Home Alone (1990)

An 8-year-old boy, who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas, has to defend his home against idiotic burglars.

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writer:

John Hughes

Stars:

Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Macaulay Culkin	...	Kevin McCallister
Joe Pesci	...	Harry
Daniel Stern	...	Marv
John Heard	...	Peter McCallister
Roberts Blossom	...	Marley
Catherine O'Hara	...	Kate McCallister
Angela Goethals	...	Linnie
Devin Ratray	...	Buzz
Gerry Bamman	...	Uncle Frank
Hillary Wolf	...	Megan
John Candy	...	Gus Polinski
Larry Hankin	...	Officer Balzak
Michael C. Maronna	...	Jeff
Kristin Minter	...	Heather
Diana Rein	...	Sondra (as Daiana Campeanu)

Storyline

It is Christmas time and the McAllister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris, France. But the youngest in the family named Kevin got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz and was sent to his room which is on the third floor of his house. Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin, having a pizza all to himself, jumping on his parents' bed, and making a mess. Then, Kevin discovers about two burglars, Harry and Marv, about to rob his house on Christmas Eve. Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice.

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Plot Keywords:

house | christmas | france | vacation | home | 

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Taglines:

A Family Comedy Without The Family.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mi pobre angelito

Filming Locations:

656 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$285,761,243 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hughes Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Old Man Marley wasn't in the original screenplay.

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Goofs

Harry protects his burnt hand with a handkerchief when he climbs along the rope towards the tree house, but alternating shots show the tail of the handkerchief either sticking out or not.

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Quotes

Check-Out Woman: Where's your mom?
Kevin McCallister: In the car.
Check-Out Woman: Where's your father?
Kevin McCallister: He's at work.
Check-Out Woman: What about your brothers and sisters?
Kevin McCallister: I'm an only child.
Check-Out Woman: Where do you live?
Kevin McCallister: I can't tell you that.
Check-Out Woman: Why not?
Kevin McCallister: Because you're a stranger.

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Connections

Referenced in Prison Break: Hell or High Water (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Run Rudolph Run"
Written by Johnny Marks
Performed by Chuck Berry
Courtesy of MCA Records

User Reviews

Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal!

In the Eighties, John Hughes churned out a handful of movies and scored many, many hits. Quite rightly, as most of them were seriously funny - I'm DEFINITELY not referring to Curly Sue, so relax! In one particular scene from Uncle Buck, Macaulay Culkin interrogates a babysitter through the letterbox to make sure she's not a baddie. This inspired Hughes to write a whole new movie. Who would have known that this and its sequel would go on to become two of the biggest hits of all time? Both Hughes and Chris Columbus seem to prefer setting their movies during the holiday season (Gremlins, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Christmas Vacation) and manage to pull them off without too much sentiment, or sickening amounts of gooey love.

There are two reasons why Home Alone was such a big success. The first is that it's about a kid who outsmarts grown-ups, something that happens every day, only there's a worldwide conspiracy of silence. This movie yells it out loud and clear. The second is John Williams's magical score, which elevates the movie way above slapstick family fare to something more serious and regarded. It was nominated for an Academy Award, along with the Christmas carol Somewhere In My Memory, but lost to John Barry's Dances with Wolves. Damn! In a mad rush to the airport one morning, the MacCallister family forget one little thing...Kevin (Culkin). He is an eight-year-old kid who wants nothing better than a peaceful Christmas and some time to himself. It's hard for him to get this when living in a house with seven other people(the exact same house from Planes, Trains And Automobiles, don't you know0. With the rest of the MacCallisters in Paris, Kevin runs wild doing whatever he wants, eating whatever he wants and watching whatever TV show he wants.

But there's one major problem. The Wet Bandits, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), are on the prowl and have knocked off every other house in Kevin's street. His is next. And seeing that he's man-of-the-house now, he HAS to defend it.

Using whatever tools are at his disposal (rusty nails, blow torches, Micro Machines) he sets up a labyrinth of booby traps, so that the Wets can't break in. Their idiot-proof determination proves to be their downfall, as they are tortured and torn-up upon entering Kevin's domain.

Although this is not the only point of the film, there is an important message that family is what really matters to a child, or to anyone, and having them home for the holidays is better than wandering a huge house all by yourself.

There are some movies that work best at Christmas and this is one of them. I'm not saying that in a couple of decades it will be the new It's A Wonderful Life, but it will be remembered fondly at the very least.

Don't be a Scrooge. It's Christmastime. Go rush to check out Home Alone.