Parents forgetting their kids at home while flying off to another country might seem like an unlikely possibility, especially in a country like ours where we are constantly under their supervision, but this plot worked successfully for the holiday cult classic Home Alone. 31 years later, the sequels and the spin-offs of the Chris Columbus directorial keeps entertaining us. And the latest offering from this franchise is Dan Mazer’s Home Sweet Home Alone which was released on Disney + Hotstar on November 12.
Also Read: Home Sweet Home Alone Review: Reboot of the Holiday Classic is a Hit and Miss
However, in this reboot of the holiday classic, our robbers (played by Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney) are actually good people, tortured unnecessarily by the kid (Archie Yates). They had joined News18 for a candid conversation ahead film’s release. Rob and Ellie, who plays Jeff and Pam respectively, talked to us about the trademark torture scenes of the Home Alone franchise, whether the plot is relevant in today’s day and age of technology and whether they have ever lost their kids.
Excerpts from the interview:
Do you think a theme like this is relevant in today’s time when it is very easy to keep a tab on someone owing to technology and social media?
Rob Delaney: Yes, because I have children, and sometimes I lose them, despite having an iPhone. And I can lose my children with relative ease. So I know from experience that, unfortunately, the plot of this movie is true. Granted, I’ve never gone many timezones away from my children (laughs) and lost track of them. But you know, I can lose. Plus, also kids don’t have the technology that adults always do.
Ellie, you are a mother, and although the parents forgetting their children might seem over the top, have you ever found yourself in a similar situation?
Ellie Kemper: In my real life I’ve never left my child anywhere by accident. Whether that’s a reflection on my A+ excellent parenting, I’m not sure. It might just be a lucky coincidence. But I’m sure we’ll lose them at some point, hopefully under safe circumstances, and I’ll recover them quickly. But I agree. I think when there’s a lot going on, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that you might forget a kid. Although it’d be hard to get on a plane without the kid I guess. (laughs) The mom in this movie is terrible.
Your characters were tortured badly in the film. Which scene was the most difficult to shoot?
Rob: It might be difficult to believe but getting up the flight of stairs to try and get Max was the most challenging. There might be two minutes of stairs in the movie but that absolutely took us the better part of a week to shoot because of all the stunts on the stairs (Ellie agrees) So I try to avoid stairs now.
Home Alone is a cult classic, so when you said yes to the reboot, were you concerned or pressurised by the fact that it might be compared with the original one?
Ellie: Well, I think this is its own story. First of all, our characters of the robbers are actually good people. They’re not out there for the sake of terrorizing an innocent boy and his home. We actually want something back so that we can take care of our own children. So I think that’s different. It is inspired by the idea of leaving a child home alone, but there’s enough difference that I think will resonate with the audience.
So, how do you think the audience, especially the kids of today’s time, will relate to this entire plot?
Rob: There are two sets of kids: The Mercers (the child left home alone) and the Mackenzies (the family of the robbers), and I think kids will relate to both. They would be scared and sad if they thought they were going to lose their home, But they would also be just delighted and thrilled if they got to torture people who are breaking into their home. So my feeling is, is that this movie will resonate profoundly with all children all over the world.
Home Sweet Home Alone also stars Aisling Bea, Kenan Thompson, Tim Simons and Ally Maki, along with a cameo of Devin Ratray, who reprises his role as an adult Buzz McCallister from Home Alone.
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