Episode 114: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Funnily Enough, We Never Lose Our Luggage! We’ve snuck a sequel into your stocking this Christmas – Chris Columbus’ 1992 big city follow-up Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

After a familiar family blow-up on the eve of a Christmas trip (this time to Florida, where they don’t even have Christmas trees), mischievous Kevin McCallister (Macauley Culkin) finds himself on the wrong flight, landing in New York City armed with a Talkboy, a wad of cash, and his dad’s credit card. But his toy-shopping, three-scoop-eating, cheese-pizza-limo adventure is disrupted by the appearance of his bungling burglar nemeses Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), precipitating another night of carefully planned festive torture and traumatic head injuries.

Now, you’ll hear in the episode that I (Devlin) went a bit overboard and wrote up a comparison timeline of 73 similar events, lines, or story beats from both Home Alone and Home Alone 2. Well, here it is, gang, in Excel spreadsheet form. Go nuts.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTDXDhCCiB0syrCc4Swe-Olkx9MpfpQtPp4CoflDz22KuGcDxXuhsnO2u0YTxQJJw/pubhtml

Now, does the fact that Home Alone 2 so closely tracks its predecessor mean that it’s a mere cash-in? A disposable rush job that hits the beats but forgets the feelings? Or, does it follow the adage of ‘shut up and play the hits’ in a way that satsifies even as it fails to surprise? Or, does the film find new wrinkles in old bars? Well, go ahead and listen to our 2023 Christmas special and find out what we all thought!