Ode to Marv

Last night after my dad, Jill, Tony and I finished watching the nail-biter that was the 2007 Pioneer Las Vegas bowl we happened upon Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. The movie brought back a flood of memories. Home Alone (the original) is a John Family Favorite. Speaking of which, Anthony and I were sad to miss out on the annual Home Alone viewing party in Provo this year. Anyways, we were channel surfing and we had to stop when we saw Kevin McCallister booby-trapping his uncle's abandoned house. As we watched I couldn't help but laugh my head off anytime Marv came on the screen. He is the creative genius of the Sticky Bandits. Many of his antics make me laugh, like when he wraps tape around his hand so he can steal change out of buckets. Or when he stops and smiles for Kevin's camera in the midst of a very incriminating situation. But he is just so soft, you know he isn't really cut out for a life of crime. Remember the look of disappointment on his face when he finds out they've missed the prisoner gift exchange at the prison. Even if you don't agree with me, you can't deny he's resilient. Kevin lobs multiple bricks off a three-story building that smack him in the face but that doesn't keep him down. Before the night is through a staple gun gets him in the face and crotch, multiple paint cans fall on him, he falls through a hole to the basement, he gets electrocuted to the point you can see his skeleton, and climbs down a kerosene-soaked rope that gets lit while he's climbing! My sister Jill got Home Alone 2 for Christmas at least a decade ago and we quoted Marv all summer when we would jump into the pool. We would yell, "Harry, I've reached the top," and then jump into the water. After we came back up for air we would say, "wow, what a hole." We thought it was hilarious. Clearly, we still do. So thank you, Daniel Stern, for bringing to life one of my all-time favorite movie characters.

Some sweet bonuses for reading my entire post:

• Go here to view a sweet clip of Marv getting his brains fried.


• I found this CREEPY pic while searching for images from Home Alone. Makes you never want to leave your little boys unattended.