"Home Alone," which starred Macaulay Culkin, tells the story of an eight-year-old troublemaker who must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation. The film premiered in 1990. (20th Century Fox)
There's plenty of wacky fan theories about "Home Alone," but every now and then you hear one that’s actually quite convincing.
In the past we’ve reported on the theory that Elvis makes a cameo appearance in the movie, decades after faking his own death.
Then there’s the theory that John Candy’s character, Gus Polanski, is actually the devil.
But this theory about Peter McCallister, who was played by John Heard, is probably our favorite one so far about the 1990 movie.
The theory stems from Reddit user cubanesis who argues that Kevin’s dad is “some kind of mid-level criminal for the mob."
“We never find out what he does,” the Reddit user wrote about Peter McCallister. “They don’t mention where he works, or his background, or anything … But Peter makes enough money to have a wife that doesn’t work and like five kids. He also has a house that is worth like $1.5 million.”
Just because he’s wealthy doesn’t mean he’s a mobster, but the Reddit user made a couple of other points about Peter McCallister’s “fishy” behavior.
“The very first time we see Peter is when Harry [played by Joe Pesci] is dressed as a cop scoping the place out,” cubanesis wrote.
“Peter is WAY defensive in this interaction. All Harry does is ask if he’s the owner of the house and Peter jumps straight to, ‘Am I in some kind of trouble officer?’ The look on his face is on edge the whole time he’s talking to Harry.”
The next point the Reddit user makes is that there must be a specific reason the two burglars targeted the McCallister’s house rather than any other one on the same street.
“Harry calls the McCallister house ‘The Silver Tuna’, the big score, etc … When we see in the house there’s nothing particularly valuable-looking around. We don’t ever see them mention jewels or a safe or anything like that, but still this house … is THE HOUSE to rob.”
Could it be that Harry and Marv targeted the house because they knew it was owned by a wealthy mobster?
Finally, the Reddit user suggests that the McCallister family’s behavior adds weight to the theory the patriarch is a gangster.
“Kevin’s mom is a cold emotionally dead b---h who says terrible things to her eight-year-old son. Buzz is a … psychopath, who is probably set up to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Uncle Franks is obviously a crook of some kind. Then there’s Kevin, who seems completely OK with killing two robbers … He was out for blood.
“Plus, the whole family has terrible manners. Just look at the scene when Kevin’s mom is trying to use the pay phone in Paris and a woman is already using it. The whole family just muscles the poor woman off the phone.”
Other "Home Alone" fans have supported the theory and even added more evidence.
One person suggested that the theory could explain why the pizza delivery guy, who bolted from the McCallister house when Kevin played a violent scene from "Angels with Filthy Souls," didn’t call the police to report the shooting.
“Perhaps he told someone at the pizza company, and they were like, ‘yeah, go ahead and call the cops on the McAllister place … do you have any idea who lives there? You will die if the McAllister family (‘Family’ as in organization) finds out you ratted on them,” Reddit user nobody2000 wrote.
Another person speculated that Harry and Marv could be “two goons” hired by a rival crime family to “send a message” to Peter “Snakes” McCallister. “Snakes realizes this means war when he finds the gold tooth at the end,” the person wrote.
So there you have it — could Peter McCallister actually be a criminal? Probably not, but as far as "Home Alone" fan theories go, you have to admit this one is pretty good.
This article originally appeared in news.com.au.
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