Be Like John Williams
We need to talk about Home Alone — and one very important creative lesson.
That movie had no business actually being good. It should have been another forgettable, soulless, slapstick holiday throwaway cash-grab that pandered to children who dragged their reluctant parents to the theater.
But a weird thing happened: everyone who made Home Alone took it seriously.
The pacing of the writing and direction is perfect. The dialog is very funny. The movie has heart and actual holiday cheer. The casting is unimpeachable. I mean, Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, Daniel Stern… They got Joe Pesci to play the bad guy in a kids’ movie and he didn’t just take home a paycheck. He went all in.
But perhaps most importantly is the icon John Williams.
Music could make or break Home Alone and the audience’s ability to take it seriously. Williams treated a kids’ movie like an Oscar-contending masterpiece and turned in one of the greatest film scores of his entire career. And that’s saying something considering how ridiculous his career has been. When it comes to Home Alone, I’m talking top five John Williams scores, easily. It’s better than Jaws and Superman.
Yeah I said it. Fight me.
It has at least three or four timeless themes that we’ll forever associate with the holiday season, plus he adds in some clever nods to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker to make sure the score feels extra festive.
The lesson here is: be like John Williams. Do your best work, every time. Every chance you get.
You want to look back and be happy with what you created, of course. But you also never know when what you work on will be a stone-cold classic — and then you’ll really be pissed that you didn’t do your best work.
In fact, your best work has the potential to make something a classic. Williams’ score took a film that might not have fully clicked and elevated it to legend status.
You can’t know for sure if what you’re working on is destined to be seen by a shit-ton of people. So do your best work every time, even if you think no one will notice. Be like John Williams. Approach every project like it could be your last and your best. And win five Oscars!
(Although he’s been nominated 54 times, so actually his win percentage isn’t that great. Still a hell of a lot better than mine.)
Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!
