| Home Alone 4 | |
|---|---|
DVD cover |
|
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Directed by | Rod Daniel |
| Written by | Debra Frank Steve L. Hayes |
| Starring | Mike Weinberg French Stewart Missi Pyle Jason Beghe Erick Avari Joanna Going Clare Carey |
| Music by | Teddy Castellucci |
| Budget | N/A |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Release date | November 3, 2002 (Television ABC premiere) October 29, 2003 (Direct-to-video release) |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
Home Alone 4, also known as Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House, is a 2002 American made-for-television family/Christmas film directed by Rod Daniel, which first aired on ABC on November 3, 2002.
It is the fourth and final installment in the Home Alone series. The film brings back several of the main characters from the first two films including Kevin McCallister, but with all the roles played by different actors. The plot revolves around Kevin (Mike Weinberg) trying to defend his future stepmother's house from Marv (French Stewart) and his wife Vera (Missi Pyle).
Daniel Stern, who played Marv in the first two films, was approached to reprise his role in Home Alone 4. Stern quickly declined, calling it "an insult, total garbage".[1]
Contents |
At the McCallisters' house, Peter is about to get divorced from Kate and announces that he's living with his new and rich girlfriend, Natalie at her mansion. He tells his three children, Buzz, Megan and including Kevin, that they are hosting the visit of a royal family and invites everyone to spend Christmas with him and Natalie. After initially refusing, Kevin takes his father up on his offer after being tormented by Buzz.
Kevin enjoys his time at Natalie's mansion with his new bedroom, latest gadgets and his life. In the next morning, Natalie and Peter go out for a bit while Kevin stays at the mansion with Mr. Prescott. While Prescott makes Kevin a milkshake, he goes into the security room and gets caught by Prescott, who gives Kevin another chance. With Natalie and Peter still away, Kevin notices his old nemesis Marv, a remaining member of the Wet Bandits and new sidekick Vera outside the house. Kevin tries to get Mr. Prescott to answer the intercom, but unfortunately it doesn't work. He then spies on them and drive them away by flooding the house, but Peter and Natalie arrive while Kevin is cleaning up and Peter doesn't believe Kevin's explanation. He attempts to use the security camera footage to prove himself, but discovers that the camera had been turned off and is caught by Mr. Prescott, who Kevin now believes to be Marv and Vera's ally. Molly then appears and gets Kevin out of trouble. Peter and Natalie then realize they gave Kevin a hard time and decide to make him feel better, so the three of them decided to decorate the tree.
The next morning Peter and Kevin wake up and realize their tree was re-decorated because of Natalie. Kate, Buzz and Megan then decided to visit Kevin. Kate meets Natalie in person and Kevin shows the entire house to Buzz and Megan. At a party for the royal family while Peter and Natalie have gone to pick them up, Kevin notices Marv and Vera dressed up as caterers. Mr. Prescott warns Kevin about the night so he then tricks Mr. Prescott going into the freezer room locked and frozen in ice. Kevin then spies on Marv and Vera into his bedroom and hears them planning about kidnapping the royals; unfortunately Kevin makes sure that their plan was a failure and has them fall out and break the window. The royal family are unable to attend the party because their flight was cancelled so Peter and Natalie instead announce their engagement. Marv and Vera run back into the house and Kevin hits Marv with a frying pan, flips the table and get soup spilled on Marv and Vera, they then chase Kevin causing him to ruin the party. When Kevin breaks his promise not to mess up the special occasion, Peter is angered and believes that Kevin is trying to end his relationship with Natalie.
Since no one believes him about the heist, Kevin decides to deal with matters himself, and sets booby traps for Marv and Vera. The next morning Peter and Natalie go get the royals and Kevin is left back at the house. Marv and Vera wake up and head to the house. Kevin tricks and locks Mr. Prescott in the basement, but then he discovers Marv and Vera's real ally is actually Molly, who turns out to be Marv's mother as well. Kevin gets locked in the basement and after apologizing to Mr. Prescott for misjudging him (and vice-versa), Kevin manages to escape through the dumbwaiter. He then traps Marv stuck under the dumbwaiter and unleashing his traps on Marv and Vera, then Molly appears, Kevin then traps her in the elevator and runs to his bedroom. At the airport, Peter gets worried about Kevin and go back to Natalie's to check on him. Back in the basement, Mr. Prescott then manages to escape through the dumbwaiter as well to see if Kevin is alright so he starts searching for him. Just on the road, Kate, Buzz and Megan are on their way to save Kevin as well. Marv heads to the bedroom and ends up getting caught and stuck under the bookshelf. Kevin then plays a recording of Marv, making it sound like he's insulting Vera, which causes her to break up with him and argue, Marv then gets hit by Kevin's electric aircraft making him fall and rumble down the stairs. Marv and Vera are then tricked by Kevin with a secret wall switch, end up swinging from a chandelier, and they fall and are knocked unconscious. Molly, having escaped, grabs Kevin, but Mr. Prescott knocks her out with a serving tray. Then he and Kevin call the police.
As Peter, Kate, Buzz and Megan arrive, they and Kevin chase Marv and Vera out of the house and trip them up. The royal family and Natalie arrive and Natalie is confused when she sees Marv, Vera and Molly getting arrested. An FBI agent reveals that Molly masterminded the plot to abduct the royal family. Prescott resigns and the royal family choose to spend their Christmas with the McCallisters instead of Natalie. Peter then breaks up with her and Natalie hyperventilates. The McCallisters embrace as the film ends.
The film is believed to be set inbetween the events of Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2 (1992), thus making the film an Interquel. However, Home Alone 2 takes place the following Christmas 1991, one after the events of the first film. Still, no official announcement has confirmed this and there are an infamous amount of continuity errors associated with this idea.
The producers had hoped that this movie would lead to a Home Alone TV series, several of the main cast members had clauses in their contracts that would have bought them back for such a series. This movie failed to perform up to expectations in the ratings, and in-turn the series was never comissioned.
In the original ending, Kevin's parents did not get back together. His father stayed with Natalie, and his mother started dating a police officer who turned out to be Marv's younger, more honest brother. This was changed when the producers decided they wanted the film to set up a TV series, and so Kevin's parents did get back together at the end, while the police officer was deleted altogether from the script.[2]
Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House received extremely negative reviews from critics and fans alike. At Rotten Tomatoes Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House currently has no score on the tomatometer but has a 41% audience rating. Criticisms were based on how Home Alone 4 doesn't seem to fit into the same chronological timeline as the first two movies and the film's inferior cast and writing. Several reviews also criticised the film for low-budget production values. The film currently holds a low rating of 2.1 out of 10 at IMDB.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||