Corrected entry: The entire plot relies on Kevin's parents being unable to call home to speak to their son, after the phone service to their house is severed by a falling tree (when the McAllisters are getting into the van a utility worker tells Mrs. McAllister that the power has been restored, but that the phones "are a mess" and that it will take several days to repair them, especially around the holidays). Kevin, however, is somehow able to call Little Nero's to deliver his very own cheese pizza; this is never explained. It serves no purpose but to set up the use of the "Angels with Dirty Souls" tape later in the film. If Kevin is able to do this because the phone lines have been fixed at this point (an argument supported by the fact that Mr McAllister is able to call and leave a message with a neighbour who lives on the same block), then this makes even less sense. Considering the mother is so desperate that she bribes passengers at the airport to secure a seat back from Paris, it is unlikely that the family do not continue to call the house on a regular basis. (00:45:50 - 00:47:25)
Home Alone (1990)
1 commented-on entry since 18 Nov '24, 08:42
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Starring: Catherine O'Hara, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Joe Pesci, Macaulay Culkin
Continuity mistake: When Kevin goes to the grocery, he buys Tide detergent. While walking home, the two bags break, but no Tide detergent falls out.
Check-Out Woman: Are you here all by yourself?
Kevin McCallister: Ma'am, I'm eight years old. You think I would be here *alone*? I don't think so.
Question: If Old Man Marley is actually a nice man (and not a "shovel slayer" as Buzz claims) then why does he always give Kevin that cold, creepy stare? After Kevin ran away the first time wouldn't he want to talk to Kevin the next time, to assure him that everything is okay?
Answer: Because he's understandably angry that Kevin's so unreasonably scared of him and assumes the worst in him without even getting a chance to know him. He never gets a chance to talk to him, because he always runs away too quickly. The first time he gives him that stare was when Kevin was watching him shovel from the window. Nobody would like to be stared at like that while doing a simple task.
Answer: Marley appears that way mostly because the audience sees him from Kevin's point of view. Marley is miserable and sad because he is estranged from his family, but we see him as a crotchety, unpleasant person because that is what Kevin believes. Buzz had tainted Kevin's opinion of him by spreading the false stories that a gullible Kevin believed were true.
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Correction: The power repairman tells Mrs. McCallister the phone lines are a mess and it will take "a couple days" to get them fixed. This is simply his guess at how long it will take. As for Kevin ordering the pizza, we don't see him make the call, so we don't know how or where he ordered the pizza. We see him walk into town to buy his toothbrush and groceries, so it's reasonable he could have used a phone in town.
That seems pretty unreasonable considering he bought his groceries and returned home in the daytime but his pizza wasn't delivered until nighttime. That also doesn't explain how Mr. McCallister was able to call the neighbors across the street from them and leave a message but didn't attempt to call his own house.
The pizza could possibly be an error, unless perhaps by this time Peter had given up trying to call the house. Calling the neighbour, though, I would consider reasonable, as just because the neighbour's phone line works, doesn't mean your own does. My home phone line has been down in the past when the neighbours wasn't.