1997 film by Raja Gosnell
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 standalone 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, and the first not to feature actor Macaulay Culkin, director Chris Columbus, or composer John Williams; Gosnell had previously 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.
The film was met with 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, in 2002.
Plot
Peter Beaupre, Alice Ribbons, Burton Jernigan, and Earl Unger are four internationally wanted criminals who work for a terrorist organization. In Silicon Valley, California, they steal a $10 million missile-cloaking microchip and hide it inside a remote control toy car to sneak it past security at San Francisco International Airport. However, a luggage mix-up causes a Chicago-bound elderly passenger named Mrs. Hess to inadvertently take the thieves' bag containing the car. The four thieves arrive in Chicago and systematically search every house in Mrs. Hess's suburban neighborhood to find the chip.
Eight-year-old Alex Pruitt is given the remote control car by Mrs. Hess as payment for shoveling her driveway. He returns home and discovers that he has chickenpox and must stay home from school. The next day, Alex discovers the thieves while spying on his neighbors. After two failed attempts to have them apprehended, Alex attaches a camera to the remote control car and uses it to spy on them, leading to the thieves chasing it when they spot it. Wondering what they want with the toy car, Alex opens it and discovers the stolen chip. He informs 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 thieves finally deduce that Alex has been watching them and decide to break into the Pruitts'. Alex rigs the house with booby traps with help from his pet rat Doris and his brother Stan's loud-mouthed parrot. The thieves break in, spring the traps, and suffer various injuries. While the four pursue Alex around the house, he flees and rescues Mrs. 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.
Meanwhile, FBI agents and Chicago PD officers arrive at Alex's siblings' school after a tipoff from the recruitment center. Alex's family brings the agents and the police to their house, where they arrest Ribbons, Jernigan, and Unger. However, Beaupre hides in a 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 (“double or nothing”). Since Beaupre has only one, the parrot lights the fireworks and flees. Beaupre is discovered and arrested.
Later, 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 thieves are shown to have contracted Alex's chickenpox during their mugshots.
Production
Home 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 in 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]
Release
Home media
Home 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
Box office
The film grossed $79,082,515 worldwide.[2]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 32% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. 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
The film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, losing to Speed 2: Cruise Control.[9]
