Home Alone 3

Plot

Peter Beaupre, Alice Ribbons, Burton Jernigan, and Earl Unger, four internationally wanted hitmen working for a North Korean terrorist organization, have stolen a $10 million missile-cloaking computer chip. The thieves put it inside a remote control car to sneak it past security at San Francisco International Airport. However, a luggage mix-up occurs, causing a woman named Mrs. Hess to inadvertently take the thieves' bag containing the remote control car, while returning home to Chicago. The four thieves arrive in Chicago and systematically search every house in Mrs. Hess's suburban neighborhood to find the chip.

Meanwhile, Alex Pruitt is given the remote control car by Mrs. Hess for shoveling snow, but she lectures him for scratching numerous itches. He returns home and removes his shirt to discover that he has chickenpox, and therefore must stay out of school. While recovering at home, Alex uses his telescope and discovers the thieves on look out for the chip. He fails to convince the police twice, so he spies on the thieves using his toy car and a video camera. The thieves discover it and take away the evidence, which results in a chase. Wondering what the thieves want with a remote control car, Alex opens it and discovers the stolen chip. He informs the local Air Force Recruitment Center about the chip while asking if they can forward the information about the chip to the proper authorities.

The thieves conclude that Alex has been watching them and decide to pursue him. As a snowstorm hits Chicago, the thieves block off the road to the house and Alice duct tapes Mrs. Hess to a chair in her garage and leaves the door open. By this point, Alex has rigged his house with booby traps and prepares to set them off with his pet mouse, Doris, and his brother Stan's loud-mouthed pet parrot. After their numerous break-in attempts are foiled by Alex's traps, the thieves infiltrate the house and search for Alex. Alex flees to the attic and takes the dumbwaiter down to the basement, then runs outside and calls to Alice, Jernigan and Unger. The thieves see Alex and notice a trampoline below them. Jernigan and Unger jump to pursue Alex, but the trampoline gives way and they fall into a frozen swimming pool. Alice wriggles her way into the dumbwaiter chute, but falls down to the basement because Alex removed the bottom.

Alex rescues Mrs. Hess and is cornered by Beaupre, but scares him off with a bubble gun resembling a Glock. Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrives to Alex's siblings' school, after being tipped off by the recruitment center. Alex's family brings the agents to their house, where the police arrive and arrest Alice, Jernigan, and Unger. However, Beaupre has escaped to the snow fort in the backyard. The parrot drives the remote control car into the snow fort and threatens to light fireworks, which are lined around the inside. Beaupre offers a cracker, but the parrot demands two. Since he only has one, the parrot then lights the fireworks, and flees. Beaupre is discovered and arrested.

Later, the Pruitts hold a celebration for Alex's success while their house is being repaired. Mrs. Hess, who befriends Alex after he successfully rescues her, attends the celebration with the FBI and the police. They are joined by Alex's father, who returns home from a work trip. Then the thieves are shown having their mugshot photos taken and they appear to have caught Alex's chickenpox.

Cast

Production

Home Alone 3 was pitched at the same time as Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and it was planned to produce both movies simultaneously; however, those plans fell through.

The idea for a third Home Alone movie was revived in the mid-1990s; early drafts called for Macaulay Culkin to return as a teenaged version of Kevin McCallister. By 1994, however, Culkin had dropped out of acting. As a result, the idea was reworked as an entirely new film centering on a new cast of characters. It was filmed in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois, with the airport scenes in the beginning of the film being shot in two different concourses at O'Hare International Airport.

Reception

The film grossed $79,082,515 worldwide.

Critical reception for Home Alone 3 was generally negative upon release. It holds an approval rating of 27% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews and was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, where it lost to Speed 2: Cruise Control. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review of 3 out of 4 stars and said that he found it to be "fresh, very funny, and better than the first two".

Novelization

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

The novelization starts with the four crooks, Peter Beaupre, Earl Unger, Burton Jernigan and Alice Ribbons waiting outside the taxi depot.

Home media

Home Alone 3 was released on VHS and Laserdisc on June 2, 1998, and on DVD in 1999, which was later reissued in December 2007 (and again in 2008, as part of Home Alone multi-packs). While the DVD presents the film in its original Widescreen format (1.85:1), it is presented in a non-anamorphic 4:3 matte.