Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
I believe you - but my Tommy gun don’t!
THE SUMMARY: In a sequel following nearly identical premises, a young boy mistakenly arrives in New York and is chased around the city by the same criminals who did it before and now do it again: engage in an implausible sequence of mischievously placed traps instead of just shooting the kid in the face when they have an easy chance. That description makes it sound like I hate this movie. I don’t - quite the opposite. I’m actually impressed Home Alone 2 can pull the same trick and make it not only close to as good as the original, but arguably even better. Yes, it’s corny. Yes, it requires massive suspension of disbelief. But dammit - it’s just undeniably charming and funny. That and beautiful musical presentation place it among the greatest Christmas movies ever made.
FROM MOVIE-PICKER MICHAEL SCHLECHT: Regrettably, Michael is sick this week and cannot offer his thoughts by video submission. But he does say:
Terminator 2, Return of the King, Mad Max: Fury Road… Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. All classic movie sequels that surpassed the originals. Home Alone 2 takes the dialogue, the final traps, and the editing of the original and simply elevates it to be better. And let’s not forget, it added Tim Curry. And Tim Curry makes everything better. This movie is the origin of countless quotes my wife and I use… all year round. Quotes like:
“Wow - what a hole.”
“Credit card? You got it!”
“I could go on forever, baby!”
“Two? Make it three - I’m not driving.”
and the greatest of them all, “suck brick kid!”
Besides those, this movie also has the single greatest comedy scene in cinema history - Marv’s electrocution. And a certain political figure shows up to make a cameo appearance… no, I’m not talking about Trump. I’m talking, of course, about Piers Morgan as the Pigeon Lady. By his own account, Matt says he looked eerily similar to Macaulay Culkin as a child. Perhaps this movie viewing will be an opportunity for him to offer up a side-by-side? Home Alone 2 is an absolute riot to watch and I am so happy it was selected to bring us home. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals, and a happy new year.
Matt’s addendum: confirmed on both counts - I was very Macaulay-y, and Piers is very Pigeon Lady-y.
My brother and I at Lake Superior (?) - probably
My brother and I playing Sega
Nobody has ever seen them in the same place at the same time
John Williams nails it again
THE BEST:
Gorgeous soundtrack: That goes for both the compilation of Christmas songs by several popular artists and the original movie score by John Williams, famous for his incredible work in Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and other epics. Williams’ music in this case perfectly captures a wide range of moments and emotions, from the thrill and comedy of the chase, to the sentimental moments of reflection. Personally, I rank the crescendo of ‘Somewhere in My Memory’ among the greatest Christmas music ever composed. When you hear it, you automatically envision a perfect peaceful Christmas morning snowfall - absolutely beautiful.
Important overall theme: The movie is remembered for its mischief and wholesome slapstick violence, but those points serve a broader theme: remembering the importance of family, even when you think you’re sick of them. Kevin wishes his family away, realizes the dream of independence and luxury at the Plaza Hotel, but quickly learns these supposed joys are no substitute for the presence and support of family, even the jackassery of Buzz. Is it the most original lesson? No, but it is something we can easily forget. Keep your family first - everything else is built upon it.
The effort in Angels with Filthy Souls: Of course I’ve seen both Home Alone movies many times (none of the others count), and long-time listeners of the podcast know for several years now, I’ve used soundbites from the gangster movie-in-the-movie, Angels with Filthy Souls, or in the case of the sequel, Angels with Filthier Souls, in the Christmas show intro. I had always assumed these were real movies or TV shows, repurposed for Home Alone, but they are in fact original productions, made just for these movies.
Legendary work, not just for the quotables, but for what they contribute to the movie plots themselves. The bit is so good it’s just as satisfying the second time in the hotel as it was the first time with the pizza guy.
Interesting fact: Ralph Foody, the actor who played Johnny, the main Angels gangster, was originally supposed to play Snakes, but couldn’t kneel over for the character’s violent death due to recent knee surgery, so he was given the Johnny role instead. Serendipitous - the role simply could not have been performed better.
Some of the subtler bits: The movie’s most famous action/comedy scenes are overall very good, but I’ll give recognition to some of the more subtle elements that get me laughing out loud. I don’t mean that the presentation is actually subtle - in many cases it’s overtly ridiculous - I just mean that some of the bits that make me laugh the most aren’t necessarily the primary things for which Home Alone 2 is remembered.
The screaming bit: Outrageous screaming is a recurrence, which I’d usually find annoying, but these screams are so well done they’re undeniably hilarious. Of course everyone remembers Catherine O’Hara famously screaming ‘Kevin!’ upon realizing he’s missing, but it’s not just the scream itself that makes the delivery great. It’s the chuckling, the absolute terror in her face, the faint, and the entire combination of over-the-top cheese. It’s a scream rivaled only by Marv getting attacked by the pigeons in the park. It’s so pure, and you can see the actor Daniel Stern really has to inhale in preparation for it. I wish I had a clean soundbite of that one for show purposes - hysterical.
The skeleton electrocution bit: The only way to up the quality of Stern’s screams is to add some visual shock - Marv becoming a skeleton in the cheapest yet most effective visual possible. I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. I still laugh every time I do.
The nose-bending bit: There’s something about the cracking of joints back into position after taking a big fall that’s both funny and emphasizing for the pain involved. You can almost feel Marv’s neck grinding after he falls through the floor. Add that feel to bending their noses back into place and it’s hilarious. It’s stupid, it’s cheap, but it’s original, and that describes a lot of this movie.
Obvious nods to white supremacy: Kevin makes a white supremacist hand sign in the promotional photography. Donald Trump makes a cameo. The movie should be thoroughly canceled by now, though of course, it kind of has been. Trump was deleted from the CBC broadcast of the movie (CBC claimed it was an edit for time made years before Trump was elected president). Macaulay (Macauly Culkin) Culkin tweeted last year that he supports removing Trump from the movie (though he said this in response to a suggestion to replace Trump with a 40-year-old version of himself, so maybe this one is a joke). Director Chris Columbus said that Trump ‘bullied’ his way into the movie, that Trump demanded his own appearance as a condition to film in the Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time. They ask to film on Trump’s property, he says sure, but I’d like to have a cameo, and somehow that’s ‘bullying.’ Trump should have given them the Angels with Filthy Souls treatment instead. ‘I’m gonna give you ‘til the count of ten…’ that’s real bullying.
Kevin says white power!
A tremendous cameo - frankly, the best
Home Alone with competent robbers
THE WORST:
Turn all logic off: If you follow my movie reviews regularly, you’re probably expecting me to write several unnecessary paragraphs about how this movie defies logic and common sense. You’re right. I’d like to say I won’t, but of course I will, and it’s not to criticize - it’s just to enjoy some thought about the movie’s most extreme ridiculousness.
I get it. The movie doesn’t make a lot of sense in its core premise, two career criminals who opt to participate in absurd obstacle courses routinely instead of just shooting this kid dead (a point Family Guy excellently mocked). And it doesn’t make a lot of sense physically - if the real world applied, there are several horrific deaths, but everyone just walks away mostly uninjured instead. Enjoying this movie requires acknowledgement that nobody is really a rational actor, they’re just performing the bit, and everyone is actually invincible. Acknowledge I do, but I also laugh at these particular nonsensicals:
Marv bends gravity itself: There’s janky physics, and then there’s Marv’s slide into the shelf of paint cans: something other-worldly. He’s standing still on a level plane, slips onto his back, and somehow this generates massive, unstoppable momentum into a wall like he’s sliding down a mountain. Did Kevin equip this trap with its own gravity generator? Fine, I’ll just shut up and enjoy another classic Marv scream.
Why would Harry and Marv climb down the rope instead of just walking back down the stairs?: The entire scene in the home under renovation is a sequence of traps progressing upward until Kevin climbs down the side of the building by rope. After seeing him at the bottom, Harry and Marv opt to climb down the same rope instead of just moving back down the stairs they just climbed. Why? It’s not only incredibly dangerous to downclimb that rope (which terrifies Marv), but it’s much slower too. There is no advantage to using the rope, other than causing another massive Harry and Marv fall from which they don’t die again. Which of course is the point, and yet after watching that happen a dozen times over I’m still foolish enough to try to apply the logic I already said doesn’t. I guess I just wrote a paragraph about who the real idiot is. Or, as Kevin puts it, the real horse’s ass.
Fireworks legally obtained in New York City: The most preposterous premise of all is that fireworks are both legally obtained and legally detonated in New York City limits. Completely unrealistic. What would actually happen is Kevin’s arrest, and Marv and Harry are released on cashless bail.
Seriously speaking, apparently it’s actually somewhat accurate that New York’s fireworks prohibition was not enforced in Chinatown at the time. At least that’s what IMDb commenters say, so hey, some effort for authenticity.
THE RATING: 5/5 Wickies. Nearly every action scene is completely absurd, but that’s the point - it’s original and memorable. You’re supposed to laugh and reflect that no matter how much your family pisses you off, they are still your family, and you’d be lost without them. The movie accomplishes both purposes in an all-time Christmas classic.
YOUR RATING: Vote here ⬇
NEXT WEEK: Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Goddamn it. At the time I looked at the results to make the selection, 2049 won by ONE VOTE over Amadeus in last week’s vote. The first Blake Runner, of course, is among my most hated movies of all time. But hey, if they actually make it worse somehow, at least this time I’ll be impressed.
AFTER THAT? YOU PICK - VOTE! January’s movie nominations are from listener Ross.
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