Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

"Home Alone 2" is the 1992 sequel to the original massive 1990-91 box office hit "Home Alone;" and like the original movie, this film took in many times the amount it cost to make it. Also like with the original movie; and indeed, comedies in general, you have to turn down your "reality gauge" more than a little, and just relax and enjoy the movie, instead of being hypersensitive to things that don't always make sense. There is a discrepancy, for instance, over Kevin's age and the time line of the film. In the original movie, Kevin was 8 years old. In this movie, Kevin is 10 years old, but there are references to the events of the original movie having taken place one year before. It's my understanding that this movie began filming about a year after the release of the original film, but that doesn't explain the discrepancy, but it's not really all that important. For those who saw this movie when it was first released to theaters, just to give you some perspective on how time goes so quickly, Macaulay Culkin turned 40 years old this past summer (August 2020), and John Heard, who played his father, died in 2017, age 71.      

 

Main Cast: 

 

Macaulay Culkin as 10 year old Kevin McCallister

Joe Pesci as Harry

Daniel Stern as Marv

Catherine O'Hara as Kate McCallister, Kevin's mom

John Heard as Peter McCallister, Kevin's father

Tim Curry as Mr. Hector, the concierge of the hotel

Rob Schneider as Cedric, the bellman at the hotel

Brenda Fricker as the Pigeon Lady of Central Park

Eddie Bracken as Mr. Duncan, the owner of the toy store

Ralph Foody as a gangster in a film Kevin likes

Dana Ivey as the check-in clerk

 

The story opens, as in the original movie, with lots of activity at the McCallister home in suburban Chicago as the Christmas holiday approaches, but this time, the family is flying to Florida, an idea that Kevin finds unacceptable, because he and the others will be away from a real Christmas tree. Peter, Kevin's father, accidentally disconnects the alarm clock when he unplugs a battery charger; so, keep this in mind. The family is also going to a Christmas pageant at the local school the evening before their trip to Florida, and the McCallister children will sing in the chorus, with Kevin scheduled to sing a solo. During Kevin's solo, his older brother, Buzz, gets the audience laughing at Kevin as Buzz does things right behind Kevin's back. This leads Kevin to shove Buzz and he the chorus members fall from the riser where they've been stationed for the performance. Afterwards at home, Buzz gives a phony apology to the entire family and then challenges Kevin to beat his performance, but this last is out of earshot of everyone else. Kevin refuses to apologize and insults his uncle (his dad's brother) by calling him a cheapskate, which he is (Peter has good income and his brother and his brother's wife and kids benefit from it, including by going on the vacations that are paid for by Peter). Kevin is sent to the attic and it seems we're being led down the same path that took place in the original movie, which seems confirmed when the family oversleeps because Peter unpluged the alarm clock by mistake earlier. (Comment: Obviously this is one of those things that doesn't make sense, as this family has a BIG beautiful house, a couple of cars and lots of nice and modern appliances and furniture, but I guess they can only afford one alarm clock. I'm tellin' ya, life's tough!) We learn from a windblown newspaper, that Harry and Marv have escaped from prison during a prison riot. (Comment: For those who didn't see the original movie, Harry and Marv were the crooks who sought to rob the McCallister home while the family was in Paris, but initially they didn't know Kevin was still in the house. The bungling robbers had their hands full with Kevin, and they ended up being taken off to jail.) Anyway, the next morning, the airport transportation service arrives and the doorbell rings, but the family is still asleep. They all have to rush to get ready and get to the airport for their plane to Florida, and yes, Kevin is present. We learn that the family members will not all be sitting together, which makes sense, because there are so many of them. Once at the airport, Kevin wants batteries for his portable recorder, which are in his dad's travel bag, along with lots of cash. Since Kevin wants the batteries, his dad lets him carry the bag as they all rush to get their plane. As Kevin stops briefly to load the batteries into the recorder, the family runs well ahead of him, and a man wearing the same type coat as his dad enters into the crowd of people and runs to catch his plane, making Kevin think he still has his dad in sight. The thing is, his dad and the rest of the family have turned off for the gate with the plane for Florida, while the man Kevin is following is hurrying to get a plane to New York City.

 

Kevin bumps into the flight attendant, knocking the boarding passes out of her hand, including his own pass. Kevin explains that his family is on this flight and that his dad just got on, so the attendant goes with Kevin onto the plane. Kevin points to the man he thinks is his dad and the attendant is satisfied and she tells Kevin to find a seat in another part of the plane, as there are no seats by his "dad." (Comment: Just to clarify, when Kevin bumped into the flight attendant, his boarding pass got mixed up in all of the other passes knocked from the flight attendant's hand.) Kevin sits down next to a man and tries to start a conversation, but the man speaks French, and Kevin puts on his headphones to drown out the man's incessant chatter. (Comment: They didn't even translate what the guy was saying in subtitles. Maybe they were afraid Kevin would read them.) With headphones on, Kevin can't hear the flight attendant announce that the plane is bound for New York City. So later, the plane lands in New York and Kevin can't find any member of his family. He asks a lady at the information counter which city this is, and she tells him it's New York City. Kevin knows he's messed up. At first, Kevin is scared, but then he realizes he's in New York City and away from his family; so, off he goes to explore the Big Apple. Meanwhile, in Florida the family's plane lands and they all go to pick up their baggage, but when Kevin's bag is handed around, they now realize Kevin is not there! Peter and Kate report their missing son to airport security, but they make a terrible impression by cracking that such a situation has happened before, because they forgot Kevin at home on a vacation trip, so this is the second time Kevin has been missing, "but we never lose our luggage." They laugh, but the security officer isn't amused, and he tells the couple security will contact the police in Chicago to see if the boy is still there.

 

In the meantime, Harry and Marv arrive in New York City as stowaways in a seafood truck. The two crooks begin to look for a place to rob. Kevin tours part of the city, but when he goes to Central Park, he's frightened by the sight of a rather shabbily dressed woman covered with pigeons, and he runs off. (Comment: If she's covered with pigeons, is she also be covered by what pigeons leave behind, and I'm not talking feathers?) As Kevin crosses a street, Harry and Marv pass by, and at first Harry thinks he recognizes something about Kevin, but he then moves on and Kevin doesn't see the two crooks. He goes to the Park Plaza Hotel where he uses his recorder to record a message reserving a room by telephone, and when it plays back, he slows the speed to disguise his voice. He calls the hotel 800 number on a payphone and reserves a room, then a little later he goes to the reservation desk where he checks in. Because he has his dad's carry on bag, he has his dad's money and wallet, which has his dad's credit cards in it. He presents a credit card, telling the clerk his dad is in a business meeting and that he dropped him off at the hotel. The clerk makes an impression of the credit card info (the procerdure back then, with carbon copies), and she tells Kevin his dad will have to sign some papers. Not far away, the concierge is suspicious, but he sends the bellman to take Kevin to the room. After Kevin checks out the room, the bellman waits for his tip, and Kevin hands him a piece of chewing gum. Meanwhile in Florida, the security officer hears there is no sign of Kevin in Chicago, so he asks for a recent picture of the boy, but when his dad reaches for his wallet, it's not in his pocket, and he realizes Kevin has his money and credit cards. 

 

Kevin uses the hotel indoor swimming pool and he then proceeds to enjoy some time in the hotel room, including a room service waiter to make to serve him dishes of all kinds of ice cream. All the while Kevin watches a gangster movie video on the room's VCR with the same leading gangster character from the original movie, only this time, the gangster is in a dispute with his girlfriend and he takes out a Tommy gun, and as in the original movie, he uses it. A little later the concierge, who had been suspicious of Kevin in the hotel lobby, knocks at the door and pretends to be with housekeeping. Kevin runs into the bathroom and sets up a large inflatable clown in the shower (it had been given to him as a gift to use at the beach in Florida), and then he gets his tape recorder from when his uncle was singing in the shower (I didn't cover this earlier, but prior to going to the Christmas show at the school, Kevin needed his tie, but it was in the bathroom where his uncle was in the shower and singing too. Kevin recorded his uncle, who then saw Kevin and yelled, "Get out of here you nosy little pervert or I'm going to slap you silly.") The concierge hears the singing in the bathroom and he decides to peek in. When he does, through the shower curtain he sees the shadow of who he thinks is Mr. McCallister, but then comes the part about the "nosy little pervert," and the concierge runs through the suite to get out (keep this scene in mind for later). Kevin hasn't been found out yet. Meanwhile in Florida, it's pouring down rain! 

 

Kevin looks at a picture of his family from his dad's wallet and he begins to miss them. The next morning, the day before Christmas, Kevin's arranged for the htoel to get a limo for him to see the city. The concierge wants Kevin to explain his intrusion into the bathroom the night before, and Kevin plays it all well, but the suspicious concierge gets the credit card information out. He puts the numbers into the device and across the top comes "STOLEN." He's happy. Kevin is out and about in the limo and he has the driver take him to a toy store, "Duncan's Toy Chest." Inside, Kevin buys a few things and he goes to pay for them. The kindly older man at the cash register chats with Kevin. It's Mr. Duncan, but Kevin doesn't know that at first. During their chat Mr. Duncan tells Kevin that the store owner is going to donate all the money taken in for the day to the Children's Hospital. Kevin is so impressed, he takes $20 from his dad's money and donates it for the hospital. This brings Mr. Duncan to give Kevin two turtledove decorations from one of the store's Christmas trees. He tells Kevin he'll need to keep one and to give the other one to someone special, and that then the two will be friends forever. Kevin leaves, but there's no limo waiting outside (undoubtedly recalled because of the credit card being stolen). While Kevin had been in the limo, Harry and Marv see an ad for "Duncan's Toy Chest," and they decide it would be a good place to rob that night, Christmas Eve. They go to the toystore to check it out and develop a plan. They are in the store at the same time as Kevin, but it's only when Kevin and the two crooks go outside that Harry and Marv see and recognize Kevin. When Kevin turns around and sees the two bungling robbers, he screams, which brings looks from all over the street, making Harry and Marv hesitate to do anything to Kevin, and it gives the boy a chance to run off through the New York City traffic, but with the two prison escapees following not too far behind. A street peddler is shouting out his deal for bead necklaces (fake pearls) and Kevin quickly pays the man and gets some necklaces. He runs across another street as Harry and Marv begin to cross the street after him. Kevin starts breaking the bands holding the beads on the necklaces, which sends a multitude of beads all over the sidewalk. As Harry and Marv charge across to the sidewalk, they step on the beads ...WHOOPS! Down they go, flat on their backs. The thing is, as Kevin approaches the hotel, the concierge is outside and sees Kevin coming. This brings a big grin to his face, and when he stops Kevin, he grabs the credit card from Kevin's pocket and tells Kevin that it's been reported as stolen. The concierge thinks he now has Kevin, or does he? Kevin runs past the concierge and into the hotel and he is able to get to the elevator in spite of the bellman and the front desk clerk. 

 

Kevin gets to the room and grabs some snacks and his dad's travel bag and prepares to leave, but into the room come the concierge, the bellman, the desk clerk and two other hotel employees. Kevin picks up the video remote control and starts playing the scenes from the gangster movie (if you've never seen the movie, this scene is hilarious, but it's too involved to try to explain here). In the gangster film, the gangster argues with his girlfriend, but the concierge thinks this is Mr. McCallister yelling at him for being in the room the night before (Hey, I told you to keep that scene of the concierge entering the room in mind). The gangster says "you were smooching with my brother," and the whole crew sort of gasps, and the concierge doesn't know what to say. There's more, but tough to explain, so you have to watch it. Eventually in the film, the gangster tells the girlfriend to get down on her knees "and tell me you love me." The concierge and the other personnel get down on their knees trying their darndest to convince the guy they love him! hahahaha The gangster takes out the Tommy gun and threatens to open fire, bringing the hotel crew to dash for the door just before the sound of shots ring out. They crawl along the hallway floor as the shots continue, and as guests peek from their rooms to see what all of the commotion is about. Kevin sneaks out and uses the stairs to get out of the hotel, but when Kevin exits the door at the rear of the building, Harry and Marv are right there and they nab him, and tear up his plane ticket. Marv is a talker and he blabs out the two crooks' plans to rob Mr. Duncan's toystore at midnight. While Harry tells Marv to shut up, they don't know it, but Kevin has switched on the recorder in his pocket and it records everything that's been said (keep this in mind). Harry and Marv want to get Kevin to the subway and Harry tells the boy he has a gun in his pocket. When the three stop at a corner to wait for the traffic light to change, Kevin reaches over and pinches the "behind" of a young lady in front of them. When she turns around, she assumes Marv did it, and she punches him, knocking him to the ground, but Kevin points to Harry and says he did it, so she slugs him too. Kevin races off. Harry and Marv decide to give up on catching Kevin. 

In Miami, the rain continues, and the McCallister family is stuck in their hotel watching "It's A Wonderful Life," in Spanish! (Hey, it's Miami). The police call and tell them Kevin is in New York City, so the family prepares to fly to New York. Peter wonders if Kevin might try to contact Peter's brother who lives in New York, but the brother and his family are in Paris vacationing, and their house is under renovation while they're gone. (Comment: Hey, this whole family's got some bucks! Just call me "Kevin.") Kevin has his uncle's address from his dad's address book in his travel bag, so he goes to the house, but he sees it's under renovation and that no one is even there. As he walks through Central Park alone, Kevin sees the rough side of life for many people, they're homeless and mentally ill. He finally stops to eat a couple cookies he took from the hotel room before leaving, but a pigeon lands right by him as Kevin prepares to eat. He crumbles some of the cookie and holds it out, and the pigeon starts to eat. Then another pigeon lands and starts to eat, then another and another, until the cookies are gone, but the pigeons are happy. (Comment: I guess that's how the cookie crumbles.) From behind a rock, the head of the "Pigeon Woman" emerges (the woman covered in pigeons from not long after Kevin arrived in New York City). Kevin screams and tries to run, but his foot gets caught between some rocks. The woman comes closer and Kevin screams again, but she bends down and frees his foot from between the rocks. Kevin runs, but then he stops. He turns around and starts talking to the woman who just helped him. She is very soft spoken, and when Kevin asks why the pigeons come to her, she gives him some seed to throw into the air. When it hits the ground, dozens of pigeons swarm in and land to eat the seed. Kevin asks the woman if she'd like to get some hot chocolate and she agrees; off they go. The woman takes Kevin to a dusty, secluded attic-like room above Carnegie Hall. The two talk some more and Kevin finds out the woman was once in love, but the man left her and broke her heart. Kevin encourages her to talk to more people and to trust others. (Comment: While such things never go out of style, it's important to understand that when the movie was filmed, many people were going through rough economic times, and "downsizing" was the mantra of the business world. Quite a number of people had had decent jobs, but they were cut from payrolls, sometimes to help a business to survive, and sometimes to just make more money for already wealthy owners and investors. I can't tell you how many people, but a number of people who lost the decent jobs were left taking jobs with far less income or benefits, like health insurance. There was serious homelessness; and thus, serious emotional stress on many, bringing with it mental illness and drug and alcohol abuse. Along with these things came panhandling, including aggressive panhandling by some, and robberies to survive, or to also support addictions. The Pigeon Lady represents a segment of the people who felt left behind (also true today) and she tells Kevin how some people don't want people like her to be a part of "their city." Kevin tells her people don't always forget about others intentionally, they sometimes need to be reminded.) Kevin tells the woman he thinks being alone would be more fun, but then, when he IS alone, it's not fun, and that he'd rather be around people. He tells the woman he's done some bad things, and she tells him that a good deed erases a bad deed and that he should think of a good deed to do. Kevin and the woman part and they wish each other a merry Christmas. As Kevin walks along a thought comes to him and he runs back to his uncle's house and gets inside by climbing up the debris chute. He finds lots of tools and materials from the ongoing renovation work and he starts working on traps for the crooks. 

 

Meanwhile the McCallisters arrive at the hotel and confront the concierge and staff for letting a child check in to a hotel alone. Kate decides she wants to go out looking for Kevin while Peter goes to the police station to check on what they're doing to find Kevin. The clock strikes midnight and the guard at the toystore building locks the door. Harry and Marv have been hiding inside waiting for this moment. Harry finds the cash register full of money and Marv pries open a chest used for donations for the children's hospital; it's full of money! The two have struck it rich when Kevin peeks in and taps on the window. When the crooks look at Kevin, he snaps their picture and then he throws a rock through the window with a note on it. The broken window sets off the alarm and Harry and Marv take out after Kevin. As Kevin runs toward his uncle's house, Kate is already there, but finds no one there, so she gets into a taxi and leaves, just as Kevin gets to the house, with Harry and Marv a little distance behind. Kevin climbs up through the debris chute again and heads up to the roof. When he looks down, there are Harry and Marv who try to make a deal with him to give up the camera with their picture stealing the money in the toyshop. They ask the boy to just throw the camera down, and Kevin agrees, except he throws down a brick, not the camera. Marv is struck and falls to the ground. When Harry challenges Kevin to throw another brink, he does, and Marv is hit again, then again, and one more time. While Harry goes around to the back, Marv tries to enter through the front door, but when he grabs the door knob and pulls, Kevin has a rope tied to a large staple gun. When the rope is pulled tight, it will pull the trigger, firing a staple through the opening left by the doorknob. Marv struggles at pulling the rope, so he turns around, putting his backside up against the door, and pulls on the rope. BAM! The staple attaches the rope right to his butt, so when he turns around, it tightens the rope again and fires another staple into him, causing him to drop to his knees and putting his head even with the staple gun, which cuts loose with another staple that firmly pins Marv's nose to his face, if it needed such.

 

Harry sees a fire escape ladder in the back of the building. He tries jumping over to get it, but Kevin has covered it with some slimy substance that causes Harry to fall back down. When Harry finally opens a door, Kevin has it rigged up to release a bunch of tools onto the person entering, and Harry is entering! Meanwhile, Marv kicks open the front door, but when he steps inside, he plunges down to the basement level, as part of the floor has been removed for the renovation. When he recovers, he begins to walk, but Kevin has covered the floor with the same slimy stuff he put on the outside ladder, and Marv slides into some shelving full of paint cans. Down comes the shelving, paint cans and all, right onto Marv. When Marv goes to the basement sink to wash, Kevin has a battery connected to the pipes of the sink and he switches on the power. As soon as Marv tries to turn the water on, he's zapped by mega volts of electricity. So Harry wanders around, and he finds no tricks from Kevin; at least, not at first. He pulls the chain to turn on one of the lights and Kevin has it connected to a type of igniter which sets Harry's hat ablaze (similar to what happened in the original movie). Kevin has emptied kerosene into the nearby toilet, and when Harry tries to douse his hat and head by sticking his head into the toilet bowl ... KA POW! Marv's hair is all frizzly from the jolt of electric and he tries climbing up to the ground level through a hole in the floor. Kevin has a rope tied to a large bag of cement, but when Marv pulls on the rope, it seems solid, until he actually puts weight onto it. Down comes the bag of cement onto Marv. He regains his composure as Kevin climbs a ladder to the second floor (Kevin looks over at Marv and says, "Don't you know a kids always wins against two idiots?"). Kevin had used a saw to cut through part of the ladder, but it was still able to bear Kevin's weight, but not the weight of an adult. Harry is the adult... so to speak, and the ladder breaks and Harry falls to the floor. The two bungling crooks try going up the stairs, but Harry remembers how Kevin hit them with suspended paint cans before (in the original movie). So the two guys stomp around to try to make Kevin think they're coming up the stairs. Down swings a paint can and then another. Harry and Marv scream as if they've been hit, but they assume that's the end of Kevin's devices on the stairway. They begin to charge up the steps, when down swings what seems to be a large drain pipe on a rope ... BOOM! The two crooks are not only knocked down the steps, they are knocked down through the hole in the floor into the basement. As the pipe swings back up to Kevin, he cuts the rope, letting the pipe bounce down the steps right down through the hole in the floor and onto Harry and Marv. The two recover and climb back to the main floor, only to have Kevin taunt them with about how scared he is. Kevin ties another rope to the doorknob of the door to the attic stairway. He then ties the other end to a large tool chest on wheels, which he has right at the edge of the top of the stairs. Harry and Marv pull the doorknob and they wonder what the loud noise is they hear (it's the sound of the tool chest coming down the steps), so they put their ears to the door. The chest slams against the door, taking the door off the hinges and pushing the two crooks up against the opposite wall. Kevin heads to the roof where he climbs down a rope. Harry and Marv get to the roof and look down and see Kevin. Harry has to coax Marv, but the two begin descending the rope, only to realize that Kevin has soaked the rope in kerosene, and after Harry and Marv get part way down the rope, there's Kevin with a lit match at the bottom. He lights the rope and the two bungling criminals try to climb up the rope as the fire pursues them. They fall from the rope and break the scaffolding set up outside the building for the renovation. As they look up, now here comes paint and varnish cans down upon them from other scaffolding that has given way. 

 

Kevin runs to a payphone (there were such things back then ... haha) and calls 9-1-1 for the police. He reports that the men who robbed Duncan's Toy Chest are in Central Park West at 95th Street. He adds, "Look for fireworks. Hurry, they've got a gun." Harry and Marv recover and take out after Kevin, who can't hold back on one more taunt to "come and get me," but when he runs across a street, he slips on the ice and is dazed when he hits the ground. He looks up and there are the two crooks staring down at him. Harry and Marv walk Kevin into the park and they open the bag and take out the photos of themselves robbing the toystore. When Harry pulls a gun from his coat pocket, it's dripping with paint, varnish and slimy guck from the night's adventures. We hear the sound of wings flapping, hm, maybe angels? Buffalo wings? Honey barbecue? Nope, they're pigeon wings, and more and more pigeons are congregating. Suddenly the Pigeon Lady appears with a bucket. When Harry and Marv turn towards her, she yells for Kevin to run, and he grabs the bag and heads a short distance away. The Pigeon Lady empties the bucket onto the two crooks and we find the bucket is full of seed. With the various sticky substances on the two men, the seed sticks all over them and the pigeons cover them in a scene that undoubtedly had Alfred Hitchcock laughing in his grave (ah, if that's possible). (Comment: Alfred Hitchcock produced and directed the famous 1963 thriller film "The Birds," about masses of birds run amok and attacking people. Hitchcock died in 1980, and his body was cremated, so no laughing in his grave for Alfred.) Kevin thanks the Pigeon Lady and takes some fireworks from the bag with the camera. He lights the fuse and "BAM! POW! KABOMB!" The police arrive and fire a shot to scare the pigeons away. We see Harry and Marv covered with pigeon feathers and ah, what the Pigeon Lady's coat is covered with from the pigeons too. The police find the photos of the men robbing the toystore, as well as the tape of the guys threatening to kill Kevin from earlier in the movie. The police take the two away. 

 

A little later at the toystore, the police report to Mr. Duncan that the robbers have been caught and the money recovered. Mr. Duncan wants the money delivered to the Children's Hospital immediately and the police officer assures him he will deliver it personally. A detective has found the rock with Kevin's note tied to it and he gives the note to Mr. Duncan. In the note Kevin explains that he broke the window to help get the robbers and that if Mr. Duncan doesn't have insurance, he'll send him the money to pay for the window. He also again thanks Mr. Duncan for the turtledoves. (Comment: I wonder if Mr. Duncan offered anyone some of his donuts. You know, "Duncan donuts.") Meanwhile, Kate walks along asking people if they've seen her son, as she tries to show them a photo of Kevin. Most are disinterested, but she comes upon a police car with two officers in it (one with a cup of coffee, as likely he has already eaten a "Duncan donut"). At first she has trouble getting them interested in her situation (remember Kevin's talk with the Pigeon Lady, people have to be reminded not to forget, and she reminds the officers of their own children, and how the officers would react if one of their kids was missing), but she finally succeeds a bit, and as she talks about Kevin deserving to be at home with a Christmas tree, she tells the policemen she knows where Kevin is... Rockefeller Center (which has New York City's Christmas tree display every year). They take her there. As Kevin stands before the huge tree at Rockefeller Center, he confesses his mistakes and promises to forgive and love everyone in his life, regardless of their mistakes. Kate calls to Kevin and she runs to him and they hug and then go to the hotel. The next morning, Christmas morning, the family awakens to find all kinds of presents under a tree in their suite (which is pretty sweet). We find out the gifts are from Mr. Duncan (probably donuts), and as Kevin looks at the Christmas tree, a thought strikes him. He runs to get dressed and he heads to Central Park. There, surrounded by pigeons, is the Pigeon Lady. Kevin wishes her a merry Christmas and she turns toward him delightedly and returns the greeting. Kevin has her hold out her hand and he places one of the turtledoves in it. She is a bit confused, and Kevin explains that as long as she has a turtledove and he has a turtledove, they will always be friends. She is very touched and Kevin tells her, "I won't forget you, trust me." The two hug each other. 

                    

At the hotel, the bellman knocks at the McCallister door and delivers Kevin's room service bill, totaling $967. Buzz takes the bill into his dad. Outside, Kevin is with the Pigeon Lady when he hears his father scream, "KEVIN! You spent $967 on room service?" Kevin runs off. 

                   

  

Photo is isolated from the DVD Home Alone Collection by Fox Home Entertainment 2013

WORD HISTORY:

Pew-This noun is a close relative of "podium," a word English borrowed from Latin, but it is also related to "pedal," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French, which had gotten it from Italian, and it is distantly related to "foot" and to "fetter," both words from the Germanic roots of English. "Pew" goes back to Indo European "ped," which meant "foot," with extended meanings like "support, base." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "pous," which meant "foot" and this produced the transliterated noun "pódion," a diminutive form meaning "(small) base" (seemingly initially used in regards to statues and vases). Latin borrowed the word as "podium," meaning, "an elevated area, platform or balcony in an amphitheater or an arena." "Podia," the plural of "podium," gave Old French "puie/puye," meaning, "elevated seat or platform, balcony, mound, parapet." English borrowed the word circa 1400 initially as "pewe/peue," and initially it was used for "elevated benches for certain, often important, people in a church," but later broadened to more commonly mean "rows of benches fixed in place within the worship area of a church," but the idea of an area for "important people" has also persisted in some churches.    

Home Alone: Macaulay Culkin Wins The Day

Macaulay Culkin's performance in this 1990 comedy film made him a star and it helped to propel the movie into a huge box office success, earning the film many, many times its cost; and, that doesn't even count the money it earned from various video editions, television airings and such.

 

Many of the movie critics and the Sheldon Cooper crowd didn't give the movie high marks, but as has been said of some other movies, television shows and music, the only group of people who liked it was the public, and the film took in hundreds of millions of dollars. Sheldon Coopers, even before Sheldon Cooper was known, have a hard time laughing at things that don't always make sense, and that's a shame, because they miss so much fun, and "Home Alone" is something of a cartoon in movie form, especially during 8 year old Kevin's punishment of the burglars, which seems only to lack a clobbering of one of the burglars with a pan that leaves his head temportaily in the shape of the pan. 

 

Main Cast:

 

Macaulay Culkin as 8 year old Kevin McCallister

Joe Pesci as Harry

Daniel Stern as Marv

John Heard as Kevin's father, Peter McCallister

Catherine O'Hara as Kevin's mother, Kate McCallister

Roberts Blossom as McCallister neighbor Marley

John Candy as Gus Polinski

Ralph Foody as the gangster in movie Kevin watches and then uses as a scare tactic

 

The movie opens with lots of activity at the McCallister home in suburban Chicago, as members of the family prepare to leave the next morning for a trip to Paris. A man in a police uniform with a sparkling gold tooth struggles to get information about what's going on, but he finally finds out about the family vacation and about the security measures they have in place for the safety of their soon to be unoccupied home. The man with the gold tooth assures Peter McCallister, the owner of the home, that his very nice house, equipped and stocked with lots of appliances, televisions and VCRs (the then main means of recording and playing videos), will be safe from burglars. Peter's 8 year old son, Kevin, loses his cool by going after other young family members who actually torment him, but only Kevin's outburst is witnessed by the adults, prompting his mother, Kate, to send him to bed in the attic for the night. As she escorts him up the stairs, Kevin tells her he hopes he'll never see any of his family again. (Comment: Kevin is not a responsible kid and he often wants others to do things for him. Much of the teasing of him by the others has to do with his "helplessness." Keep this in mind.)

 

It's winter in Chicago and that means windy conditions and during the night the high winds break a branch from a tree, which knocks out the power and telephone service (landline in those times) to the house. The family oversleeps and this brings the family to a chaotic departure to make it to the airport for their plane. One of the teenagers is given the job of counting the young people to account for everyone, and she mistakes a neighbor boy for Kevin, who is still asleep in the attic. The repairman for the power company restores power to the house, but he tells the departing family the telephone service is likely to be out for days. The family gets to the airport and runs to board the plane. Off they go ... PARIS HERE WE COME! At the house, Kevin awakens to an empty home and once he confirms this fact, he believes his wish to never see his family again has come true. Kevin alternates between being a responsible "adult," going shopping (even using a coupon he's clipped from the newspaper to save on orange juice) and doing laundry, and being the 8 year old he really is, jumping on the bed, eating junk food and sledding in the house (Typing this line made me spill my potato chips all over the place!). This back and forth is all sort of crystallized by what became one of the most famous scenes in the movie, where Kevin acts the adult in the bathroom and applies after shave lotion to his face, bringing the actual 8 year old to scream, "ahhhhhhhhhh," from the sting of the lotion. Kevin is resourceful and he gets into his older brother's belongings and he finds some firecrackers and later he finds his brother's money stash, but only after having to climb up some shelving to get it. This brings the shelves crashing down, which releases his brother's tarantula into the house (keep this in mind). Kevin watches a gangster type movie, complete with a man who uses a machine gun to kill a man who says the guy owes him money. This scene gives Kevin a scare, and he calls out for his mom. Meanwhile on the plane, Kate is nagged by the feeling of having forgotten something and she finally realizes what is is ... "KEVIN," she yells. 

 

Come evening, an old van sits in the neighborhood. Inside are Marv and Harry, two crooks looking to make a big haul while so many people are gone for the holidays in the well to do neighborhood. Harry is the man with the golden tooth who impersonated a policeman to get information about which houses would have no one at home and what security devices they have installed. He even knows the exact time the lights will automatically come on at each house, a trick using a timing device to make burglars think someone is home. Harry likes what he saw at the McCallister home and he and Marv head there to break in and rob the place, but Kevin hears the van pull in and he then sees the silhouettes of the two burglars through the curtains. As the two men prepare to pry the back door open, Kevin flips on the switches to many of the downstairs lights near the backdoor. This makes the two crooks flee, but Kevin reverts to 8 year old and he runs and hides under the bed, until he convinces himself, "I'm the man of the house." (Comment: My late dog would often run and hide under the bed; that is, until I told him to go find his own hiding place.) Kevin goes outside screaming how he's not afraid anymore, but then the McCallister's bearded scary old neighbor and "rumored killer," Mr. Marley, comes along, and Kevin decides that being 8 years old is the better part of valor and he runs into the house and up the steps, this time jumping into bed and pulling the covers over his head. (Comment: Why do people pull the covers over their head? If an intruder has a gun, knife or other weapon, how will pulling the covers over one's head save them? Ah... asking for a friend.)   

 

Meanwhile, the McCallister family has landed in Paris and they find their home telephone is still out of order, so they try to contact neighbors, but they're all out of town. Kate calls the police, but she does a poor job of explaining the situation, and the police transfer her call to the department for children who are living in threatening conditions, like with abusive or drunken parents or other family members. The man who takes the call is totally unenthusiastic and he transfers the call back to the police department. This lady is not terribly concerned either, but she sends a police officer to the home. He knocks at the door, but Kevin is still hiding under the covers, and the officer doesn't see any signs of a break in, so he leaves. Back in Paris, the earliest opening on the airlines to return to Chicago is two days off because of heavy holiday travel, but the airline suggests that someone stay at the airport to take an opening that may occur. Kate stays. Back in Chicago, the crooks have broken into one of the neighbor's homes and as they clear out anything valuable, the telephone rings and a message is left on the answering machine by Peter McCallister about being in Paris; so now, the crooks know the McCallisters are gone, although they don't know about Kevin as yet. As Kevin is on his way home from another scary encounter with Mr. Marley at a neighborhood store, the crooks are cleaning out one of the other homes in Kevin's neighborhood and they almost hit Kevin with their van. Kevin recognizes Harry's shiny gold tooth bringing a surprised look to the boy's face, which in turn alarms Harry. The two crooks follow Kevin to see where he goes, but Kevin eludes them by hiding in a manger display outside of a church. Kevin now knows who the potential burglars are and he vows to be ready for them if they come back to his house. Sure enough, Harry and Marv drive up to the house that night, but there appears to be lots of activity inside the house, so they drive away with the plan of returning the next day. Actually Kevin has rigged up a life-sized cut out of Michael Jordan (the most popular athlete in the country in those times) and various Christmas displays to make it look as if the house has lots of people moving around inside. 

 

Kevin orders a pizza for delivery and a young man pulls up with the pizza and goes to the back door as instructed in a note. Kevin has the video of the gangster movie ready to go in the video player and the scenes he wants he has programmed into the remote control. The young man knocks at the door and the gangster can be heard asking who it is, followed by some brief comments by the deliveryman and the movie character. The pizza is $11.80 and Kevin drops $12 out through the mail slot then he uses the remote control to hit the appropriate comment (appropriate to Kevin) from the gangster, which is, "Keep the change, you filthy animal." The meager 20 cent tip prompts the young deliveryman to say, "Cheapskate!" Kevin presses another button on the remote control and the gangster's line comes out loud and clear: "I'm going to give you to the count of 10 to get your ugly, yellow, no good keister off my property, before I pump your guts full of lead." The young man is naturally startled and he begins to flee, but the gangster continues, "One, two, TEN!" The sound of the machine gun erupts and the terrified young man slips and slides through the snow on the way to his car. (Comment: The scene is funny, but Sheldon Cooper would ask, "So a deliveryman thinks he's been fired upon, but he never calls the police to report it?" The obvious answer is, the guy sped home, jumped in bed and pulled the covers over his head. The hell with calling the police!) 

 

Meanwhile Kate is able to make a deal with an older couple for a seat on a plane to get back to the U.S., although not to Chicago, rather to Dallas and then to Scranton, Pennsylvania. At the McCallister house in Chicago, Harry and Marv show up the next day and Marv goes to the back door to see if he sees or hears anyone, after what seemed to have been a party the night before. Kevin hears Marv try to open the door, and he grabs the remote and starts playing the gangster video again; after all, it scared the hell out of the pizza guy. Marv listens as the movie lines are uttered, all the while convinced this is a real conversation. Kevin breaks out the firecrackers he found in his brother's belongings and he lights the fuse just as the machine gun in the movie starts to fire. Like the pizza deliveryman the night before, Marv stumbles and slides as he runs back to Harry and the van. The two crooks decide to wait to see who did the shooting, but as they wait, Kevin comes out with a saw to cut down a small pine tree for his own Christmas tree. They now know who he is and that he's home alone. They decide to come back around nine that evening, but Kevin hears their plan when he opens an upstairs window. Kevin is scared and he asks, "Mom, where are you?" Harry and Marv leave and Kevin goes out in the early evening. First he gives a Santa Claus helper a message to give to the real Santa; that is, to just get his family back, he doesn't need any toys or other presents. As he walks along, Kevin sees families gathered together for the holiday and he feels sad that he's without his own family, especially given his wish not to ever see them again. 

 

Well, Mom, I mean Kate, can't get a flight to Chicago from Scranton, but a polka band and its leader, Gus Polinski, hear Kate tell how she has to get home to her 8 year old son and that she'll even make a pact with the devil to achieve that. Gus tells her he and his group are also unable to get a flight to Milwaukee, which is a little less than 100 miles north of Chicago, but that they are going to rent a truck and drive home and that they could take her with them and drop her off in Chicago first. So off they go, polka music and all. 

 

Back in Chicago, Kevin walks to the church with the manger display where he hid from the crooks before. There is singing coming from the service inside. Kevin thinks for a moment and then he goes in. Kevin sits down in a pew all by himself, but when he looks over, across the aisle sits Mr. Marley. He stands and comes over to Kevin and says, "Merry Christmas. May I sit down?" Kevin nods and Marley sits down next to Kevin. Marley tells Kevin that his granddaughter is in the choir. He also tells him that he doesn't have to be afraid of him, that the stories going around are not true. As the two neighbors talk, we find out that Marley is troubled by an argument he had with his son a few years before. The two haven't spoken since. Kevin tells Marley that he said some things about his family that he shouldn't have; so, they both have similar problems. Kevin tells Marley he should call his son, but Marley says he's afraid his son won't talk with him. Kevin wisely tells him that he should still call his son and that at least he'll know the answer. Kevin gets up to leave, but not before the two shake hands, the little kid and the old man, who looks about my age ... which makes him middle aged (hey, I crossed my fingers to type that). Kevin hurries home to prepare the defense of his home against the crooks. 

 

Kevin prepares lots of traps for Harry and Marv, and as his brother's tarantula calls through the house, Kevin fixes a frozen macaroni and cheese dinner in the microwave. Harry and Marv pull up in their van and they decide to go to the back door. They even hope that the boy will let them in. They knock at the back door and yell in that they know the boy is there and that he's alone. Kevin has his brother's BB gun and he sticks it out the dog door and fires, hitting Harry in the ... ah, well there's only one thing that can make a guy hurt like that, and it's not getting hit between the toes. Marv, who always thinks he's pretty clever, sticks his head through the dog door, only to get a BB between the eyes, which still left him nowhere near as bad off as Harry. Finally Harry goes to the front of the house, but he slips on the front steps, which are covered with ice since Kevin cleverly threw water on them so it would freeze solidly. Marv finds the same problem with the basement steps and he too slips and falls before he finally gets to the door and pries it open. Once inside, Marv pulls the string to turn on the basement light, but Kevin has connected the string to the family iron, which sits at the top of the laundry chute. Down comes the iron as Marv looks up in reaction to the noise of the iron falling through the chute. BAM! Out front, Harry gets to the door and grabs the doorknob only to have his hand cooked medium rare, complete with the impression of the "M" on the McCallister's doorknob, as Kevin has heated the knob from the inside with the heating element from the family barbecue grill. Harry buries his scorched hand into the snow to get relief. The thing is, the more the two misfits are punished, the more they can't stop pursuing Kevin; and indeed, that is now much more their motive than the valuables in the house. 

 

Marv tries going up the basement steps that lead into the house, but Kevin has coated the steps with tar and a strategically placed nail. As Marv proceeds, his shoes are pulled off by the sticky tar, then his socks. Now comes the nail, and Marv steps right on it ... YEOW!!! He tumbles backwards down the steps grasping his foot. Harry finally opens the door, but Kevin has tied a rope to a blowtorch so that when the door opens it ignites the torch which spews fire at the person entering, and that person is Harry, whose head is scorched after his knit hat has the top incinerated. This time Harry sticks his head into the snow for relief. After this Harry kicks open the door and Marv goes back outside and sees a window open. Harry screams how he's going to get the boy, but Kevin answers by tauntingly saying, "I'm really scared," followed moments later with, "Come and get me." Harry goes through a door into another room, but Kevin has plastic wrap with an adhesive on it stretched across the doorway and it clings to Harry's face, and though Harry pulls the plastic off, the substance remains. All this diverts Harry from seeing a rope tied low across the floor and rigged to cause a burst of air from a fan into a pile of feathers. Harry walks into the rope and "poof," he's covered with feathers. Meanwhile, Marv climbs through the open window, but when he steps down from the window into the house, his feet land on a bunch of Christmas tree ornaments Kevin has spread across the floor. More pain for Marv's feet, but he hobbles into the room and sees Harry looking like a bird that forgot to fly south for the winter. Kevin sits at the top of the stairs to the home's upstairs and he mockingly calls to the beleaguered crooks, "I'm up here you morons, come and get me!" The two dash for the stairway, only to fall on their behinds again after they step on a bunch of miniature cars Kevin has placed at the foot of the stairs. This prompts the boy to ask, "You guys give up, or (are) you thirsty for more?"

 

The two crooks get up and they start up the stairs, led by Harry. Kevin tosses a can of paint suspended on a rope above the stairway. The paint can swings down and Harry ducks, but Marv doesn't duck and he's smashed in the head with the can and he falls down the stairs. Harry looks down at Marv, but then turns to look up the stairway, but Kevin has unleashed a second can of paint which swings down and clobbers Harry, bringing him to fall down the steps on top of Marv. This paint can in the face has knocked out Harry's gold tooth. Kevin calls the police using a false voice and tells them he's been robbed. He gives the neighbor's address, as he plans to run there eventually. (Comment: There is no explanation as to the phone service having been restored, including from when Kevin ordered pizza, but hey, what do you expect him to do, send smoke signals?) The two crooks regain their composure and head up the steps. Kevin has a wire stretched just above the floor in the upstairs to trip them, and sure enough, Harry falls for the wire ... ah, over the wire, but Marv hops over the wire as Kevin tries to run off, and Marv dives at Kevin and grabs him by the foot. As Marv lies on the floor, Kevin's foot in hand, the tarantula shows up, and Kevin strains to reach it, but he finally does. He picks up the spider and places it right on Marv's face, eliciting a scream of terror from the crook, who should be known as the "wet pants bandit" from now on. (Explanation: I left this out earlier, but anyway, when Harry and Marv rob one of the neighboring houses of the McCallister home, Marv stuffs cloths into the kitchen sink drains and then lets the water run, flooding the kitchen, with water also running down into the basement. We learn he's done the same before and that he wants the two to be seen as big time thieves with their own calling card, the name "The Wet Bandits." Harry's not impressed, but the name will come into play again near the end of the picture.) Marv tosses the spider away, but it lands right on the outstretched Harry, who is still knocked out on the floor after tripping over the wire. Harry begins to come to and Marv takes his crowbar and prepares to whack the tarantula. He tells Harry not to move and he smacks Harry across the torso, but the spider crawls away. Harry grabs the crowbar and starts hitting Marv, saying, "How do you like it?" 

 

Kevin uses a handlebars equipped zip line stretched from the attic window to his brother's tree house to get to the tree house. Harry and Marv stand at the attic window wondering where Kevin went, but he again taunts them by saying, "Down here, you big horse's ass. Come and get me before I call the police." (Comment: "Down here," because the tree house is slightly lower than the house attic.) Harry and Marv begin to try climbing along the rope to get to Kevin in the tree house. After they are out more than a little way, Kevin yells out, "Hey guys, check this out," and he displays a large pair of hedge-cutters as he prepares to cut the rope. Harry and Marv try to go back, but Kevin cuts the rope and the two crooks slam into the wall of the house, leaving us with the definite opinion that neither man will ever get a role swinging on a vine playing Tarzan. Kevin uses a ladder to climb down from the tree house and he runs to the neighbor's house and enters through the basement door. This is one of the houses already robbed by the "Wet Bandits," and Kevin has to slog through the flooded basement. When he goes up the steps to enter the kitchen, here are Harry and Marv waiting for him. They hang Kevin by his sweatshirt on a hook on the door and they start telling him how they're going to get even with him, with Harry saying that he's going to bite off Kevin's fingers. A pair of boots are seen elsewhere in the kitchen, and now we see Mr. Marley with his shovel creeping up behind Harry and Marv. WHAM! He smacks Marv over the head, and then as Harry turns toward him, he knocks him to the floor with a healthy (for Marley) hit to the head and face. Marley takes Kevin from the hooks and carries him out of the house and back home. The police come and Kevin watches from the window as the police bring out Harry and Marv, with one of the officers telling them how the police now know each house the two have robbed because of them leaving the water running. As the police car with the two bungling crooks in the back pulls away, Harry looks out the window and up at Kevin, who gives him a little wave bye-bye. 

 

Kevin goes to sleep and he awakens on Christmas morning to see snow falling and he calls for his mom, but when he goes downstairs, the house is still empty. Kevin goes back upstairs, but then Gus and company pull up and Kate is home. She enters and she sees the Christmas tree and decorations that Kevin has put up. (Comment: Kevin has obviously done a lot of clean up, because there's no sign of all the ruckus from the night before in this part of the house.) Kevin appears, and mother and son stand quietly looking at each other for a few moments. Kevin is solemn, and his mother apologizes for forgetting him. After a short pause, Kevin breaks into a big smile and goes to hug his mother and to be hugged by her. He asks about the others, and his mother tells him they couldn't get back, but just then they open the door and come in. Buzz, Kevin's older brother remarks how amazing it is that Kevin hasn't burned down the house, but instead of getting mad, Kevin smiles and the brothers high five each other. Kevin's dad finds Harry's gold tooth on floor, but he's not quite sure what it is. Kevin looks out the window and sees Mr. Marley hugging his son, then his daughter-in-law, and he then picks up his granddaughter to hug her. He's facing the McCallister house now and as he hugs his granddaughter, he sees Kevin and he waves to him, and Kevin smiles and waves back. Now we hear Kevin's brother, Buzz, yell, "KEVIN! What did you do to my room?" Kevin runs, normal has returned. 

 

  

 

If you haven't seen the picture, let me tell you, Santa's reindeer at the North Pole have seen this picture. Penguins in Antarctica have seen this picture. Camels at an oasis in the Sahara Desert have seen this picture. What are you waiting for, a blowtorch to scorch your head?   

                

   

 

 

 

Photo is isolated from the DVD Home Alone Collection by Fox Home Entertainment 2013

WORD HISTORY:

Podium-This word is distantly related to "foot," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to words like "podiatry" (compound of Greek derived words), "centipede" (Latin derived), "octopus" (Greek word, borrowed by Latin), "pedestrian" (Latin derived). It goes back to Indo European "ped," which meant "foot," with extended meanings like "support, base." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "pous," which meant "foot" and this produced the transliterated noun "pódion," a diminutive form meaning "(small) base" (seemingly initially used in regards to statues and vases). Latin borrowed the word as "podium," meaning, "an elevated area, platform or balcony in an amphitheater or an arena." English borrowed the word from Latin in the mid 1700s. The word eventually became more specifically defined as "a platform on a stage or in hall that allows a clearer view of a music conductor, a speaker, or a featured person."