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1* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
2** Miles' inexplicable view of three intimidating guys through the mail slot.
3** Maizy's seemingly normal teacher, who suddenly screams "BLASPHEMER!", like some sort of religious maniac, after she uses the expression "Goddamn", quoting her uncle. It's a downright non-sequitur in the TV edit, which censors the words altogether. Moreover, the way that the classroom scene is incorporated into the movie seems to unnecessarily interrupt Buck's ReasonYouSuckSpeech to the vice principal.
4** At one point, Buck's car does its [[BrickJoke standard backfire]] as it comes to a halt at the party; in this instance and this instance alone, Music/JamesBrown's signature ''"Wah!"'' can be heard.
5* CatharsisFactor: You ever have a shitty teacher or administrator? Watching Buck tear into Maisy's vice principal will be ''so'' satisfying.
6* EnsembleDarkhorse: Miles Russell, since his scene at the mail slot was ''the'' inspiration for the ''Film/HomeAlone'' films. Eagle eyed viewers will even note that they used the same house.
7* HarsherInHindsight: Early in the film, Buck is attempting to remember the names of the kids and recollects Tia being ''ten years old'', and is shortly chastised by Tia - although that's to be expected - when he doesn't remember Miles and Maizy's names. Later on we learn through Buck's viewing the photo album and Tia's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech mixed gloating and whining at Buck]], largely because she's not allowed to go out, that Buck has largely been shut out of the family for years. No wonder, in that case, that he doesn't know where his brother lives or the names of the kids, who don't seem to know him at all; Buck was shut out to the point he'd never met them before.
8** When he first enters the house, Buck talks to his sister-in-law about her Dad, who had a heart attack. He asks if it's "one of those medical terms, an infarction?" Creator/JohnCandy would die only a few years later from a myocardial infarction.
9* RetroactiveRecognition:
10** Hey, Buck's nephew is Creator/MacaulayCulkin, and his younger niece is [[Film/NowAndThen Samantha Albertson]]!
11** Hey, what's [[Series/{{Roseanne}} Aunt]] [[Series/TheConners Jackie]] doing living next to this family?
12** [[Series/YesDear Kim Warner]] is the older niece.
13** [[Series/{{Veep}} Amy Brookheimer]] is Maisy's classmate.
14* ShortLivedBigImpact: Even though the film garnered mixed reviews, with Creator/RogerEbert giving it only 1.5 stars out of 4, Macaulay Culkin's performance as Miles served as the inspiration for ''Film/HomeAlone1'', one of the biggest Christmas comedy classics of film.
15* UnintentionallySympathetic: Buck himself. The marketing and other characters save for Miles and Maizy almost seem to paint him as the black sheep of the family for reasons that -- much like Tia's jerkassery -- are never really fully explored; even the film's poster depicts the family trying to comically barricade themselves in to stop him, but Buck in the film is much more sympathetic and decent than the majority of the cast seems to see him as. It's implied that he's a habitual gambler and work dodger, and he himself says he was like Bug at one point in his life, but he is never shown doing anything of the sort.
16* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: As detailed elsewhere, Tia has issues with her parents that are never fully explored save for one attack on her mother for leaving her grandparents; while she'd otherwise be a stock teenager from a Creator/JohnHughes movie, the lack of explanation and her overall attitude toward the much more sympathetic Buck can render her difficult to like until she and Buck finally reconcile.
17* ValuesDissonance: Comes into play whenever Buck is in or at a school.
18** He is seen smoking a cigar while walking through Maizy's school. Indoor smoking has been banned in the state of Illinois since 2008. However, Buck realizes his behavior is unacceptable, first ducking into a bathroom so as to not blow smoke in the hallway, then dousing his cigar and throwing it away rather than chucking it in the corner.
19** While the scene itself is awesome, Buck threatening a school administrator the way he did to Maizy's principal would likely result in him being served with a restraining order barring him from the school premises.
20** His car parked outside a high school backfiring loud enough to sound like a gunshot would very likely set off a false mass-shooter scare and would have police and SWAT descending on the school.
21** A non-school example; Pooter the Clown arrives for Miles' party drunk as a skunk and Buck tells the heavily-intoxicated clown get ''back in his car and drive away''. Only in the '80s. That said, Buck also threatens Bug with a hatchet over the possibility of Bug driving Tia home after a few drinks. It's okay for a grown man to risk his life driving drunk, but not okay for Bug to put Tia at risk.
22* {{Wangst}}: A lot of Tia's behavior, especially towards Buck, [[CharacterDevelopment until the end]].
23* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Despite the family theme, there's some crude sexual humor (particularly the NotWhatItLooksLike scene with Marcie) and an AttemptedRape.
24* TheWoobie: Buck never does ''anything'' in the movie or in the backstory to justify the obvious contempt in which he is held by his entire family. Indeed, everything he does indicates that he is at heart an intelligent, caring man who simply acts unusual in response to being treated like a pariah.
25** Moreover, his unusual behavior consistently proves necessary to prevent the disastrous consequences of him being ignored- up to and including an attempted ''rape'' which he clearly saw coming.
26** While Buck wasn't exactly living a very good lifestyle... among other things, his only income was gambling (apparently also involving fixed horse races), and nearly drove the kids to the racetrack when Tia drove off, the fact that his sister-in-law treats this like he was some sort of low-life criminal mugging people at gunpoint reflects much worse on her than it does on Buck... as does the fact that his own brother never stands up for him.
27*** At one point prior to Bob calling Buck, she even cites Chanice's job as being problematic in having Buck watch the kids; she sells ''tyres'' for a living.
28** Tia is a JerkassWoobie, extremely harsh and critical to everyone around her, especially Buck, but is extremely depressed, bordering on clinical.

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