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Home Alone

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This article is about the 1990 film. For the series, see Home Alone (franchise). For other uses, see Home Alone (disambiguation).
Home Alone
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChris Columbus
Written byJohn Hughes
Produced byJohn Hughes
StarringMacaulay Culkin
Joe Pesci
Daniel Stern
John Heard
Catherine O'Hara
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited byRaja Gosnell
Music byJohn Williams
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • November 16, 1990 (1990-11-16)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18 million[1]
Box office$476,684,675[1]

Home Alone is a 1990 American family comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation. While initially relishing time by himself, he is later greeted by two would-be burglars played by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci. The film also features Catherine O'Hara and John Heard as Kevin's parents. As of 2009, Home Alone was the highest-grossing comedy of all time.[2]

Plot

The night before their flight to Paris for the Christmas holiday, the McCallister family gathers at the Winnetka, Illinois home of Peter and Kate McCallister. Their eight-year-old son Kevin is ridiculed by his siblings and cousins. After a fight with his older brother Buzz, Kevin is sent to the third floor of the house, where he wishes his family would disappear. During the night, a power outage resets the alarm clocks and causes the family to oversleep. In the confusion and rush to reach their flight on time, Kevin is left behind and the family does not realize it until they are already airborne. Once in Paris, Peter and Kate desperately try to book a flight home, but find all the flights booked for the next two days. The clerks put Kate on standby for any possible seat opening. The rest of the family goes to their relative's home in Paris.

Meanwhile, Kevin wakes up to find the house empty and is overjoyed with his new freedom. He practices shooting with Buzz's BB gun, jumps on the bed, watches a gangster film, and eats a large serving of junk food, but accidentally wrecks Buzz's room. The Chicago Police Department arrive to check on him but are unable to find him and consider his parents' call a hoax. Kevin also deals with his fear of his next door neighbor "Old Man" Marley, who is rumored to have murdered his family many years earlier, and the Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv, criminals named for Marv's tendency to intentionally flood the homes they rob. The pair are robbing the area's vacant homes and have targeted Kevin's. Kevin keeps the pair at bay by tricking them into thinking the house is still inhabited, but they eventually realize Kevin is alone.

Kate gets a flight to the U.S., but ends up in Pennsylvania. She tries to book a flight to Chicago but they are again all booked. Kate refuses to accept the situation, and she is overheard by Gus Polinski, the lead member of a traveling polka band, who offers to let her travel with them to Chicago on their way to Milwaukee. Kate happily accepts.

On Christmas Eve, Kevin overhears Harry and Marv discussing plans for breaking into his house that night. Kevin goes to church and watches a choir perform. Marley sits beside Kevin and the pair talk; he learns that Marley is actually a nice person and the rumors about him are false. He tells Kevin he is watching the choir because his granddaughter is in it, and he never gets to see her because he and his son have not spoken in years after they had a quarrel; Kevin advises him to reconcile with his son.

Kevin returns home and sets booby traps around the house. Harry and Marv break in, triggering various traps and suffering burns, impalement and a lost tooth. While the pair close in on Kevin, he calls the police and escapes the house into a neighboring vacant home. Harry and Marv manage to catch him and discuss how they will get their revenge. Marley sneaks up behind the pair and knocks them out with a snow shovel. Shortly after, Harry and Marv are arrested, and tied to the multiple other robberies because of Marv's flooding habit.

On Christmas Day, Kevin is disappointed to find that his family is still gone. He then hears Kate enter the house and call for him; the pair hug. Immediately after, the rest of the McCallisters arrive, having flown directly from Paris to Chicago. Kevin keeps silent about his encounter with Harry and Marv, although Peter finds Harry's missing gold tooth. Kevin and Buzz forgive each other for their earlier argument. Kevin then observes Marley reuniting with his son and his family. Marley notices Kevin and the pair acknowledge each other. Buzz suddenly calls out, "Kevin, what did you do to my room?", at which point Kevin runs off.

Cast

  • Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister: The eight-year-old youngest son of the McCallister family.
  • Joe Pesci as Harry Lyme: The short leader of the Wet Bandits.
  • Daniel Stern as Marv Merchants: The tall member of the Wet Bandits.
  • John Heard as Peter McCallister: Kevin's father.
  • Catherine O'Hara as Kate McCallister: Kevin's mother.

The McCallister family is portrayed by: Devin Ratray as Buzz and Mike Maronna as Jeff, Kevin's brothers; Hillary Wolf as Megan and Angela Goethals as Linnie, Kevin's sisters; Gerry Bamman as Uncle Frank; Terrie Snell as Aunt Leslie; and Kevin's cousins are portrayed by Jedidiah Cohen as Rod, Senta Moses as Tracy, Daiana Campeanu as Sondra, Kieran Culkin as Fuller, Anna Slotky as Brooke, and Kristin Minter as Heather. The cast also includes: Roberts Blossom as Kevin's elderly neighbor Marley; John Candy as Gus Polinski, "the Polka King of the Midwest"; Larry Hankin as Larry Balzak, a police sergeant who works in family crisis; and Ken Hudson Campbell as Santa Claus.

Production

Home Alone house in Winnetka, Illinois

Home Alone was initially a Warner Bros. production; when 20th Century Fox took over the project, the budget grew from $14 to $17 million.[3]

Home Alone was set—and mostly shot—in the greater Chicago area. Other shots, such as those of Paris, are either stock footage or film trickery.[citation needed] The Paris-Orly Airport scenes were filmed in one part of O'Hare International Airport. The scene where Kevin wades through a flooded basement when trying to outsmart the burglars was shot in the swimming pool of New Trier High School. A mock-up of the McDonnell Douglas DC10 business class was also put together in the school, on the basketball courts.[4]

Some scenes were shot in a three-story single-family house located at 671 Lincoln Avenue[5] in the village of Winnetka,[6] The kitchen in the film was shot in the house, along with the main staircase, basement and most of the first floor landing. The house's dining room, and all the downstairs rooms (excluding the kitchen) were built on a sound stage.[7] The house was built in 1921 and features five bedrooms, a fully converted attic, a detached double garage and a greenhouse.[8] "Kevin's tree house" in the backyard was built specifically for the film and demolished after principal photography ended.[citation needed]

In May 2011, the house was listed for sale at $2.4 million;[9] it sold in March 2012 for $1.585 million.[5] The house is promoted as a tourist attraction[10] and cited as an example of "How to Get Your Home in the Movies."[11]

Music

Main article: Home Alone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The film score of Home Alone was composed by John Williams. Christmas songs, such as "O Holy Night" and "Carol of the Bells", are featured prominently in the film, as well as the film's theme song "Somewhere in My Memory". The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical in 1990.[citation needed]

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, Home Alone grossed $17 million in 1,202 theaters, averaging $14,211 per site and just 6% of the final total. Home Alone proved so popular that it stayed in theaters well past the Christmas season. It was the No. 1 film at the box office for 12 straight weeks, from its release weekend of November 16–18, 1990 through the weekend of February 1–3, 1991.[12] It remained a top ten draw at the box office until the weekend of April 26 that year, which was well past Easter weekend. It made two more appearances in the top ten (the weekend of May 31-June 2 and the weekend of June 14–16) before finally falling out of the top ten.[13] The film ended up making a final gross of $285,761,243, the top grossing film of its year in North America.[14] The film is listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-grossing live-action comedy ever.[2]

By the time it had run its course in theaters, Home Alone was the third highest-grossing film of all time, according to the home video box. In total, its cinema run grossed $477,561,243 worldwide.[15]

Critical response

Home Alone received mixed reviews from film critics. The film holds a 54% approval rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 41 reviews with an average rating of 5.2/10.[16] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, it has a rating score of 63/100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a 2+1⁄2 out of 4-star rating. He criticized the plot as "so implausible that it makes it hard for [him] to really care about the plight of the kid [Kevin]." He praised Culkin's performance and compared the elaborate booby-traps in the film to Rube Goldberg.[18] Although Caryn James of The New York Times complained that the film's first half is "flat and unsurprising as its cute little premise suggests", she praised the second half for its slapstick humor. She also praised the conversation between Kevin and Marley, as well as the film's final scenes.[19] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly magazine gave the film a "D" grade, criticizing the film for its "sadistic festival of adult-bashing". Gleiberman said that "[John] Hughes is pulling our strings as though he'd never learn to do anything else."[20] Variety magazine praised the film for its cast.[21] Jeanne Cooper of The Washington Post praised the film for its comedic approach.[22] Hal Hinson, also of The Washington Post, praised Chris Columbus's direction and Culkin's acting.[23]

Accolades

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Original Score, which was written by John Williams, and the other for Best Original Song for "Somewhere in My Memory", music by Williams and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.[24]

American Film Institute Lists

Sequels

The film was followed by a commercially successful sequel in 1992, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which brings back the first film's cast. Home Alone 3, released in 1997, has completely different actors, and a different storyline. A fourth film followed in 2002, Home Alone 4. This film features some of the same characters featured in the first two films, but with a new cast and a storyline that does not fall into the same continuity.

On November 25, 2012, a fifth film, Home Alone: The Holiday Heist premiered during ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas programming event.[27]

Home media

Home Alone was first released in VHS format in the United States, following its 1990 theatrical release. On October 5, 1999 or 2000, the film received its first DVD release, via 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment including the re-release of the VHS in December 2000. The "Family Fun Edition" DVD was released in 2006. For the first time, this edition contained several special features:

  • 1990 Press Featurette
  • The Making of Home Alone
  • Mac Cam: Behind the Scenes with Macaulay Culkin
  • How to Burglar Proof Your Home: The Stunts of Home Alone
  • Home Alone Around the World
  • Where's the Buzz Now?
  • Angels with Filthy Souls
  • Deleted Scenes/Alternate Takes
  • Blooper Reel
  • Set-Top Games: Battle Plan, Trivia Game, & Head Count

The film was also made available as part of a collection on DVD, featuring all four Home Alone films. The "Family Fun Edition" was released on Blu-ray Disc on December 2010.

References

  1. ^ a b "Home Alone (1990)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  2. ^ a b Home Alone - Movie Review, retrieved August 7, 2009
  3. ^ Teather, David (November 30, 2007). "Fade to red". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  4. ^ "Remembering Home Alone". Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Lucido, Gary (March 9, 2012). "Home Alone House Sells For $1.585 Million". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  6. ^ "Home Alone filming locations". Retrieved June 13, 2008.
  7. ^ "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Filming Locations". movielocationsguide.com. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
  8. ^ "Facts about the Home". jamielynnphillips. January 3, 2006. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  9. ^ "Home Alone house for sale". RTÉ News. May 6, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  10. ^ "Chicago - Things to do". Retrieved June 15, 2008.
  11. ^ "How to Get Your Home in the Movies". realestate.com. June 16, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
  12. ^ Broeske, Pat H. (January 14, 1991). "Home Alone in 9th Week as No. 1 Film : Movies: 'Godfather Part III' takes dramatic slide from second to sixth place in its third week out. 'Awakenings' is in second". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  13. ^ "Home Alone (1990) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 24, 2007.
  14. ^ Movies.com: Movie box office results for the top 50 movies of 1990[dead link]
  15. ^ "Movies.com: Movie box office results for the top 50 movies of 1990". Movies.com. Retrieved December 24, 2007.
  16. ^ "Home Alone Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 7, 2011. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  17. ^ "Home Alone Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  18. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 16, 1990). "Home Alone". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  19. ^ James, Caryn (November 16, 1990). "Movie Review - Home Alone". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  20. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (July 25, 2007). "Home Alone Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  21. ^ "Variety Reviews - Home Alone". Variety. Reed Business Information. November 16, 1990. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  22. ^ Cooper, Jeanne (November 16, 1990). "Home Alone". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  23. ^ Hinson, Hal (November 16, 1990). "Home Alone". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  24. ^ "Home Alone search". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  25. ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs Nominees
  26. ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains Nominees
  27. ^ "What's on tonight". ABC Family. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
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