Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House
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| Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House | |
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| Directed by | Rod Daniel |
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| Produced by | Mitch Engel |
| Written by | John Hughes (characters) Debra Frank (written by) Steve L. Hayes (written by) |
| Starring | Mike Weinberg French Stewart Missi Pyle Erick Avari Barbara Babcock Joanna Going Jason Beghe Clare Carey |
| Music by | Teddy Castellucci |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | May 3, 2002 |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Home Alone 3 |
Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House is a TV movie that premiered on ABC in late 2002 and is the fourth film in the Home Alone Series. The film is a reboot of the film series, starring Mike Weinberg as Kevin McCallister, replacing Macaulay Culkin. French Stewart plays Marv Merchants, who was one of the Wet/Sticky Bandits previously played by Daniel Stern in the first two films. The film was directed by Rod Daniel and released on October 20, 2003 on DVD. It was shot in Rondebosch, a prominent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Christmas this year looks gloomy to Kevin McCallister (Mike Weinberg). His parents Peter (Jason Beghe) and Kate (Clare Carey) have separated and with their divorce looming, things at home with Kate are difficult.
Peter extends an invite to Kevin and his siblings on his Christmas Eve visit to stay with him and his rich new girlfriend Natalie (Joanna Going). Kate simply offers love and affection to the kids. The kids side with Kate, and all is well—but the invitation dwells on Kevin’s mind. So on Christmas Eve, Kevin sneaks out unbeknownst to Kate, grabs a taxi, and arrives on Natalie’s doorstep to spend the holidays with Peter.
Natalie lives in an unusual mansion—a "smart house" in which almost everything responds to remote commands: doors open and close at will, the chandelier rises and lowers, a swinging bookcase reveals a secret bar, etc. Even better, the frosty butler, Prescott (Erick Avari), and the kindly housekeeper Molly (Barbara Babcock), are at Kevin's beck and call.
As Kevin settles into his luxurious surroundings, Peter and Natalie leave to pick up some royal houseguests at the airport, including an 11-year-old crown prince.
Kevin is taken under the wing of Natalie’s housekeeper Molly when he is the sole witness to two criminals—Marv (French Stewart) and his even more clumsy wife Vera (Missi Pyle) -- breaking in easily to case the mansion with the help of an inside man who gave Marv a remote to it. It is revealed that Marv is an old rival of Kevin's who tried to break in his home once before.
Chaos ensues as Kevin’s antics get him into trouble. Natalie and Peter don't believe Kevin, and Prescott even claims to have seen nothing, which makes Kevin suspicious that maybe Prescott is the inside man.
Peter decides they should all trim the Christmas tree and they do. Kate comes over to bring Kevin some things and it's obvious that she and Peter still love one another deep down inside. Marv and Vera plan to kidnap the prince, and they decide to make their move on Christmas morning, so that night, Kevin rigs the house with booby traps.
As Christmas dawns, Kevin is left at the mansion while Natalie and Peter go out to pick up the royal guests that are staying with them over the holidays.
Meanwhile at Marv's van, Marv receives a phone call from someone (possibly Molly) and then she tells him to come back to Natalie's house where Kevin had lured Prescott to the basement and locked him up thinking there were booby traps. Then he meets with Molly and tells her everything. Suddenly Molly reveals that Prescott is not the inside man, she is! Just then, Vera and Marv open the door. Marv greets Molly by calling her "Mom" and Kevin asks if Molly is Marv 's mother. Instead of replying to Kevin's question, Molly drags Kevin to the Basement, and Kevin is trapped alone with Prescott. Later on, Kevin asks Prescott about the day he made the whole house wet and questions Prescott but he responds by saying Kevin is a Liar and Prescott says that he didn't see Marv and Vera breaking in the house because he was napping, and he didn't want Natalie to find out. Then Kevin calls for people to release them but no answer, then Prescott notice there is a dumbwaiter hiding behind the boxes and Kevin promises that he will release Prescott when he reaches upstairs although he knows he can't do it because Marv and Vera are upstairs.
When he reaches upstairs, he hears Marv's voice and Vera's voice and later Marv's neck has been stabbed by the dumbwaiter (demonstrated as Kevin shouts "Down here!" and Marv was in the looking the shaft , facing below, the dumbwaiter was on top of Marv's neck and stabbed and squeezing it but Vera clicking the buttons and it released Marv from the dumbwaiter's threat) and they have been bumped by the swinging object which Kevin had set; later the door was open by Molly and noticing that Kevin began run upstairs, Molly follows him.
Marv and Vera wake up again and begin searching for Kevin (Marv was looking for him on the upper floor and Vera was looking for him at the lower floor). Marv is muttering to himself and later he saw Molly stuck between floors. Marv went in to the bedroom and the bookshelf falls on him and Kevin has turn on the cassette and it began imitating Marv's voice but before Vera can enter, the cassette had star.
Vera decided to quit despite Marv's apology. Kevin's parents had arrived and they help to capture Marv and Vera.
The police arrest Marv and Vera, then Natalie and the royal family arrive and Natalie notices that Molly has handcuffs on her and the chief explaines she is the boss of the gang. Natalie refuses to believe this. Prescott has decided to resign, Peter says he would rather stay with his family, and then leaves Natalie with the royal family deciding to stay with the McCallister family for Christmas.
[edit] Main cast
- Mike Weinberg - Kevin McCallister
- French Stewart - Marv Merchants
- Missi Pyle - Vera Merchants
- Erick Avari - Prescott
- Barbara Babcock - Molly
- Joanna Going - Natalie
- Jason Beghe - Peter McCallister
- Clare Carey - Kate McCallister
[edit] Controversy
The movie received negative reviews[citation needed] and critics panned the movie so much the directors cancelled plans for anything relating with Home Alone 4 (except for the DVD's). According to the Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Times, the movie was bad for so many reasons. A few of them include: Many fans were outraged by the fact that the Kevin in this film did not look anything like the original Kevin. In Home Alone 2 he is mentioned as being 10, but in this movie he is said to be 9. In this movie Buzz looks like he's 12 or 13 instead of 19 or 20. Many of the key characters (like Uncle Frank and Fuhller) did not appear in this movie but some of the cousins appear in the movie for some unknown reason. The family unexplainably shrinks from five brothers to three. Due to a goof by the film-makers, the characters of Marv and Harry got mixed up (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern refused to reprise their roles as Marv and Harry saying the job was too painful and embarrassing, as all the stunts are real). The movie does not take place at the McCallister's original house. Many of the stunts in the film were criticized saying they are too ridiculous or impossible (like getting flooded in a bathroom with a window and air vents under the door). Marv was also completely different from what he was in the first 2 movies. Out of nowhere, he had married a teen named Vera, and he looked identical to Harry. Many people were outraged with Marv's characteristics. The timeline was also innacurate (see Below).
[edit] Timeline inaccuracy
Although Kevin was supposed to be age 9 in the early 1990s in this movie (instead of age 10 as he was in Home Alone 2), the movie referenced culture and technology from the late 1990s. A PlayStation game console (released in September 1995) is featured in the movie. While Kevin burns a CD to playback Marv's voice at Vera, he should have used an audio cassette since burnable CDs weren't released to the consumer market until the late 1990s. Also, a mid-to-late 1990s Dodge Caravan or Plymouth Voyager was depicted instead of one from the early 1990s. If this is supposed to be the same Kevin MaCallister he should be around 13 or 14, not 9.
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