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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Buena Vista Home Video
Salesrank: 10733
Released: February 3, 2004 |
| Our Price: $4.76 |
| Used Price: $3.45 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Evil resides in an unexpected place in this gripping, suspense-filled drama. Macaulay Culkin stars as Henry, an angelic-looking boy who seems loving and loyal to his parents, sister and friends. Only his cousin Mark (Elijah Wood) sees what lurks behind Henry's smile- secret thoughts and a love of deadly games. But when Mark tries to warn Henry's family, they won't believe him, leaving the terrified youngster alone to battle his jealous, menacing cousin.
The Good Son Reviews:
Macaulay Culkin first non kiddie starring role 
2008-09-07 - The Good Son when released in 1993 was a film starring it child actor Macaulay Culkin. Culkin played the bad boy role very effectively and had good chemistry with Eiljah Wood. Joe Rebuen's direction was tense but the film was a little short in it's running time for my tastes. I wished they would have gone into a back story with Henry's reasons for being evil. One question remains though, why did Wood become a bigger star?
The Good Son 
2008-07-25 - I always loved this movie. I would have liked a commentary for the disc though.
"The Bad Seed" Gone Wrong 
2008-07-24 - It is ironic that the film that could have elevated the extremely popular, Macaulay Culkin from cliché to substantive actor instead served to showcase his flaws as an actor. In the "Home Alone" movies Culkin was a pretty face that Chris Columbus molded into an engaging child hero in his sadistic series of movies. Never had two lackluster villains been so violently abused. For Culkin that was as good as it was going to get.
In "The Good Son," Culkin lacks the backbone to bring the evil Henry to life. Henry is every bit as evil as the monster in "The Bad Seed," but his portrayal lacks the conviction that is necessary to bring off a psychopath. Conversely, Elijah Wood, who turns out to be the good son, brings a considerable verisimilitude to his role and in so doing further highlights the need for a stronger antagonist.
Perhaps the explanation for Culkin's poor performance was that he burned out at a tender age, or that he was reared in a dysfunctional family. I remember him most as the smart allecky five year old in "Uncle Buck." Here he peppers his hapless uncle (John Candy) with a string of questions that only a child can carry off. Elijah Wood went on to become a fine actor who is perhaps best known for his role in "The Lord of the Rings." Macaulay was to fall further in the coming years, and this is disappointing for those who saw such early promise.
The Good Son
Evil is as evil does.
2008-07-08 - The Good Son starring Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood may seem like a silly film but I actually enjoyed this dark story. Culkin is anything but likable in this thriller, Wood always gives a good peformance. The two stars have great chemistry and many people see this film as a guilty pleasure, I guess you can say that so with that in mind give this sleeper film a try, enjoy!
No Country for Little Boys
2008-03-15 - "The Good Son" was the edgy '90s "thriller" in which Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin channeled his demon seed equivalent. It has an oddly good pedigree, with Ian McEwan (who atoned for this with "Atonement",another story about a malicious child) as its screenwriter and Elmer Bernstein,a mainstay of '50s/'60s classics, composing the score. It's a B movie that has a soundtrack and a screenplay too good for it.
"Good Son" has grieving little Mark (Elijah Wood) sent from the beautiful land of New Mexico to the Maine wilderness to live with his mischievous cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin),Henry's sister Connie (Quinn Culkin) and his uncle Wallace (the actor is currently starring as the homophobic,homicidal Col. Mayer on "As the World Turns",soap fans!) Mark learns that Henry is a creepy fellow with a morbid fascination with death. Culkin is quite amazing as the charismatic,manipulative Henry. He&his real-life sister have a realistic dynamic. There are many suspenseful moments, and the soundtrack is excellent!
On the other hand,"Good Son" has some weak spots. Most significantly,its lead. When Wood tells his shrink about evil's existence, he says it so blandly he's outdoing then-90s blandfest Keanu Reeves. His stock response to Culkin's evil acts is a blank look. He's got the requisite B-movie Prince Valiant 'do. He spends the movie being wide-eyed,hiding,and running (there,I have "Fellowship" summed up if you don't have three hours) Usually child stars aren't catatonic; on the whole,they're hammy or sappy. It's quite astounding that once Wood came of age and starred in a certain 9 hour epic involving orcs&evil bling,he'd inspire tons of racy fanfiction,because he's homely in "Good Son." It's a "thank God for puberty and Peter Jackson!" film.
"Good Son" is riveting in its badness. The "Mr. Highway" scene-in which Henry causes a massive accident-is so ludicrous it's laughable. Henry's snarkiness keeps the movie going. This film deserves a MST3K treatment,as another reviewer noted. "The Good Son" gets three stars for Culkin's standout performance,the few moments of suspense,it's a movie so bad,it's good.
