie was entertaining. I was impressed at how 12-year-olds could do really well at their age. I'm already 15 and have experienced acting on stage and you all must know. It's not easy. Before critizing their acting, you have to think that they're only kids and I have to say, they were very professional. If you like movies with suspense and drama, you'd better watch this. Along with these two very expressive actors. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Heart-Warming & Intense Thriller. Well-Written & Well-Acted Drama
Summary: 5 Stars
WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!
This intense & heart-warming suspense thriller stars Macaulay Culkin ("Uncle Buck," "Home Alone," "My Girl," "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York") and Elijah Wood (who would later star as Frodo in Peter Jackson's epic "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy) as two cousins, one of whom is reeling from the untimely death of his mother and the other who may or may not be what he seems. Both actors fit their roles perfectly. In several scenes, Macaulay reminded me of Hannibal Lecter in "Silence Of The Lambs." I felt that the evil child was a mini-Hannibal (minus the cannibalism, of course). I like one scene in particular: when Mark is moaning in his sleep and he thinks he sees his deceased mother, he follows her down the stairs and calls out to her, but it's his aunt Susan, he cries and she comforts him. That scene was beautifully shot and very tender (personally, I would have added a bit more to the scene). The sweetness is dispelled when the camera slowly pans up to reveal Henry watching this poignant moment from the banisters. Quinn Culkin (Macaulay's kid sister) was simply adorable as-you guessed it-Henry's kid sister. I have a few minor complaints: the movie ended too abruptly (it could have been 10-15 minutes longer, showing what happened on the cliff after the intense climax) and the evil child screamed as he fell (it seemed so out of character for him). Other than that, it's a very well done movie. Language and violence are very minimal for an R-rated movie (one F-word, two H-ll's and one God-d--n); it should have been rated PG-13.
Movie Review: Brilliant movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutley loved this movie, it is one of the best horror/thrillers I have seen for a long time. Macaulay Culkin is great as the cute-but-evil Henry as is Elijah Wood as Mark, the protagonist. I thought they both did a great job as portraying beleivable charactors (especially considering that they were six years too young to legally watch their own movie).
The plot of the movie is very consistant and goes not slow down or drag in places and some of the scenes are very suspenceful, particularly the scene where Henry is pointing a nail-gun toward a cat and we dont know if he is going to kill it.
I was very surprised that this movie was rated 18 as there is no sex or violence at all and only one swear (the F word) so I would say this movie is probably ok for children over the age of 12 or so to watch.
Shortly after Mark's (Elijah Wood) mother dies, his father takes him to live in New England with his Aunt and Uncle and 12 year old cousin, Henry (Macaulay Culkin). At first Mark seems to be having a good time until he begins to see the real Henry when a slip leaves him dangling over the side of a treehouse (which is about 100 feet high) and Hery asks him "If I let go, do you think you could fly?". Then, Henry throws a dummy onto a busy highway causing a ten-car pileup and Mark realises that Henry is much more dangerous than he thought...
A great horror/thriller movie that I would highly recomend.
Movie Review: Cute Li'l Devil...
Summary: 5 Stars
Henry (Macaulay Culkin) is a typical young boy. He spends his care-free hours playing, building crossbows to kill neighborhood pets, and causing major freeway accidents. He enjoys watching the results of his play. His mum and dad have been down in the dumps ever since Henry's little brother had his fatal "accident" in the tub. Unlike Henry, the folks just let it keep bothering them for some reason. Now, there's cousin Mark (Elijah Wood from The Ice Storm, Lord Of The Rings, and Sin City) to worry about. He's staying for a couple of weeks while his dad (David Morse from The Green Mile and Disturbia) is in Japan. At first, Henry thought that Mark might be fun, but he's a drag. He doesn't seem to enjoy Henry's games at all. Not even the chain-reaction car wreck game on the interstate! What a bore! If only Mark could get over his mother's recent demise. What is it with people and their "feelings" anyway? Henry just wants to have fun, and if Mark wants to be a big baby and a tattle-tale, then he just might have to have an "accident" of his own. What a shame. Oh well. THE GOOD SON is a terrific thriller from director Joseph Ruben (The Stepfather). Culkin and Wood are utterly believable in their roles. Culkin's portrayal of a budding serial killer is so good it's frightening! Why did this kid disappear?? Wood is great too as the boy who knows what's going on, but can't get anyone to believe him. TGS is wicked and perfectly perverse...