Home Alone 3

Summary

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.

Home Alone 3
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaja Gosnell
Written byJohn Hughes
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited by
Music byNick Glennie-Smith
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • December 12, 1997 (1997-12-12)
Running time
102 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$32 million[2]
Box office$79.1 million[2]

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: Taking Back the House, in 2002.

Plot edit

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.

Cast edit

  • Alex D. Linz as Alex Pruitt, an eight-year-old boy.
  • Haviland Morris as Karen Pruitt, the mother of Alex.
  • Olek Krupa as Peter Beaupre, the leader of the international criminals.
  • Rya Kihlstedt as Alice Ribbons, the sole female member of the international criminals.
  • Lenny Von Dohlen as Burton Jernigan, a member of the international criminals.
  • David Thornton as Earl Unger, a member of the international criminals.
  • Kevin Kilner as Jack Pruitt, the father of Alex.
  • James Saito as the Mob Boss, a unit leader of the terrorist organization who Beaupre's group answers to.
  • Scarlett Johansson as Molly Pruitt, the older sister of Alex.
  • Seth Smith as Stan Pruitt, the older brother of Alex.
  • Marian Seldes as Mrs. Hess, an elderly neighbor of the Pruitt family.
  • Christopher Curry as FBI Agent Stuckey, an FBI agent who has been after Beaupre for seven years.
  • Pat Healy as FBI Special Agent Rogers, an FBI Agent working alongside Stuckey.
  • Baxter Harris as Police Captain Jackson
  • 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 edit

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]

Music edit

Home Alone 3: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedDecember 12, 1997
LabelFox Music
Home Alone chronology
Home Alone 2
(1992)
Home Alone 3
(1997)
Track listing
No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."My Town"Cartoon Boyfriend3:18
2."All I Wanted Was a Skateboard"Super Deluxe2:34
3."I Want It All"Dance Hall Crashers3:19
4."Almost Grown"Chuck Berry2:20
5."School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)"Chuck Berry2:42
6."Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" (version not in the film)Jim Croce3:01
7."Green-Eyed Lady" (version not in the film)Sugarloaf3:40
8."Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"Dean Martin1:57
9."Home Again"Oingo Boingo5:26
10."Nite Prowler"The Deuce Coupes1:46
11."Tall Cool One"The Wailers2:35
12."Home Alone 3 Suite"Nick Glennie-Smith8:01

Release edit

Home media edit

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 edit

Box office edit

The film grossed $79,082,515 worldwide.[2]

Critical response edit

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 edit

The film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, losing to Speed 2: Cruise Control.[9]

Novelization edit

A 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

  1. ^ Petrikin, Chris (February 18, 1998). "Fox renamed that toon". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Home Alone 3 (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "What Ever Happened To Alex D. Linz, The Kid From 'Home Alone 3'?". uproxx.com. January 14, 2016.
  4. ^ Petrikin, Chris (February 18, 1998). "Fox renamed that toon". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  5. ^ "Home Alone 3". LDDB. March 30, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  6. ^ "Home Alone 3 (1997)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 5, 2021.  
  7. ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 12, 1997). "Home Alone 3". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  9. ^ "Razzies.com - Home of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation". April 26, 2012. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012.

External links edit