Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

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Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York promotional movie poster
Directed byChris Columbus
Written byJohn Hughes
Produced byJohn Hughes
StarringMacaulay Culkin
Joe Pesci
Daniel Stern
Catherine O'Hara
John Heard
Tim Curry
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited byRaja Gosnell
Music byJohn Williams
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
November 20, 1992
Running time
120 min.
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$358,991,681

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is the 1992 sequel to the 1990 film Home Alone, written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern. Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Devin Ratray, Kieran Culkin, Gerry Bamman, Tim Curry, Rob Schneider, Dana Ivey, and Brenda Fricker co-star.

Eddie Bracken, Ally Sheedy, Bob Eubanks and Donald Trump make cameo appearances. The movie was filmed in Winnetka, Illinois, O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Miami and New York City (which was star Culkin's hometown at the time).

Home Alone 3 followed in 1997 and Home Alone 4 followed in 2002; both without Macaulay Culkin or any of the original cast.

Plot

Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin McCallister, who is once again separated from his family during one of their Christmas travels (following the prequel). This time, his family travels to Miami, Florida. At O'Hare International Airport, Kevin loses sight of his family while replacing the batteries in his Talkboy (taking his father's bag in the process). He then boards a flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, after accidentally following a man who is wearing the same coat as his father. While in New York, he decides to make the most of, as he puts it, "the greatest accident of my life".

While Kevin did not make it to Miami, his luggage did. Kevin's bag is pulled off the carousel and passed down the line to his cousin, Fuller, who realizes that Kevin did not embark on the flight to Miami. He then notifies Kevin's mother and father (Kate and Peter McCallister), causing Kate to faint. The Miami Airport security staff decides to call O'Hare International Airport, in hopes that Kevin is still in the airport.

The McCallisters are then trying to figure out where Kevin could be since he is not at O'Hare Airport. After being asked to see a photo of their son, Peter realizes that Kevin has his wallet and therefore can be tracked if he uses Peter's credit card (which he has, to no one's knowledge).

In New York, Kevin decides he needs a place to stay. He decides to stay at the Plaza Hotel, placing Peter's credit card to check in. The concierge, Mr. Hector (played by Tim Curry), is suspicious of him the entire time he sees him there, going as far as trying to break into his room and prove Kevin a fraud. This attempt ends in failure as he is caught by Kevin using an inflatable clown to impersonate his Uncle Frank singing in the shower (which Kevin had recorded earlier on his Talkboy). Along the way Kevin meets several people, including a lady (played by Brenda Fricker) who enjoys caring for pigeons, but creeps Kevin out at first.

Meanwhile, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), the "Wet Bandits" from the first film, have broken out of prison in Chicago and have found their way to New York and are trying to find a new target. Marv also comes up with a new nickname for the duo, the "Sticky Bandits", based on his new ability to steal things by covering his hand with double-sided masking tape.

During one of his days at the Plaza, Kevin decides to hire a limousine to take him around town and makes a stop at Duncan's Toy Chest, a toy store modeled after FAO Schwarz. He buys some presents and becomes friends with the store's owner who gives him a pair of turtledove ornaments as a gift after Kevin donates money to Mr. Duncan's children's hospital fund.

Kevin's plan, however, begins to fall apart after he leaves. First, he runs into Harry and Marv on the street outside the store. Harry recognizes Kevin, and the two begin chasing him. Kevin gets back to the Plaza Hotel and Mr. Hector informs him that he is aware that the credit card Kevin used is stolen and begins to chase him through the hotel. Kevin is able to escape by employing a trick he used in the first film - playing a gangster movie at full volume (this time, Angels with Even Filthier Souls). He uses the service staircase, but once again is caught by Harry and Marv. On the way, Marv tells Kevin of the planned burglary of Duncan's Toy Chest in an attempt to earn loads of cash stashed at the store, but is unaware that Kevin is recording the conversation. Kevin then escapes Harry and Marv again and goes into Central Park hiding in the back of a hansom cab.

In Miami, the rest of the family, receive a phone call on the whereabouts of Kevin. Kate and Peter are told that Kevin escaped and is now at large. They decide to leave at that moment and head to New York as soon as possible. Once they arrive, Peter and Kate confront the staff at the Plaza for letting Kevin get away. The staff offers the McCallisters a complimentary suite as a token of their apology. Peter decides to go down to the police station to see what they are doing to find Kevin. Kate then decides to roam the streets herself looking for Kevin (against the advice of both Peter and the staff) while the rest of the family and their luggage are taken up to the suite.

Kevin, meanwhile, begins walking through Central Park at night, coming across several homeless people and prostitutes along the way. Scared out of his mind, he then confronts the pigeon lady again, but gets his foot stuck between two rocks when he tries to run away. After she frees him, he apologizes for running and the two go to Carnegie Hall to watch an orchestra play Christmas music from a loft. Kevin learns that the pigeon lady's life has fallen apart because of a lack of trust in people and a lack of friends, and promises to be her friend if she needs one.

While on his way he stops at the Children's Hospital and remembers both what Mr. Duncan and Marv told him. He then says a now-famous line, "You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas." He then heads to his aunt and uncle's renovated apartment near the park and commences "Operation Ho-Ho-Ho", this time setting up more elaborate booby traps. He then heads to Duncan's Toy Chest in time to see Harry and Marv start stealing money from the cash register and donation box, taking pictures of the two doing it. Kevin then throws a rock (tied with a note to Mr. Duncan, of which he had written beforehand) through the window to set off the store alarm and signal Harry and Marv. Kevin sets up a makeshift seesaw in front of the smashed window. Harry jumps on one side first, and Marv jumps on the other side shortly afterwards and sends Harry into the air and he falls onto and smashes a parked car nearby. After Harry recovers, the two thieves begin to chase Kevin.

The showdown begins when Harry agrees to a deal with Kevin saying that they won't hurt him if he gives them the camera he used to take the pictures. Kevin then responds by throwing bricks from the roof at Harry and Marv, hitting Marv with all of his throws.

After encountering many pratfalls and booby traps themselves, the two decide to team up to try and catch Kevin, but are unable to do so. Kevin escapes into the park, but slips and falls on a patch of ice allowing Harry and Marv to catch him. Just as Harry is about to shoot Kevin, the "pigeon lady" appears and throws birdseed onto the criminals, which sticks to the varnish. This causes dozens of pigeons to swarm the two frightened thieves. Kevin then sets off some fireworks, which he bought earlier, to signal the police. They arrive, and as the thieves are arrested the police come across Kevin's photos and tape, further incriminating the Sticky Bandits. Back at the toy store, Mr. Duncan is informed of the arrest and given the note tied to the rock Kevin used to scare away the crooks.

Meanwhile, Kate is frantically searching New York City for Kevin. She stumbles across two police officers, and while talking to them she mentions that Kevin deserves to be with his family around his Christmas Tree. Suddenly it dawns on her that Kevin must be at Rockefeller Center, and asks the policemen to take her there. Her intuition proves correct, as Kevin is standing there wishing that his mother would appear. The two embrace and apologize to each other, then head back to the hotel.

The next morning, Christmas Day, Mr. Duncan (the owner of Duncan's Toy Chest) sends a whole truckload of presents to Kevin and his family at the Plaza Hotel as a reward for Kevin getting the thieves arrested. Kevin sees the two turtledoves. He goes to see the "pigeon lady" in Central Park, gives her one of the turtledoves, and reaffirms his promise to be her friend. Then they hug. At the same time, the bellboy (Rob Schneider) comes to the McCallisters' hotel room with Kevin's room service bill. Buzz looks at the bill and says, "Merry Christmas, indeed." Then he sees that they charged $967.43 on the food Kevin had purchased before, and calls out, "Oh, Dad..." Then Peter shouts out, "Kevin! You spent $967 on room service?!" This causes Kevin, hearing his father's shouts, to run back to the hotel.

Cast

Soundtrack

Track listing

  1. "All Alone On Christmas" (4:14) (Darlene Love)
  2. "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (2:14) (Alan Jackson)
  3. "Somewhere In My Memory" (3:58) (Bette Midler, composed by John Williams, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse)
  4. "My Christmas Tree" (2:35) (Home Alone Children's Choir)
  5. Template:"Sleigh Ride" (3:44) (TLC)
  6. "Silver Bells" (4:15) (Atlantic Starr)
  7. "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas" (2:40) (John Williams)
  8. "Jingle Bell Rock" (2:09) (Bobby Helms)
  9. "Cool Jerk (Christmas Mix)" (2:39) (The Capitols)
  10. "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" (2:14) (Johnny Mathis)
  11. "Christmas Star" (3:16) (John Williams)
  12. "O Come All Ye Faithful" (3:26) (Lisa Fischer)(Does not appear in the film)

Score album

In addition, a CD with excerpts from the score by John Williams was issued in 1992 [1]. The track listing is as followed:

  1. Somewhere In My Memory 3:49
  2. Home Alone 2:01
  3. We Overslept Again 2:46
  4. Christmas Star 3:18
  5. Arrival In New York 1:41
  6. Plaza Hotel And Duncan's Toy Store 3:45
  7. Concierge And Race To The Room 2:04
  8. Star Of Bethlehem 3:28
  9. The Thieves Return 4:35
  10. Appearance Of Pigeon Lady 3:19
  11. Christmas At Carnegie Hall (O Come All Ye Faithful / O Little Town Of Bethlehem / Silent Night) (5:02)
  12. Into The Park (3:49)
  13. Haunted Brownstone (3:01)
  14. Christmas Star And Preparing The Trap (4:17)
  15. To The Plaza Presto (3:22)
  16. Reunion At Rockefeller Center (2:36)
  17. Kevin's Booby Traps (3:41)
  18. Finale (3:55)
  19. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas (2:51)

Special Edition Album

However, due to techincal complications, the sound quality of this CD recording was poor. On the film's tenth anniversary, Varese Sarabande released a two disc special edition soundtrack, containing the previously noted cues along with additional compositions that were left out from the final film.[2]

The complete track listing included:

Disc One

  1. Home Alone (Main Title) (2:07)
  2. This Year’s Wish (1:47)
  3. We Overslept Again / Holiday Flight (3:19)
  4. Separate Vacations* (1:58)
  5. Arrival in New York** (2:59)
  6. The Thieves Return (3:28)
  7. Plaza Hotel (3:04)
  8. Concierge (1:31)
  9. Distant Goodnights (Christmas Star) (Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) (2:05)
  10. A Day in the City (:59)
  11. Duncan’s Toy Store (2:41)
  12. Turtle Doves (1:29)
  13. To the Plaza, Presto (3:27)
  14. Race to the Room / Hot Pursuit (4:08)
  15. Haunted Brownstone (3:02)
  16. Appearance of the Pigeon Lady (3:21)
  17. Christmas at Carnegie Hall (5:15) O Come, All Ye Faithful / O Little Town of Bethlehem / Silent Night

Disc Two

  1. Christmas Star - Preparing the Trap (Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) (4:22)
  2. Another Christmas in the Trenches (2:33)
  3. Running Through Town (1:16)
  4. Luring the Thieves* (4:02)
  5. Kevin’s Booby Traps (7:23)
  6. Down the Rope / Into the Park (5:06)
  7. Reunion at Rockefeller Center / It’s Christmas (5:21)
  8. Finale (2:00)
  9. We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Traditional) and Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas (Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) (2:51)
  10. End Title (1:32)
  11. Holiday Flight (alternate) (2:32)
  12. Suite from “Angels with Filthy Souls II” (:56)
  13. Somewhere in My Memory (Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) (3:57)
  14. Star of Bethlehem (Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) (3:32)
  15. Christmas Star (Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) (3:23)
  16. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas (orchestra) (2:23)

Box office

The movie opened to $31.1 million from 2,222 theaters, averaging $14,008 per site.[3] While it started off better than the original, the final box office gross was much less.[4] $173,585,516 was taken in domestically and $185,406,165 overseas. The film leaves with a total of $358 million worldwide.

Reaction

Critical reaction was highly negative. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times commented that the film's gags were overly cartoonish and too sadistic. He also stated that "Cartoon violence is only funny in cartoons. Most of the live-action attempts to duplicate animation have failed, because when flesh-and-blood figures hit the pavement, we can almost hear the bones crunch, and it isn't funny." Another critic called the film "Money grubbing sequilitis at its most pathetic." The film currently holds an 18% "Rotten" rating on movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.

Tie-ins

As with the first Home Alone movie, video games based on the sequel were released by THQ for such systems as the Sega Genesis, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and personal computers, mostly in late 1992. A separate hand-held game was released by Tiger Electronics.

The Talkboy handheld tape recorder that Kevin used in the film was actually a non-working prop. A huge letter-writing campaign by young fans of the film led Tiger Electronics to produce a fully functional retail version of the recorder in 1993, when the film was first released on home video.

Angels with Even Filthier Souls

Like the film Angels with Filthy Souls in the first film, Kevin watches and uses a video titled Angels with Even Filthier Souls. It is not a real film but specially-created footage. Both movies were a homage to the 1938 film Angels with Dirty Faces.

Plot

Johnny's girlfriend, Susie, entered his room. He asked her where she's been. She told him she's singing at the Blue Monkey. Johnny accused her of cheating on him, smooching with his brother and a lot of people (Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe with the Gimpy Leg, Cheeks, Boney Bob, and Cliff). She told him that he's got her all wrong. He told her that he believes her, but then takes out his Tommy Gun. She begged him and told him that she loved him.

Johnny tells Susie to get out before he counts to three, but he shoots and kills her before he reaches three. At the end of the clip; Johnny says, "Merry Christmas, you filthy animal!" and fired several more shots. Then he says, "And a Happy New Year!" and fires one more shot.


Kevin being confronted for Credit card

Kevin uses the movie "Angels With Even Filthier Souls" to trick the hotel staff when they attempt to confront him about the stolen credit card. By playing the movie in the background with the volume turned up, he fools the staff into thinking there's a real adult in the room. When the movie character, "Johnny", starts accusing his girlfriend "Susie" of cheating on him, the hotel staff are made to believe that Johnny is accusing a male staff member of "smooching with his brothers" (Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe (with the Gimpy Leg), Cheeks, Boney Bob, and Cliff ). The security guard, Cliff, is taken aback at having his name mentioned and says that it's a lie. Eventually the entire staff gets down on their knees to tell "Johnny" that they love him. When Johnny starts shooting at Susie, the staff believes they are real bullets and evacuate the hotel room. Other guests hear the "gunfire" as well and peek out of their rooms with cautious curiosity.

Characters

  • Johnny - (Ralph Foody) mobster boss who accused his girlfriend of cheating on him
  • Susie - (Clare Hoak) Johnny's girlfriend, who's also a Blue Monkey singer.
  • Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe (with the Gimpy Leg), Cheeks, Boney Bob, and Cliff - Johnny's brothers and associates whom Johnny thinks Susie is smooching with.
  • Lindy - Referring to Charles Lindbergh. Susie told Johnny that Lindy had to take two airplanes to get across her love if it would be an ocean.

References

  1. ^ http://www.soundtrack.net/albums/database/?id=1047
  2. ^ http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=vcl%2D1102%2D1014%2D2
  3. ^ "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - Weekend Box Office Results". Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  4. ^ "Home Alone Weekend Box Office Results". Retrieved 2007-12-24.

External links

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