Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House is a 2002 American Christmas family comedy made-for-television film. It's the fourth installment in the Home Alone film series.
After Home Alone 3 had a completely new cast, this film brought back the original characters, but they were all recast with actors who often looked nothing like the original ones, like Buzz and Megan (originally late teenagers, now somehow preteens) and Marv (now played by French Stewart, who ironically looks more like the original Harry). Much of the family is somehow missing, and Harry has been replaced by Marv's wife, Vera (Missi Pyle).
Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House provides examples of:
- Amicably Divorced: Subverted. Kate and Peter are in the middle of getting divorced, but still seem to get along after their separation, likely leading to them getting back together at the end of the movie.
- Canon Discontinuity: Possibly this as of Home Sweet Home Alone, a Distant Sequel to the first two films that references them, but not this movie. Buzz in his cameo from said movie mentions that Kevin was forgotten only twice. However, it is up for interpretation as Kevin wasn’t forgotten in this film like he was in the other two.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Kevin's brother Jeff and sister Linnie aren't in this movie at all.
- Cosmetically-Advanced Prequel: Or rather, midquel. Along with the early 2000s aesthetic, the film shows obvious technological advances that were either not around or common in the early 90s. Natalie's remote-controlled house fits the bill, as does Prescott's cell phone.
- Derailing Love Interests: Apart from forgetting to cancel her appointment with a tree decorator, Natalie doesn't exactly do anything too mean until she threatens to kick Kevin out of the house for ruining her and Peter's engagement party.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Come on, who didn't figure out that Peter and Kate would get back together?
- Friendly Enemy: Marv and Kevin seem to be on first-name basis with one another. Also, once their first attempt to break into the house fails, Marv casually introduces Vera to Kevin.
- Left the Background Music On: Kevin, Peter, and Natalie decorate the tree while "Jingle Bells" plays in the background. When Natalie gets a phone call, she needs someone to turn down the music.
- Misplaced Vegetation: Palm trees are seen in a few shots, even though this film is set in the Chicago suburbs.
- The Mole: Kevin suspects someone in the house is letting Marv and Vera into the house. He's right, but it's the last person he suspected: Molly the maid who happens to be Marv's mother.
- Ms. Fanservice: Vera, Kate, and Natalie are all beautiful women.
- Never Trust a Title: Kevin is never left alone by himself at any point in the plot; he's left with Buzz early on, and after he goes to Natalie's house, at least one of Prescott or Molly is present whenever he is.
- Outlaw Couple: Vera and Marv, who met in jail before they married, and now they want to kidnap a prince.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Again, this is the main reason Natalie is seen as a bad guy: Kevin wants Peter to get back with Kate and doesn't want him to be with someone else, Kevin is the protagonist, ergo, Natalie is bad.
- Rich Bitch: Natalie has shades of this.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: An extremely weird example: Kevin is only 9 in this film even though he was 8 in the first one and 10 in the second. There's no sign this is meant to be a prequel or anything (indeed, if it were, it would raise a bunch of other issues such as where is Harry? and where did Vera go between movies?) as such, we can only assume it was some sort of bizarre oversight on their part.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Kevin thinks The Butler Did It. It was actually the maid.
- You Don't Look Like You: Since the original actors would have been too old to reprise their roles, they had to recast everybody. The worst offender has to be Marv, played by French Stewart. Rather than look like Daniel Stern, who declined the offer to reprise his role in the film, he looks a lot more like Harry.
