Home Alone (1990)

An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation.

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 Lime
Daniel Stern	...	Marv Merchants
John Heard	...	Peter McCallister
Roberts Blossom	...	Old Man Marley
Catherine O'Hara	...	Kate McCallister
Angela Goethals	...	Linnie McCallister
Devin Ratray	...	Buzz McCallister
Gerry Bamman	...	Uncle Frank
Hillary Wolf	...	Megan McCallister
John Candy	...	Gus Polinski
Larry Hankin	...	Officer Balzak
Michael C. Maronna	...	Jeff McCallister
Kristin Minter	...	Heather McCallister
Diana Rein	...	Sondra McCallister (as Daiana Campeanu)

Storyline

It is Christmas time and the McCallister 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:

christmas | home alone | burglary | booby trap | slapstick comedy | 

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Taglines:

When the McCallisters went on holiday they forgot one minor detail... Kevin

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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:

Home Alone

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,081,997, 18 November 1990, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$285,761,243

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$533,800,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hughes Entertainment,Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kirstie Alley was considered for the role of Kate Mccallister, based on her performance in Look Who's Talking (1989). But Alley turned it down, because she was working on Look Who's Talking Too (1990).

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Goofs

When Aunt Leslie says "Fuller! Go easy on the Pepsi", it is quite clearly a close-mic voiceover recorded off set (most likely in post-production), as the rest of the dialogue has a completely different natural reverb to this line.

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Quotes

Kevin McCallister: Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.

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Alternate Versions

On most television airings, Buzz's line "I wouldn't let you sleep in my room if you were growing on my ass," has "ass" dubbed over with "butt".

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Connections

Spoofed in DUM: Get Back (2015)

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Soundtracks

Somewhere in My Memory
Music by John Williams
Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse

User Reviews

A well done family comedy

This type of family comedy truthfully works better if you are grown up with the stooges. Because this film has a climactic scene with more slapstick than most can take. I can though. But if you think this is strictly a kids film, parents will like it too I bet. The plot follows a kid (Macaulay Kulkin) who gets left behind in a Chicago suburb while his family leaves for Paris. And though the house is all his, 2 burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern who give the best on-screen duo of 1990) want the house. But not without the climax. While most of the film is unbelievable (both good and bad), most of the film should keep families in good spirits, unless parents don't enjoy seeing Pesci getting his head on fire and Stern screaming like a girl. Funny, even if it's not John Hughes' (writer/producer here) best. B+