Twenty-five years after Home Alone hit theaters, the world has managed to get hung up on a stand-out plot hole in the movie. Or rather, the Internet grew fixated upon finding a solution, which is nice timing for the anniversary. Redditors revved up a thread for movies with unanswered questions, and one of the top-voted entries (from Okholm) revolved around the sketchy phone line situation in the Christmas classic:
“The entire plot relies on Kevin’s parents being unable to call home to speak to their son, after the phone service to their house is severed by a falling tree. Kevin, however, is somehow able to call Little Nero’s to deliver his very own cheese pizza; this is never explained. It serves no purpose but to set up the use of the “Angels with Dirty Souls” tape later in the film. Still love the movie though!”
Indeed. Especially in a world graced with satellite cell phone networks, it is hard to fathom how this phone situation could go explained. Reddit user Phire presented his theory:
“I always assumed the tree actually severed the main trunk line to the whole town, but local calls within the same exchange still worked.”
In 2015, this explanation prompted laughter in the comments section, but logically, it makes sense. Long distance calls wouldn’t make it to the McCallister residence, but he could still call locally and get his pizza fix. So Kevin’s family couldn’t check in on him from their vacation spot, but he was able call locally for food. The HuffPo did some legwork with AT&T, and Vice President Hank Hultquist, said the explanation makes sense:
“Everything is changing now because all of this phone capability is moving into the cloud, but in 1990, that was absolutely a plausible scenario.”
There you have it, folks. Now, if we could only figure out exactly how Kevin’s family managed to leave him at home alone. Harried forgetfulness and a frazzled morning don’t seem to explain forgetting one’s own child. That’s not a plot hole, of course.
(Via Reddit & Huffington Post)
