Synopsis of Home Alone 4
Caroline pulls Malcolm aside after class, and tells him she'd like a more emotional connection with him, and he should always feel free to come to her if he's having problems at home. Malcolm's parents are going out of town for a wedding, and they leave Francis in charge of his three younger brothers. As his parents are packing, Malcolm overhears them talking about how this weekend is a sort of test for Francis, and if he does a good job they might consider bringing him home from military school permanently. Malcolm pull Reese and Dewey aside and tells them that they have to make sure that everything goes really smoothly this weekend so that Francis can come home permanently. The three brothers decide not to tell Francis that he's on trial, because that's a sure-fire way to get him to screw up.
As soon as their parents leave, Francis tells his brothers that he wants to show them a cool trick with lighter fluid, a waffle iron, and Dewey's fuzziest stuffed animal. The three younger brothers instead opt to watch TV, and end up watching a really boring game of golf, trying desperately to stay out trouble. Unfortunately, some of Francis's friends call, and excited that Francis is back in town, they come over to hang out. By the time they leave, being escorted by the cops, they've managed to completely destroy the house. It is now that Maloclm decides to reveal to Francis that he's on trial, and Francis and his brothers rush around desperately to clean up the house. When they have it sparkling clean, they realize that it's TOO clean, and their mom will know something is up. So they mess it up just enough to make it look real. As Malcolm is triumphantly crumbling a cracker on a bookshelf, the entire bookshelf comes down on his head. Francis handles the emergency beautifully, putting pressure on Malcolm's head wound, putting ice on it (well, the only really cold thing Reese could find, which was frozen chicken), and insisting that Malcolm go to the hospital for stitches. Malcolm tries to fight him on the hospital trip, knowing it will be hard to keep their parents from finding out, until Reese gets a mirror and shows him his own wound, at which point he gives in. Malcolm then stresses about how they're going to get to the hospital, because they'd have to take the car, and their mother has written down the current mileage on the odometer so that she'll know if they take the car. Francis has an easy solution. He drives everyone backwards to the hospital.
Meanwhile, at the wedding, Lois keeps complaining about Hal's family, and how much they hate her. She says they've even come up with a nick-name for her, "Lois Common Denominator." Hal comforts her, and says the perfect thing to not only make her feel better, but to make her want him right then and there. They interrupt the wedding by passionately making out in the middle of the ceremony, and then are discovered later in the happy new couple's "Just Married" limousine.
At the hospital, Malcolm is getting stitches, and Francis says he'd like to pay for it right away instead of having his parents get the bill. When the doctor says that's fine, but it'll be about $400, Francis despairs. Malcolm says there is, actually, one person they could call for help, but it might not be worth it.
Caroline shows up at the hospital, and immediately assumes that Malcolm's parents hurt him. He explains the situation, and that he needs $400. She says she can't afford that on a teacher's salary, and she didn't mean for him to call her for financial help, but for emotional help. As she's walking away, Francis loudly tells Dewey that now he's going to have go away again, and secretly digs his nails into Dewey's back so that Dewey cries and Caroline feels sorry for them. Caroline goes for her credit card, and can't find it. Reese produces it, saying that it fell out of her bag.
The boys' parents get home, and the boys line up for inspection. Their parents carefully look all around the house, and can't find anything seriously amiss. Lois grabs the ski hat Malcolm has put on his head, and sees the bandage he's hiding underneath. Her reaction is surprisingly mellow. Everything passes inspection, and Lois comments to Hal that the military school must really be doing a good job with Francis, and sending him there was the best decision they ever made. Malcolm realizes they've been had.
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