Home Alone 4 (also known as Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House) is a 2002 American made-for-television Christmas family comedy film directed by Rod Daniel, which first aired on ABC on November 3, 2002.

It is the fourth installment in the Home Alone series. The film brings back several of the main characters from the first two films including Kevin McCallister, but with all the roles played by different actors. It is also the only film in the series to be filmed outside the United States (although set in Chicago, it was actually shot in South Africa). The plot revolves around Kevin (Mike Weinberg) trying to defend his future stepmother's house from Marv (French Stewart) and his wife Vera (Missi Pyle).

Plot

At the McCallisters' house, Peter is about to get divorced from Kate and announces that he's living with his new and rich girlfriend, Natalie at her mansion. He tells his three children, Buzz, Megan and Kevin, that they are hosting the visit of a royal family and invites everyone to spend Christmas with him and Natalie. After initially refusing, Kevin takes his father up on his offer after being tormented by Buzz.

Kevin enjoys his time at Natalie's mansion with his new bedroom, latest gadgets and his life. In the next morning, Natalie and Peter go out for a bit while Kevin stays at the mansion with Mr. Prescott. While Prescott makes Kevin a milkshake, he goes into the security room and gets caught by Prescott, who gives Kevin another chance. With Natalie and Peter still away, Kevin notices his old nemesis Marv, a remaining member of the Wet Bandits and new sidekick Vera outside the house. Kevin tries to get Mr. Prescott to answer the intercom, but unfortunately it doesn't work because Marv altered the security system. He then spies on them and drive them away by flooding the house, but Peter and Natalie arrive while Kevin is cleaning up and don`t believe Kevin's explanation, especially since Prescott claims to have seen nothing. Kevin then attempts to use the security camera footage to prove himself, but discovers that the camera had been turned off and is caught by Prescott, who Kevin now believes to be Marv and Vera's ally. Molly then appears and gets Kevin out of trouble. Peter and Natalie then realize they gave Kevin a hard time and decide to make him feel better, so the three of them decided to decorate the tree.

The next morning Peter and Kevin wake up and realize their tree was re-decorated because of Natalie. Kate, Buzz and Megan then decided to visit Kevin. Kate meets Natalie in person and Kevin shows the entire house to Buzz and Megan. At a party for the royal family while Peter and Natalie have gone to pick them up, Kevin notices Marv and Vera dressed up as caterers. Mr. Prescott warns Kevin about the night so he then tricks Mr. Prescott going into the freezer room locked and frozen in ice. Kevin then spies on Marv and Vera into his bedroom and hears them planning about kidnapping the royals; unfortunately for them, Kevin makes sure that their plan was a failure and has them fall out and break the window. The royal family are unable to attend the party because their flight was cancelled, so Peter and Natalie instead announce their engagement. Marv and Vera run back into the house and Kevin hits Marv with a frying pan, flips the table and get soup spilled on Marv and Vera; they then chase Kevin, causing him to accidentally ruin the party. Peter is angered at this event, still refusing to believe Kevin about the break-in he believes that Kevin is trying to end his relationship with Natalie.

Since no one believes him about the heist, Kevin decides to deal with matters himself, and sets booby traps for Marv and Vera. The next morning Peter and Natalie go get the royals and Kevin is left back at the house. Marv and Vera wake up and head to the house. Kevin tricks and locks Mr. Prescott in the basement, but then he discovers Marv and Vera's real ally is actually Molly, who turns out to be Marv's mother as well. Kevin gets locked in the basement; after apologizing to Mr. Prescott for misjudging him (and vice-versa), Kevin manages to escape through the dumbwaiter. He then traps Marv under the dumbwaiter and unleashes his traps on Marv and Vera. Then Molly appears; Kevin manages to trap her in the elevator and runs to his bedroom. At the airport, Peter gets worried about Kevin and goes back to Natalie's to check on him. Back in the basement, Mr. Prescott then manages to escape through the dumbwaiter as well to see if Kevin is alright. Just on the road, Kate, Buzz and Megan are on their way to save Kevin as well. Marv heads to the bedroom and ends up getting caught and stuck under the bookshelf. Kevin then plays a recording of Marv, making it sound like he's insulting Vera, which causes her to break up with him and argue; Marv then gets hit by Kevin's electric aircraft making him fall and rumble down the stairs. Marv and Vera are then tricked by Kevin with a secret wall switch, end up swinging from a chandelier, and they fall and are knocked unconscious. Molly, having escaped, grabs Kevin, but Mr. Prescott knocks her out with a serving tray. Then he and Kevin call the police.

As Peter, Kate, Buzz and Megan arrive, Kevin, with Buzz and Megan's help, chases Marv and Vera out of the house and trips them up. The royal family and Natalie arrive and Natalie is confused when she sees Molly getting arrested. An FBI agent reveals that Molly masterminded the plot to abduct the royal family. Prescott resigns and the royal family choose to spend their Christmas with the McCallisters instead of Natalie. Peter then breaks up with her and Natalie hyperventilates. The McCallisters embrace as the film ends.

Cast

• Mike Weinberg as Kevin McCallister
• French Stewart as Marv, Vera's husband.
• Clare Carey as Kate McCallister, Kevin, Buzz and Megan's mother.
• Jason Beghe as Peter McCallister, Kevin, Buzz and Megan's father.
• Gideon Jacobs as Buzz McCallister, Kevin and Megan's brother.
• Chelsea Russo as Megan McCallister, Kevin and Buzz's sister.
• Missi Pyle as Vera, Marv's wife.
• Joanna Going as Natalie, Peter's girlfriend and Buzz, Megan, and Kevin's future stepmother
• Erick Avari as Mr. Prescott, the butler.
• Barbara Babcock as Molly, the maid, the inside guy, and Marv's mother.

Critical reception

Home Alone 4 was panned by reviews from critics and fans of the first two films. At Rotten Tomatoes, Home Alone 4 currently has no score on the tomatometer, but it does have a 40% audience rating. Criticisms were based on how Home Alone 4 doesn't seem to fit into the same chronological timeline as the first two movies and the film's inferior casting and writing. Several reviews also criticized the film for low-budget production values. The film currently holds a low rating of 2.1 out of 10 at IMDb.

A planned TV series based on the movie was cancelled because of the poor reviews.

Sequel

On March 15, 2012, ABC Family announced that Home Alone 5 was in production, and will premiere on that network during the 2012 Christmas season. The film will star Christian Martyn as eight-year-old main character Finn. The story will center on the family's relocation from California to Maine, where Finn becomes convinced that his new house is haunted. When his parents become stranded across town, Finn sets traps to catch his new home's ghosts, but instead prove troublesome for a group of thieves, played by Malcolm McDowell, Debi Mazar and Eddie Steeples. The film also stars Edward Asner, is produced by Fox Television Studios, and is directed by Peter Hewitt.^[1]

References

External links

• Home Alone 4 at the Internet Movie Database