Movie Review - The Good Son

The Good Son (1993)
Starring Macauley Culkin, Elijah Wood, Wendy Crewson, Daniel Hugh Kelly, and David Morse
Directed by Joseph Ruben
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

***Posted as part of the Elijah Wood Early 90s Mini Film Festival***

There is a certain morbid charm in hearing a 12 year-old Macauley Culkin utter the words, "Don't fuck with me."  And it's Culkin's playing against type that makes this movie better than the generic nature of the script should permit it to be.  With a relatively quick running time (just a little over 80 minutes), The Good Son is a perfectly acceptable suspense flick that probably would be right at home as a 90s tv movie were it not for the occasional curse word.  (Yes, I say that as a slight jab, but I also say that with the understanding that the "tv movie" descriptor almost makes it a guilty pleasure to watch.)

Shortly after his mother dies, young Mark Evans (Elijah Wood) goes to live with his Aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson) and Uncle Wallace (Daniel Hugh Kelly) while his father (David Morse) travels to Asia for business.  While there, Mark befriends his cousin Henry (Macauley Culkin), but soon discovers that Henry's behavior leans towards the psychotic.

And it's in that psychotic behavior as portrayed by Macauley "Home Alone" Culkin that makes this film surprisingly watchable.  Culkin is actually really good playing evil and Elijah Wood is just as good playing counter to the devil child.  Yes, the two kids are forced into silly situations and the parents are completely oblivious to the obvious things going on around them, but thanks to Culkin and Wood fully diving into their different characters, The Good Son works.  It's certainly not the best suspense movie you'll see, but it's absolutely better than it has any right to probably be.

In terms of the Elijah Wood mini film festival, this is probably my favorite role of Wood's so far.  As he's aging, you can see a little more depth behind the eyes, and, considering that this role is probably the most simplistic he'd been asked to tackle up until this point, that's an admirable task.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-