Home Alone 3 is a 1997 American family comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell in his directorial debut, written and co-produced by John Hughes, and starring Alex D. Linz and Haviland Morris. A sequel to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), it follows Alex Pruitt, an 8-year-old boy who defends his home from a dangerous band of international criminals working for a terrorist organization. It is the third film in the Home Alone franchise, the only one not set during Christmas (takes place right after Christmas), and the first not to feature actor Macaulay Culkin, director Chris Columbus, or composer John Williams; Gosnell had served as editor on the first two Home Alone films. It is also the final film in the Home Alone franchise to receive a theatrical release.
| Home Alone 3 | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Raja Gosnell |
| Written by | John Hughes |
| Based on | Home Alone by John Hughes |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Julio Macat |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Nick Glennie-Smith |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $32 million[2] |
| Box office | $79.1 million[2] |
The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising Linz's performance but criticizing the film's departure from the previous installments, including its themes and cast. Home Alone 3 was followed by a made-for-television sequel, Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House, in 2002.
Plot
editPeter Beaupre, Alice Ribbons, Burton Jernigan, and Earl Unger are four internationally wanted criminals working for a Hong Kong–based terrorist organization linked to North Korea. In Silicon Valley, California, they steal a $10 million missile-cloaking microchip and hide it inside a remote-controlled toy car to sneak it past security at San Francisco International Airport. However, a Chicago-bound elderly passenger named Mrs. Hess inadvertently takes the criminals' bag containing the car, mistaking it for her identical bag of bread. The criminals arrive in Chicago and systematically search every house in Hess's suburban neighborhood to find the chip.
Eight-year-old Alex Pruitt is given the toy car by Hess as payment for shoveling her driveway. He returns home and discovers that he has chicken pox and must stay home from school. The next day, Alex discovers the criminals while spying on his neighbors and involves the police, but they are unable to help. Alex attaches a camera to the car and uses it to spy on them, leading to the criminals chasing it when they spot it. Wondering what they want with the toy car, Alex opens it and discovers the stolen chip. He calls the local U.S. Air Force Recruitment Center about the discovery and asks if they can forward the information about the chip to the right authorities.
The criminals realize that Alex has been watching them and decide to break into the Pruitt house. Alex rigs the house with handmade booby traps with help from his pet rat Doris and his brother Stan's loud-mouthed parrot. The criminals break in and suffer various injuries from the traps. While the quartet pursues Alex around the house, he flees and rescues Hess, who has been duct taped to a chair in her garage by Ribbons. Beaupre ambushes Alex, but the latter uses a bubble gun resembling a Glock to scare him off.
FBI agents and the police later arrive and arrest Ribbons, Jernigan, and Unger, having received a tip from the recruitment center. However, Beaupre hides in a makeshift snow fort in the backyard. Stan's parrot discovers him and threatens to light fireworks, which are lined around the inside. Beaupre offers a cracker in exchange for silence, but the parrot demands two. Since Beaupre has only one, the parrot lights the fireworks, alerting the authorities to Beaupre's location.
That evening, the Pruitts, Mrs. Hess, and the authorities hold a celebration for Alex as the Pruitt house is being repaired, with Alex's father Jack returning home from a business trip. At the police department, the criminals are shown to have contracted Alex's chicken pox during their mugshots.
Cast
edit- Alex D. Linz as Alex Pruitt, an eight-year-old boy.
- Olek Krupa as Peter Beaupre, the leader of the international criminals.
- Haviland Morris as Karen Pruitt, the mother of Alex.
- David Thornton as Earl Unger, a member of the international criminals.
- Scarlett Johansson as Molly Pruitt, the older sister of Alex.
- Lenny Von Dohlen as Burton Jernigan, a member of the international criminals.
- Marian Seldes as Mrs. Hess, an elderly neighbor of the Pruitt family.
- Rya Kihlstedt as Alice Ribbons, the sole female member of the international criminals.
- Kevin Kilner as Jack Pruitt, the father of Alex.
- Seth Smith as Stan Pruitt, the older brother of Alex.
- Baxter Harris as Police Captain Jackson
- Christopher Curry as FBI Agent Stuckey, an FBI agent who has been after Beaupre for seven years.
- James Saito as the Mob Boss, a unit leader of the terrorist organization who Beaupre's group answers to.
- Pat Healy as FBI Special Agent Rogers, an FBI Agent working alongside Stuckey.
- Neil Flynn, Nick Jantz, Tony Mockus Jr., and James Chisem as Police Officers
- Freeman Coffey as USAF Recruiting Officer
- Adrianne Duncan as Flight Attendant
- Jennifer A. Daley as Police Photographer
- Darren T. Knaus as the voice of the Parrot, a talking parrot owned by Stan.
Production
editHome Alone 3 was pitched at the same time as Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and both films were meant to be produced simultaneously; however, those plans fell through.[3] The idea for a third Home Alone movie was revived in the mid-1990s; early drafts called for Macaulay Culkin to reprise the role of Kevin McCallister as a teenager. However, by 1994, Culkin had taken a hiatus from acting. As a result, the idea was reworked, centering on a new cast of characters.[3]
It was filmed in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois, with the airport scenes at the beginning of the film being shot at two different concourses at O'Hare International Airport.
Principal photography began on December 2, 1996, and filming concluded on March 22, 1997.
Fox Family Films was the division of 20th Century Fox responsible for the production on the film.[4]
Music
edit| Home Alone 3: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | ||||
| Released | December 12, 1997 | |||
| Label | Fox Music | |||
| Home Alone chronology | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Town" | Cartoon Boyfriend | 3:18 |
| 2. | "All I Wanted Was a Skateboard" | Super Deluxe | 2:34 |
| 3. | "I Want It All" | Dance Hall Crashers | 3:19 |
| 4. | "Almost Grown" | Chuck Berry | 2:20 |
| 5. | "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)" | Chuck Berry | 2:42 |
| 6. | "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" (version not in the film) | Jim Croce | 3:01 |
| 7. | "Green-Eyed Lady" (version not in the film) | Sugarloaf | 3:40 |
| 8. | "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" | Dean Martin | 1:57 |
| 9. | "Home Again" | Oingo Boingo | 5:26 |
| 10. | "Nite Prowler" | The Deuce Coupes | 1:46 |
| 11. | "Tall Cool One" | The Wailers | 2:35 |
| 12. | "Home Alone 3 Suite" | Nick Glennie-Smith | 8:01 |
Release
editHome Alone 3 was released on VHS and Laserdisc[5] on June 2, 1998, and on DVD on November 3, 1998, which was later reissued in December 2007 (and, as part of Home Alone multi-packs, in 2006 and 2008). While the DVD presents the film in its original Widescreen format (1.85:1), it is presented in a non-anamorphic 4:3 matte.
Reception
editBox office
editThe film grossed $79,082,515 worldwide.[2]
Critical response
editOn Rotten Tomatoes, Home Alone 3 holds an approval rating of 35% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Macaulay Culkin's precocious charisma is sorely missed in this hollow sequel, which doubles down on the broad comedy while lacking all the hallmarks that made the original a classic."[6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[7]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and said that he found it to be "fresh, very funny, and better than the first two."[8]
Accolades
editThe film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, losing to Speed 2: Cruise Control.[9]
Novelization
editA novelization based on the screenplay was written by Todd Strasser and published by Scholastic in 1997 to coincide with the film. ISBN 0-590-95712-0
References
edit- ^ Petrikin, Chris (February 18, 1998). "Fox renamed that toon". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Home Alone 3 (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ^ a b "What Ever Happened To Alex D. Linz, The Kid From 'Home Alone 3'?". uproxx.com. January 14, 2016.
- ^ Petrikin, Chris (February 18, 1998). "Fox renamed that toon". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
- ^ "Home Alone 3". LDDB. March 30, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- ^ "Home Alone 3 (1997)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (December 12, 1997). "Home Alone 3". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- ^ "Razzies.com - Home of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation". April 26, 2012. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012.