Home Sweet Home Alone

Home Sweet Home Alone
The tagline "No parents, no problem" and a boy holding large toy guns Promotional poster
Directed by	Dan Mazer
Produced by	Hutch Parker Dan Wilson
Screenplay by	Mikey Day Streeter Seidell
Story by	Mikey Day Streeter Seidell John Hughes
Based on	Home Alone by John Hughes
Starring	Ellie Kemper Rob Delaney Archie Yates Aisling Bea Kenan Thompson Pete Holmes Ally Maki Chris Parnell
Music by	John Debney
Cinematography	Mitchell Amundsen
Edited by	David Rennie Dan Zimmerman
Production company	20th Century Studios Hutch Parker Entertainment
Distributed by	Disney+
Release dates	November 12, 2021 (2021-11-12)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Home Sweet Home Alone is a 2021 American Christmas comedy film directed by Dan Mazer with a screenplay by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. It is the sixth film in the Home Alone franchise. The film was produced by 20th Century Studios as an original title for Disney+, the first 20th Century Studios film to be produced for the streaming service. It was announced after The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox and inherited the rights to the Home Alone franchise. The film stars Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney, Archie Yates, Aisling Bea, Kenan Thompson, Pete Holmes, Ally Maki, and Chris Parnell.

The film was released on November 12, 2021 to generally negative reviews. Criticism was aimed at the screenplay and unfavorable comparisons to the original Home Alone.

Plot

Jeff and Pam McKenzie are trying to sell their house, but have not told their children, Abby and Chris. Jeff had lost his job and Pam's salary is not able to afford keeping their home. To make matters worse, Jeff's obnoxious and more successful brother Hunter and his wife, Mei, and son Ollie, have decided to stay with them for Christmas. During an open house, Max Mercer and his mother Carol stop by to use the restroom. Max has a brief exchange with Jeff, during which the latter reveals a box of old dolls, including a malformed one with an upside down face. Carol comments on how dolls with unusual deformities tend to sell due to their rarity. As Max and Carol return home, the whole family is preparing to leave for Tokyo, Japan for the holidays, with Carol leaving earlier than the rest of the family. Max, annoyed with the fuss, decides to hide in the garage-parked car and falls asleep.

Concerned about losing their home, Jeff goes to retrieve the doll, only to find that it is missing. Believing that Max stole it, he manages to locate the Mercer household the next day, only to find the whole family hastily leaving. During the commotion, he overhears the security code and sees where the house key is hidden. He tells Pam about it and they agree to go and steal the doll at night. Meanwhile, Max discovers that the whole family has left and takes advantage of it by having fun, though he quickly grows bored and yearns to see them all again. Meanwhile, Jeff and Pam arrive at the Mercer house and get inside. Max overhears them talking about getting an "ugly little boy" and assumes they are talking about selling him to an old lady. He attempts to scare them away by calling the cops. Officer Buzz McCallister arrives, but Pam manages to divert him. Max realizes that if he found out he was home alone, his parents might get arrested.

Carol discovers that Max has been left home alone and buys a ticket to head back. The McKenzies head to church the next day where they run into their realtor, Gavin Washington who tells them that they have a buyer, but they need to decide by the end of the year; putting pressure on them. Max arrives and unknowingly converses with Jeff and Pam's son Chris, who sympathetically gives him his nerf gun. Jeff and Pam spot Max talking with an elder afterwards and assume that she is his grandmother. They resolve to break into the house once again while the rest of their family is still at church. They sneak around the back of the house, but end up in the neighbor's backyard instead. Max overhears them once again plotting with Jeff agreeing to arrive dressed as Santa in an effort to fool him. Max responds by setting up traps in his house while Jeff and Pam wait for their family to fall asleep on Christmas Eve.

Jeff and Pam are subjected to Max's traps, during which they discover that Max did not steal the doll, but instead stole a can of soda. They clear up the misunderstanding, but learn that Max is also home alone and agree to let him stay with them until his mother comes back. As they explain the whole situation to their family, it turns out that Ollie stole the doll and managed to safely retrieve it, thus ensuring that the McKenzies will stay. Carol arrives to pick up Max and, having moved into their house only two months ago, finds friends in the McKenzies and thanks them for taking care of Max. One year later, the Mercers and McKenzies have Christmas dinner together with Jeff having gotten a new job and willingly gives Max the soda he craved the year prior.

Cast

• Archie Yates as Max Mercer, a boy who is left behind at home by his family.
• Rob Delaney as Jeff McKenzie, Pam's husband who plans to obtain a priceless possession from the Mercers' home.
• Ellie Kemper as Pam McKenzie, Jeff's wife who also plans to obtain a priceless possession from the Mercers' home.
• Aisling Bea as Carol Mercer, the mother of Max.
• Kenan Thompson as Gavin Washington, a real estate agent.
• Tim Simons as Hunter, Jeff's brother and Mei's husband.
• Ally Maki as Mei, Hunter's wife.
• Pete Holmes as Uncle Blake Mercer, the uncle of Max.
• Chris Parnell as Uncle Stu Mercer, another uncle of Max.
• Andy Daly as Mike Mercer, Carol's husband and Max's father.
• Katie Beth Hall as Abby McKenzie, Jeff and Pam's daughter.
  • Justine Archambault as Young Abby McKenzie
• Max Ivutin as Chris McKenzie, Jeff and Pam's son.
  • Amadeo Correia as Young Chris McKenzie
• Maddie Holliday as Katie Mercer, the sister of Max
• Aiden and Allan Wang as Ollie, Hunter and Mei's son.
• Mikey Day as Priest
• Jim Rash as Bell Choir Leader

Devin Ratray also reprises his role as an adult Buzz McCallister from Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) with the character now working as a police officer. John Novak and Eddie G appear as Johnny and Snakes respectively, two movie characters who were portrayed by Ralph Foody and Michael Guido in the first two films as well.

Production

On August 6, 2019, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a new film in the Home Alone franchise, titled Home Alone, was in development. By October, Dan Mazer had entered negotiations to direct the film, with a script co-written by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. Hutch Parker and Dan Wilson served as producers.

In December 2019, Archie Yates, Rob Delaney, and Ellie Kemper were announced as the co-stars of the film. In July 2020, it was reported that Ally Maki, Kenan Thompson, Chris Parnell, Aisling Bea, Pete Holmes, Timothy Simons, and Mikey Day had joined the cast. In April 2020, it was reported that Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister in the first two films, would reprise his role in a cameo; In October 2021, Culkin denied his involvement in the film. In August 2021, it was announced that Devin Ratray, who played Buzz McCallister in the first two films, would appear.

Principal photography began in February 2020, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In March, filming was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and industry restrictions worldwide. In November 2020, Disney announced that all its films that had been postponed by the coronavirus had resumed filming, and in some cases completed principal photography.

Marketing

The first trailer was released on October 12, 2021. It was met with negative responses by fans, and received more than 79,000 dislikes on YouTube in the first three days of release.

Aisling Bea, who is Irish, received criticism for using an English accent in the film. She said in an interview that "people were trying to connect it to some form of oppression, because it was American people getting me to do an English accent". She said she had used many accents in her career and dismissed the criticism as "sort of what Twitter was created for: people to complain about things that don’t matter".

Release

The film was released digitally on Disney+ on November 12, 2021.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 17% of 50 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Nobody's Home." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Savannah Lee of Parent Previews criticized the film, saying "The level of violence will be the main content concern for parents when deciding whether to let their children view this film. I would say it's on a similar level to the original if that helps contextualize it. I appreciate well done slapstick comedy, but the sympathetic "villains" and very real injuries make for nothing more than an uneasy viewing experience, even for adults. If you're looking for a family Christmas film, Home Sweet Home Alone is best left alone. There are better options for festive fun." Courtney Howard of Variety wrote about "It's baffling that Home Sweet Home Alone didn't turn out better as, on paper, the list of cast and creatives reads like an ideal marriage of talent and vision. Mazer, who wrote on such prank-heavy projects as Da Ali G Show and Borat and Seidell and Day, who’ve worked on Saturday Night Live (Day's "Dad Prank Video" is an offshoot of Kevin McCallister's mischievous escapades), come from notable modern schools of comedy, innately knowing how to get a laugh. But their attempts at slapstick and self-aware jokes land with a dull thud. The film's downfall is leaning too far into parental drama, and blunting the satisfying feeling kids have watching their cinematic avatar demonstrate physical and mental aptitude. The iconic original Home Alone captured lightning in a bottle. Perhaps it's true that we can never truly go home again. A financially-strapped couple and a wealthy neglected boy battle over a missing heirloom in this sluggish and stale Disney Plus sequel."

External links

• Home Sweet Home Alone at IMDb