'Home Alone'
The Ringer's Chris Ryan and Sean Fennessey and ESPN's Mina Kimes made their parents disappear after rewatching the 1990 classic 'Home Alone' starring Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O'Hara, and Joe Pesci.
Cast
Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister
Joe Pesci as Harry
Daniel Stern as Marv
Catherine O'Hara as Kate McCallister
John Candy as Gus Polinski
John Heard as Peter McCallister
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Written by: John Hughes
Music by: John Williams
Notes
- Originally set up at Warner Bros with a $10 million budget; when Chris Columbus wanted $14-18 million, WB refused and Fox picked it up.
- Old Man Marley (Roberts Blossom) was NOT in John Hughes' original script - Chris Columbus added him.
- Joe Pesci stayed in character between takes and was reportedly difficult on set.
- The photo of Buzz's girlfriend was actually a boy dressed up as a girl - Columbus didn't want to embarrass a real girl.
- Budget was approximately $18 million; earned nearly $500 million worldwide.
Categories
The full battle sequence with the Wet Bandits - paint cans, blowtorch, tar and feathers, Micro Machines, ornaments on the floor.
- The physical comedy - Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern's commitment to the slapstick.
- Catherine O'Hara's performance as the frantic mother.
- The negligent parenting - leaving your kid behind is harder to accept now.
- Uncle Frank is genuinely terrible to Kevin and nobody addresses it.
- Robert De Niro was considered for one of the burglars.
- Jon Lovitz or John Candy as Harry instead of Joe Pesci.
Devin Ratray as Buzz McCallister - a truly hateable older brother performance.
Uncle Frank (Gerry Bamman) - 'Look what you did, you little jerk!'
- Macaulay Culkin - this was the peak of the biggest child star run ever.
- John Hughes as a writer (non-directing).
- Chris Columbus as a director.
- How does Kevin know how to set up all those elaborate traps?
- The timeline of the trip to Paris vs. when they realize Kevin is missing.
- The Wet Bandits would be dead or critically injured from many of these traps.
- Why don't the McCallisters just call the local police immediately?
A dark comedy series about a family of grifters where the kid is the mastermind.
- Did Kevin's parents ever take him to therapy after this?
- How did the McCallisters afford that house and a trip to Paris for that many people?
The movie won - became one of the highest-grossing films of all time and a perennial holiday classic.