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Credits

Rated: R; Genre: Thriller; With: Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood
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By Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr is a writer at large for EW and is no relation to Raymond or Aaron

A nasty and rich pop thriller that looks at a child and sees the numb blandness of a future serial killer. Directed by Joseph Ruben with the craft that made his 1987 film ''The Stepfather'' a B classic, The Good Son stars a young actor with the talent to take us across emotionally raw terrain -- and that actor isn't Macaulay Culkin. Mac's fine and spooky, but it's Elijah Wood who grabs our sympathy as a kid sent to stay with his aunt, uncle, and creepy cousin Henry (Culkin). ''The Good Son'' delivers its knuckle-gnawing set pieces with daring skill, but Ruben dares most by tapping into something we rarely admit about childhood: that where most kids learn to temper any innate sadism with ethics, some just don't.


Posted Oct 08, 1993
 

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