O Anjo Malvado

Young Mark (Elijah Wood) is reeling from the recent death of his beloved mother (Ashley Crow), and although he doesn't want to do it, his dad Jack (David Morse) leaves him in the care of relatives. Marks' uncle Wallace (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson) are good people, but unfortunately they've sired a monster, Marks' sociopathic cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin). Henry spends most of the movie convincing every adult in sight that he's this perfect little angel, while in reality he's a cold-blooded creep who does nasty things for fun. As a viewer can see, Henry IS a master manipulator.

This has been referred to by wits over the years as "Kit Culkins' The Good Son", due to the fact that Macs' father was a truly vile "stage parent" who demanded that his son headline this feature, otherwise no Mac in "Home Alone 2". While one would feel sympathy for Mac, having to live with a father like that, the fact remains that Mac is too bland as this 1990s male update of "The Bad Seed", failing to project any real menace. Wood is far and away the better actor, and is more appealing, to boot. The adults are fine - if playing characters who expectedly remain clueless until near the end. Macs' sister Quinn plays his sibling (in her only film role); his younger brother Rory (who's had his own decent acting career) can be seen in a key photograph. Crewson has the most interesting moment to work with in the film, as she must make a choice at the finale.

The film is capably guided by Joseph Ruben, who replaced the original director after that person left the project. Ruben of course had experience with a familial-themed thriller, the memorable 1980s sleeper "The Stepfather". He just doesn't have a star as commanding as Terry O'Quinn here.

All in all, this isn't a total waste of time. It moves QUICK, cutting right to the meat & potatoes of Ian McEwans' script, and runs a mere 87 minutes. It also has a lovely Elmer Bernstein score and excellent photography (John Lindley was the D.P., Peter Norman the camera operator). If you think you might enjoy this, don't be put off by the R rating, which seems to have been earned for one simple F-bomb uttered by Mac; violence and gore are minimal. It's filmed at breathtaking locations that are mostly in Massachusetts.

A classic case of "could have been better, could have been worse".

Six out of 10.

This is one of my favorite movies. Macaulay Culkin was excellent in this. The Good Son is about Mark(Elijah Wood), a young boy suffering in the recent loss of his mother, going to visit his aunt, uncle, and two cousins in Maine while his dad takes a business trip to Tokyo. Cousin Henry Evans(Macaulay Culkin) is Mark's age and they soon become good friends and have loads of fun each day, but soon Mark starts to see another side of Henry when they start putting some of Henry's ideas into action, including throwing a dummy called Mr.Highway over an overpass that causes a huge multi car wreck and a big smile on Henry's face, and shooting a dog with a homemade gun. Mark starts to think Henry deliberatly tried to kill his liitle brother years ago, and is plotting to kill the rest of the family. This movie is a bit disturbing, but good all the same.

Rated R for Violence and Language.

This is Macaulay Culkin's best film. He was very creepy as the young boy with a black heart. The dialogue was great. I truly admired the performance of Elijah Wood, emerging as one of the best young actors around. This film has so much suspense, by the end, I was very exhausted.

I have such fond memories of seeing this when I was much younger. I'm so glad to see my opinion of the movie remains unchanged having seen it again after such a long time.

Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin are very good in their respective roles. Culkin was an interesting choice as the psychopathic, evil child, as he was famous for portraying the 'cute kid' at the time. The film casually sets up the scene, and then slowly but surely reveals itself for what it really is. Evil presents itself in the form of a kid, making it even more sinister.

Every action is justified by a counter action. It's also believable that no-one believes Mark (Wood), considering what he's been through. This is a carefully thought out, well written script that builds to a nerve-wrecking finale.

In many ways this is just a standard thriller. How I loathe the word "thriller". It suggests roller-coasters; and the genre it denotes, at its best, deals in quiet tension. Where was I? Yes: standard thriller. A is really an evil person, intent on performing great harm in the future; B knows this but can't convince anyone else. I heard that sigh. But make A and B children, on the verge of adolescence, and not only is this tired formula invigorated, but it makes a great deal more sense. (Especially if B is in the slightly awkward position of a cousin on an extended visit.) The creaky old scenes where B goes to the police and either he is strangely incoherent or the police are strangely obtuse, are gone. There is now a perfectly good reason why B can't go to the police, or indeed anyone. Nor is there anything strange about the obtuseness of A's parents. The rotten adult seems so commonplace that we scarcely bat an eyelid; the rotten child, who is in fact far more commonplace, we like to pretend doesn't exist.

So I'm glad Hollywood took this step. I also, for the most part, like the way the step has been taken. B has no accomplices - he must battle A alone - and his plight is keenly felt. There's an air of plausibility about it all. Elijah Wood is an unusually good boy, Macaulay Culkin is an unusually bad boy; both look perfectly real. (Wood, who has the harder task, does especially well.)

The climax - or what is meant to be the climax - is HIGHLY contrived. It will probably come as a shock that the writers chose something at once so obvious and so ludicrous. The mood of the audience I saw this with - it may just have been my mood - was one of grudging acceptance, granted only because we had been treated so well in the events leading up to it.