“Home Alone 3” (1997)

 Home Alone 3

Brief Description:

8-year-old Alex Pruitt defends his home from a dangerous band of international criminals working for a terrorist organization.

(from Wikipedia)

Date: 1997

Genre: American family comedy 

Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes 

Cast: 

Alex D. Linz (Alex)

Haviland Morris (Mrs. Pruitt)

Kevin Kilner (Mr. Pruitt)

Olek Krupa (Beaupré)

Rya Kihlstedt (Alice)

Lenny Von Dohlen (Jernigan)

David Thornton (Unger)

James Saito (the Mob Boss)

Seth Smith (Stan)

Marian Seldes (Mrs. Hess)

Christopher Curry (FBI Agent Stuckey)

Pat Healy (FBI Agent Rogers)

Baxter Harris (Police Captain Jackson)

Neil Flynn, Nick Jantz, Tony Mockus Jr., & James Chisem (Police Officers)

Freeman Coffey (USAF Recruiting Officer)

Adrianne Duncan (Flight Attendant)

Jennifer A. Daley (Police Photographer)

Darren T. Knaus (the Parrot)

Director: Raja Gosnell

Production company: Hughes Entertainment & Fox Family Films

Wikipedia page

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Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 4/5

A quiet neighbourhood of old Tudor-style homes with everybody gone during the day. Nice enough setting. 

Characters: 4/5

I liked these characters better than those from “Home Alone” 1 & 2. Alex is much less of a brat (and more 8-year-old-ish). His parents are quite nice; and his siblings are much more loving, and their picking on him is much more fair and teasing than hateful. Mrs. Hess was such a nice surprise, and the villains were fun because they could be taken more seriously. 

Plot: 4/5

I enjoyed this much more than the first two films. It’s more of a series of misunderstandings than deliberate unkindness, and Alex isn’t forgotten at home, but forced to stay behind by a series of circumstances (aka his parents are much more responsible). I also liked the extra issue of his parents’ lack of money. And I was pleasantly surprised by how the 911 calls were handled. I enjoyed how the film played out with the microchip and where + how it got to Alex, and the build of suspense as the robbers try to retrieve it. The showdown is less violent than HA 1&2, but just as fun, and I liked the little snippets that reminded me of the original films! And I really liked the ending :) Also, love how the parrot played into all this! Made me laugh out loud. 

Theme/Message/Topics: 3/5

There actually wasn’t much of one at all, unless it was to trust your kids, lol. Christmas is really a totally incidental thing... it's basically just set in December.  

Content: 2/5 (high)

Alex’s brother has a picture of an unclothed model with her chest area and hips covered in sticky-notes, & Alex removes a few of the sticky-notes but nothing is really revealed. Later a villain opens the bathroom and you can dimly sees a female form in the shower; he opens it and finds the picture hanging there sans sticky-notes (side chest can be seen, and the image cuts off above her bellybutton). There’s a picture of a girl in a bikini in Alex’s brother’s room as well. A scene where Alex undresses in the bathroom; his family hears him scream and say he “slammed the toilet seat on his thing again.” A scene where Alex watches a recording of women exercising and shoots a dart at a woman’s behind. A scene where a mouse climbs out of a man’s suit near the groin and a woman tries to kill the mouse (“You smacked my winky.”) Language: OMG. 

Violence: 3/5 (medium)

A little less violent than “Home Alone” 1&2 but along the same lines. 

Overall: 3/5

I wasn’t a fan of the content at all, but it is centered in a few specific scenes, and easy to skip. And I loved the rest of the film. If it wasn’t for the content, this would definitely get 4 stars!