Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is the 1992 sequel to the highly successful 1990 film Home Alone, produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern. Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Devin Ratray, Kieran Culkin, Gerry Bamman, Tim Curry, Rob Schneider, Dana Ivey, and Brenda Fricker co-star.

Veteran Hughes actor Eddie Bracken, "Brat Pack" actress Ally Sheedy, game show host Bob Eubanks and real estate mogul Donald Trump make cameo appearances. The movie was filmed in Winnetka, IL, O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Miami and New York City (which was star Culkin's hometown at the time).

Home Alone 3 followed in 1997 and Home Alone 4 followed in 2003; both without Macaulay Culkin or much of the original cast.

Box office

The movie opened to $31.1 million from 2,222 theaters, averaging $14,008 per site.^{[citation needed]} While it started off better than the original, the final box office gross was much less.^{[citation needed]} $173,585,516 was taken in domestically and $185,406,165 overseas.^{[citation needed]} That represents an overall drop of 25% from the original worldwide gross. Critics everywhere gave positive reviews for the film.^{[citation needed]}

Plot

Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin McCallister, who once again is separated from his family during a Christmas vacation trip.

It starts out with the family making preparations to attend the school Christmas pageant. As Kevin sings a solo, his older brother Buzz sticks two candles behind Kevin's ears to embarrass him. As the crowd breaks down into laughter, Kevin realizes and slugs Buzz which causes a domino effect where all the choir children tumble and the curtain is dropped[1]. Buzz later makes an apology in front of the family but then secretly sneers to Kevin, who then tells the family that he does not accept it, then complaining about spending Christmas in Miami, without any Christmas trees. His mother sends him to the third floor for this.

The travel plans almost go wrong as Kevin's father accidentally pulls the cord to the alarm clock the night before, resetting the alarm causing the family to wake up late and almost miss their flight. Kevin loses his family in O'Hare International Airport and follows a man wearing the same coat as his dad onto a different flight to New York City. Kevin's family realizes he is missing at the baggage check in Miami when his bag is passed around by his family. The airport police advises them that once Mr. McCallister's credit card is used, the centralized computer will be able to locate where the transaction took place, and thus where Kevin should be.

In New York City, Kevin sees many of the sights, including Radio City Music Hall and the top of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He then uses his father's credit card to check into The Plaza Hotel, using his Talkboy to impersonate his dad in order to get the initial reservation. He is serviced by bellhop Cedric (Rob Schneider). The hotel's concierge (played by Tim Curry) is suspicious of Kevin from the beginning.

The day after Kevin checks in, the hotel arranges for a limousine for him to tour the city, complete with a pizza and soft drinks for his enjoyment. After asking the limo driver to take him to a toy store, Kevin is taken to the largest toy outlet in the city, Duncan's Toy Chest (a fictional version of F.A.O. Schwartz). Here he meets and befriends a clerk at the counter who later turns out to be Duncan himself (Eddie Bracken). After Kevin pays for a purchase, the clerk explains to Kevin that all the proceeds from Christmas Eve sales will be donated to a local children's hospital. Kevin gives $20 to the cause, at which point the clerk allows Kevin to take a small gift from a Christmas tree on the counter, suggesting he take the two turtledoves. He explains that he is supposed to keep one and give one to someone special to him. On his way out, Kevin sees a painting of the real Mr. Duncan and realizes that the clerk was the actual Mr. Duncan.

While Kevin is away, the hotel's concierge finds out that Kevin has committed credit card fraud, since the credit card was his father's. While escaping the hotel staff, Kevin is caught by his former nemeses from the first film, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern). He learns that they have escaped from prison and plan to rob the toy store, so he must stop them.

Kevin manages to escape the burglars at Central Park. Afraid to return to the hotel and without his father's credit card, he uses his address book to find his uncle's house, only to find it vacant due to a renovation in progress. The streets (with their scary folk and prostitutes) at night offer little Kevin comfort and he seeks the park. After being initially scared, Kevin befriends a homeless "pigeon lady" (played by Brenda Fricker) who takes him to the roof of Carnegie Hall where he learns more about her past as they eavesdrop on an orchestra playing below.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family is stuck in a motel in Miami when they get the phone call from the police locating Mr. McCallister's credit card in New York City. The family promptly leaves for New York, where they check into the Plaza Hotel. After bragging about catching the stolen card, the concierge is promptly admonished by Mrs. McCallister for chasing Kevin away where he could get lost in the city, at which point he offers the family a complementary hotel suite as compensation. However, she is not satisfied and decides to spend the evening looking for Kevin.

Meanwhile, as Kevin walks the streets of New York, he passes the children's hospital that Mr. Duncan mentioned earlier. After recalling the information given by Duncan and the thieves, Kevin plans to stop the robbery of the toy store. He first runs to his uncle's house and rigs it with traps using the construction materials in the house. He then runs to Duncan's Toy Chest, and catches Harry and Marv pulling off the heist. After snapping a few photos with his camera, Kevin breaks the window with a brick with a note to Mr. Duncan tied to it, setting off the alarm, and runs back to his uncle's house. The bandits run after him in pursuit of the pictures; after seeing that Kevin has made it to the top of his uncle's house, they try to persuade Kevin to toss the evidence down to them from the roof of his uncle's house. However, Kevin instead throws four bricks at them, all of which hit Marv. The two then enter the house to capture Kevin, but their efforts are hindered by the traps Kevin has set.

After contacting the police, Kevin lures the thieves out of the house toward the rendezvous point in Central Park, but he slips on ice during his escape and is captured by the burglars. The two take him to Central Park themselves and try to shoot him in private, but are seen by the pigeon lady, who throws birdseed on them, which sticks to the mess from the traps. Dozens of pigeons swarm the two as the police arrive; after the officers recover the evidence from Kevin, the burglars are taken into custody.

At the Lower Plaza of the Rockefeller Center, Kevin is praying in front of the giant Christmas Tree; it is presumed at this time that Kevin has little hope or idea of where to go. Fortunately, his mother clues in Kevin's tendency to seek out the "the biggest Christmas tree" and locates him. While being briefed by police on the robbery, Mr. Duncan reads the message attached to the rock that broke the store window and foiled the burglary attempt and realizes that it was Kevin when referenced about the two doves. Mr. Duncan thanks him by sending him and his family a load of presents to their hotel suite for Christmas morning. Kevin's brother Buzz sincerely makes amends by saying that Kevin should open the first present. While the rest of the family is eagerly opening presents, Kevin slips away to Central Park to meet up with the pigeon lady, where he gives her one of the doves. The movie ends when Buzz gets the bill for room service and gives it to Mr. McCallister, who then yells at Kevin for spending $967 on room service.

Injuries suffered by robbers (during "Operation Ho Ho Ho")

Several of these booby traps are similar to the ones Kevin used in his own house; though the robbers think that they have learned from their mistake, Kevin is still one step ahead.

Harry

• Catapulted into the air (shortly after realizing that he is standing on a makeshift seesaw just outside the store window, when an excited Marv inadvertently jumps onto the other end) and lands on top of a car, demolishing its roof and seriously injuring himself.
• Slips off a ladder because the bottom rung is coated with green slime.
• Gets a bag of tools dumped on his head when he kicks open a door.
• Accidentally lights his head on fire with a ceiling-mounted flamethrower and douses his head in the toilet, which is filled with a highly flammable paint thinner.
• Attempts to climb up another ladder to chase Kevin, which breaks under his weight and collapses, taking Harry with it as he falls flat on his face.

Marv

• Gets hit four times with bricks thrown by Kevin from the roof of a three story building.
• Gets stapled in the buttocks, crotch, and nose with staples from a staple gun.
• Misses a hole in the floor right inside the main entrance and falls face first into the basement.
• Slips on green lubricant grease and slides into a shelf of paint cans which tips over onto him.
• Gets electrocuted as Kevin turns up the voltage on a large charger that has wires connected to the sink.
• Gets hit by a 100lb bag of concrete mix when trying to climb up a rope that has the bag attached.

Both

• Remembering what happened to them last year, they avoid getting hit by the paint cans thrown by Kevin and faked their injuries. When they run upstairs, they get hit in the face by a lead pipe, knocking them through the foyer hole to the basement. Kevin then cuts the ropes holding it which rolls down the stairs and falls on the two.
• Get their noses crunched by a door when a tool chest rolls down the penthouse stairs and bashes through, pinning them to the wall.
• Fall from a kerosene-soaked rope after Kevin lights it on fire from below, though their fall is broken by a scaffold.
• The cans of varnish stored on the scaffold boards are tossed up in the air and tumble down, blanketing the robbers in crimson viscous liquid.
• Attacked by pigeons after the bird woman throws a bucket of birdseed on them. Because of the crimson varnish from the previous fall, the birdseed sticks to their clothes and faces.

Video games

As with the first Home Alone movie, video games based on the sequel were released by THQ for such systems as Sega Genesis, NES, SNES, Game Boy and PC, mostly in late 1992.

A separate hand-held game was released by Tiger Electronics.

Trivia

• Kevin was eight in the last film and ten in this one. However, according to the characters the last film occurred only one year before.
• The game show Kevin is watching near the beginning of the film entitled "Ding Dang Dong" that had Bob Eubanks as host was a parody of the lottery game show "The $100,000 Fortune Hunt" that ran in Chicago at the time. It even used the actual props and set of the said show. This game show was filmed and aired in Chicago on WGN-TV and not in New York as it was said in the movie.
• The "Talkboy" hand-held tape recorder used by Kevin was specially designed for the movie. After its success at the box office, Tiger Electronics sold a retail version of the Talkboy tape recorder; several versions of the device followed suit, including a pink-colored "Talkgirl", a "Talkboy" pen, and "Talkboy, Jr.," a pocket-sized version of the recorder.
• Donald Trump, who owned the Plaza Hotel at the time, makes a cameo appearance. He is the man giving Kevin directions when he first enters the Plaza Hotel.
• The 800 number Kevin uses to call the hotel to make a reservation is 1-800-759-3000, at one time the actual number to the Trump Hotel.
• Like the film Angels With Filthy Souls in the first film, Kevin's hotel video rental Angels With Even Filthier Souls is not a movie but rather specially-created footage. Both movies were a homage to the 1939 film Angels with Dirty Faces. The cheating woman in Even Filthier Souls is played by Claire Hoak, an actress between 1989 and 1999.
• On Brand New's 2003 Album Deja Entendu, they have a song entitled, "Okay, I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't". This is taken from a line in "Angels With Even Filthier Souls" movie inside this movie.
• Duncan's Toy Chest was, but is no longer a fictional store, it now trades internet only in the UK [www.duncanstoychest.co.uk]. It was created on the lower levels of the Rookery Building in Chicago, Illinois.
• The green slime that Kevin purchases at Duncan's and ultimately uses to foil the Sticky Bandits, was marketed after the film was released.
• While the family is in Florida, they're watching It's a Wonderful Life on TV again, this time in Spanish (it was in French in the first movie).
• Harry still has the burn mark on his palm that he got from the first movie, when he tried to open the house's front door and burned his hand on the superheated doorknob; he greets Kevin with it at the loading dock of The Plaza Hotel.
• One of the film's teaser trailers (which doesn't appear on any of the DVDs) has a panoramic view of the New York skyline, zooming into the Statue of Liberty... which puts its hands on its face much like what Kevin does in the poster.
• Home Alone 2 had promotional ties with the soft drink Sprite. During the film's release, Fox aired commercials that featured Culkin on the set of the movie, enjoying the beverage with a young girl. The film also had a promotional deal with Hardee's restaurants which offered give-away posters. The film also had a tie-in with Life brand cereal.
• This would be the last Home Alone film that would be a box office success.
• During the Christmas, 1992 shopping season Hallmark Cards made available gift sets of two turtle doves. One of the doves was boxed separately to simplify the sharing of the second dove.
• There actually are Christmas trees in Florida. The Norfolk Island Pine is a tropical pine tree that pretty much grows all over the southern half of Florida. It does especially well in areas from around Charlotte County, Palm Beach County and everywhere in between, all the way south to Key West. According to the full article, it may not be a true pine, but it still makes a great Christmas tree. In addition, there is also the Florida Slash Pine which will pretty much grow anywhere in the State of Florida, even in the panhandle.

Quotations

• Gangster Johnny on TV: Hold it right there!
  Girl Gangster on TV: It's me, Johnny.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: I knew it was you. I could smell you getting off the elevator.
  Girl Gangster on TV: Gardenias, Johnny. Your favorite.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: You was here last night, too, wasn't you?
  Girl Gangster on TV: I was singing at the Blue Monkey last night.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: You was here, and you was smooching with my brother.
  Girl Gangster on TV: That's a dirty, rotten lie, Johnny!
  Gangster Johnny on TV: Don't give me that. You've been smooching with everybody! Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe with the gimpy leg, Cheeks, Boney Bob, Cliff... I could go on forever, baby.
  Girl Gangster on TV: You have me all wrong.
  Gangster Johnny: All right, I believe you, (grabs Tommy gun) but my Tommy gun don't!
  Girl Gangster on TV: Johnny... You're the only duck in my pond.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: Get down on your knees, and tell me you love me.
  Girl Gangster on TV: Baby, I'm over the moon for you.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: You gotta do better than that!
  Girl Gangster on TV: If my love was an ocean, Lindy will have to take two airplanes to get across.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: Maybe I'm off my hinges, but I believe you. That's why I'm gonna let you go. I'm gonna give you til' count of three to get your lousy, lyin', low-down, four flushing carcass out my door.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: 1... 2...
  (fires Tommy gun, and kills the gangster girl)
  Gangster Johnny on TV: 3. Merry Christmas, you filthy animal. (fires again) And a Happy New Year. (fires again)
• Harry: (after Marv gets 14 cents) That's very smart, Marv. We bust out of jail just to rob 14 cents from a Santa Claus.
• Frank McCallister: (after Kevin sees him laughing) Get out of here, you nosey little pervert, or I'm gonna slap you silly!
• Peter: (to Kevin) KEVIN!!!, YOU SPENT NINE HUNDRED AND SIXTY SEVEN DOLLARS ON ROOM SERVICE????????
• Gangster Johnny on TV: Hold it right there!
  Mr. Hector: This is the concierge, sir.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: I knew it was you. I could smell you getting off the elevator. You was here last night, too, wasn't you?
  Mr. Hector: Yes, sir. I was.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: You was here, and you was smooching with my brother.
  Mr. Hector: (smiling and laughing) What? I'm afraid you're mistaken, sir.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: Don't give me that. You've been smooching with everybody. Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe with the gimpy leg, Cheeks, Boney Bob, Cliff...
  (everyone stares at the police officer, who coincidentally is named Cliff)
  Officer Cliff: (gasps) It's a lie!
  Gangster Johnny on TV: I could go on forever, baby.
  Mr. Hector: I'm terrible sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you're mistaken. We're looking for a young man.
  Gangster Johnny on TV: All right, I believe you, (grabs Tommy gun) but my Tommy gun don't. Get down on your knees, and tell me you loved me.
  Mr. Hector: (On his knees) I love you!
  Gangster Johnny: You gotta do better than that!
  Mr. Hector, Mrs. Stone, Cedrick, Cliff, and Security Guard: (On their knees) I love you!
  (Kevin leaves the room)
  Gangster Johnny on TV: Maybe I'm off my hinges, but I believe you. Thats why I'm gonna let you go. I'm gonna give you til' the count of three to get your lousy, lyin', low-down, four flushing carcass out my door. 1...
  (Everyone tries to get away)
  Gangster Johnny on TV: 2... (fires the machine gun, and everyone ducks the attack.) 3. Merry Christmas, you filthy animal. (fires again) And a Happy New Year. (fires again and grabs Miss Doe) Come with me.
  Mr. Hector: Stay in your rooms! This is an emergency! There's an insane guest with a gun!
• Cedric: You know, Herbert Hoover once stayed on this floor.
  Kevin: The vacuum guy?
  Cedric: No, the, uh, president.
• Kevin: (After realizing he is in NYC) "Yikes, I did it again!"
• Kevin: (Telling the wet bandits to catch him) "I'm down here, you big horse's ass!" [Note: when it's shown on television, some of the TV channels may or not censor what Kevin actually says to the wet bandits]
• Kevin's mother: What kind of idiots do you have working here?
  Mrs. Stone: The finest in New York!
• Marv: Harry, I've reached the top!
  (Takes one step and falls down two floors)
• Marv: Wow! What a hole!
• Kevin: Two scoops? Make it three; I'm not driving!
• Harry: Hiya, pal!
  (Grabs Kevin)
• Kevin: This is the greatest accident of my life!
• Marv: That was the sound of a tool chest, falling down the stairs.

New York Sights

The following landmarks and other New York City points of interest are seen in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York:

• LaGuardia Airport
• Central Park
• Battery Park
• Statue of Liberty
• Chinatown
• World Trade Center (the scene was removed from US TV broadcasts after 9/11)
• Plaza Hotel
• Times Square
• Fulton Fish Market
• 5th Avenue
• Rockefeller Center
• Radio City Music Hall
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Manhattan Bridge
• Queensboro Bridge
• Chrysler Building
• Empire State Building
• Carnegie Hall

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