Synopsis
One year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself stranded in New York City – and the same criminals are not far behind.
Cast
Macaulay Culkin…Kevin
Joe Pesci…Harry
Daniel Stern…Marv
Catherine O’Hara…Kate
John Heard…Peter
Devin Ratray…Buzz
Hillary Wolf…Megan
Maureen Elisabeth Shay…Linnie
Michael C. Maronna…Jeff
Gerry Bamman…Uncle Frank
Terrie Snell…Aunt Leslie
Jedidiah Cohen…Rod
Senta Moses…Tracy
Diana Rein…Sondra
Kieran Culkin…Fuller
Anna Slotky…Brooke
Tim Curry…Concierge
Brenda Fricker…Pigeon Lady
Best character
You can’t not think Kevin is the best character in these films. He’s very funny and incredibly intelligent for his age. There’s also the scene in the toy shop where he donates money to the children’s hospital. Such a sweet moment, most children (or adults) are that selfless.
Favourite scenes
*I do not own the rights to any videos in this post, no copyright infringement was intended. All rights go to the production studio*
Best quotes and one liners
DESK CLERK: Can I help you?
KEVIN: A reservation for McCallister?
DESK CLERK: A reservation for yourself?
KEVIN: Ma’am, my feet are hardly touching the ground. I’m barely able to look over the counter. How can I make a reservation for a hotel room? Think about it. A kid coming into a hotel, making a reservation? I don’t think so.
BELLMAN: Do you know how the TV works?
KEVIN: I’m 10 years old; TV’s my life.
WAITER: Two scoops, sir?
KEVIN: Two? Make it three; I’m not driving.
BELLMAN: [presents a pair of boxers] Your drawers, sir.
KEVIN: [grabs them] Geez! Don’t flash these babies around here; there could be girls on this floor!
BELLMAN: I was very careful, sir.
KEVIN: You can’t be too careful when it involves underwear.
BELLMAN: I understand.
KEVIN: Did you have any kids?
PIGEON LADY: No. Oh, l wanted them. But the man I loved fell out of love with me. That broke my heart. And whenever the chance to be loved came along again, I ran away from it. I stopped trusting people.
KEVIN: No offense, but that seems like sort of a dumb thing to do.
PIGEON LADY: I was afraid of getting my heart broken again. You see, sometimes you can trust a person, and then, when things are down, they forget about you.
KEVIN: Maybe they’re just too busy. Maybe they don’t forget about you, but they forget to remember you. l don’t think people mean to forget. l think it just happens. My grandfather says if my head wasn’t screwed on, I’d leave it on the school bus.
PIGEON LADY: I’m just afraid if I do trust someone, I’ll get my heart broken again.
KEVIN: I understand that. l used to have this really nice pair of rollerblades. l was afraid if l wore them, l’d wreck them. So l kept them in a box. Do you know what happened?
PIGEON LADY: No.
KEVIN: I outgrew them. I never wore them once outside. l just wore them in my room a couple times.
PIGEON LADY: A person’s heart and a person’s feelings are very different than skates.
KEVIN: Well, they’re kind of the same thing. lf you aren’t going to use your heart, then what’s the difference if it gets broken? If you just keep it to yourself, maybe it’ll be like my rollerblades. When you do decide to try it, it won’t be any good. You should take a chance. Got nothing to lose.
PIGEON LADY: A bit of truth in there somewhere.
KEVIN: I think so. Your heart might still be broken, but it isn’t gone. If it was gone, you wouldn’t be this nice.
KATE: [at the Plaza Hotel] What kind of hotel allows a child to check in alone?
DESK CLERK: The boy had a very convincing story.
KATE: What kind of idiots do you have working here?
DESK CLERK: The finest in New York.
KEVIN: Don’t you know a kid always wins against two idiots?
Final thoughts and fun facts
Merry Christmas! I can’t believe it has come around so quickly. I hope you’ve had a wonderful day, even if you don’t celebrate the holiday!
The original film is such a classic, but this one is so festive. There’s something about New York at Christmas that is so magical. I haven’t seen this one enough times to have it replace my love for the original, but it definitely could.
Macaulay Culkin was paid $4.5 million to star in this movie, the biggest salary ever for an eleven-year-old actor.
The “pigeon attack” sequence was filmed on March 25, 1992. According to Joe Pesci, the crew covered him and Daniel Stern with real birdseed and about 300 pigeons. This must have been absolutely terrifying. Imagine 300 birds flying at you.
All of the children who appeared in the toy store scene were allowed to take their favourite toy home as part of their salary. Even though it didn’t work, and was created specifically for the movie as a prop, Macaulay Culkin was allowed to keep the Talkboy.
Kevin’s room service bill indicates that he spent $967 on: two chocolate cakes, six chocolate mousses with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream topped with M&Ms, chocolate sprinkles, cherries, nuts, marshmallows, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and bananas, six custard flans, a pastry cart, eight strawberry tarts, and 36 chocolate-covered strawberries. Apparently, this is equivalent to about $2,054 in 2023.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: Re-Watch Review: Dash & Lily EP8