Harry and Marv (Home Alone 1 & 2)

Harry and Marv "Kids are scared of the dark. You're afraid of the dark too, Marv." Gender: Male Type: Incompetent Burglars Species: Human Portrayed by: Joe Pesci Daniel Stern Status: Alive Media of origin: Home Alone

"Harold "Harry" Lime" and "Marvin "Marv" Merchants", also called the "Wet Bandits"/"Sticky Bandits", are the main antagonists in the 1990 Christmas comedy film Home Alone and its 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. They attempt to rob Kevin McCallister's house or chase after him after Kevin's family had already left and had gone to Paris in the first film and again when Kevin was lost in New York when his family was in Miami in the 1992 sequel.

Why They're Not Scared of the Dark

1. They serve as a perfect comic-foil to Kevin by being villainous yet entertaining buffoons that we are meant to laugh at because of their ineptitude, silliness, pratfalls, & mishaps as a comedic duo of wicked yet bungling fools. Meanwhile, Kevin is the young, snarky yet guileful and heroic trickster that we root for.
2. Despite Harry being a bumbling fool of a criminal along with Marv, he was shown to be pragmatic enough to present and disguise himself as a publicly protective officer in Home Alone 1 so that nobody would be suspicious about the underhanded & devious activities that he does with Marv at night.
   • Especially where Harry established how he has some stealthy tactics with keeping the neighborhood safe and quiet enough to raise no suspicion around them by not causing any notable problems (e.g telling Marv how a house they were robbing shouldn't be flooded in Home Alone 1) and in Home Alone 2; he was smart enough to remind Marv of Kevin's predictably sadistic traps as a brief moment of outsmarting some of Kevin's plans, it's not to say that Harry is that smart either since he told Kevin that he never passed 6th grade and usually has ill-conceived methods when it comes to robbery, but he still tends to seem more intelligent than Marv by comparison by being the brains of the duo.
3. With that said, Harry and Marv make up a perfect relationship in crime.
4. Much like many comedic dunderheads; Marv is very dumb, and he always presented his idiocy hilariously.
5. Just like the titular trio from Ed, Edd n Eddy: These two are gods of durability.
   • As such, Harry and Marv's slapstick antics pay an evident homage to The Three Stooges.
6. These guys are a very funny comic-relief duo that contributes to some of the funniest moments in both Home Alone movies they starred in.
   • They have provided the most timeless and memorably hilarious scenes because of their buffoonery. Examples of these include the scene with Buzz's spider Axl on Marv's nose (a heavily iconic scene when it comes to comedy, all thanks to Daniel Stern's hilarious yell) and Harry's head being lit on fire for example.
   • Not to mention that they have the most memorable and funniest one-liners throughout both movies. Examples of these include, "Yeah but remember, we're the Wet Bandits! Wet Bandits!! Shut up, *kicks Marv* shut up Marv!!" and "Suck brick kid!".
7. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern did a very excellent job at portraying their characters.
8. Harry and Marv are two comically inept crooks, but they have had their moments of imposing a credible threat towards Kevin in both movies. Especially in the second movie, this scene in particular.

The Only Bad Quality

1. In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, they had become more of a punching bag than ever before, especially when it came to Kevin's over-exaggerated plans to outsmart them and The Pigeon Lady torturing them with birdseed at the end right before they get arrested.
   • In which Marv also became a lot dumber and goofier than in the first movie, although this is somewhat understandable from all of those head injuries that he sustained in the first film (and/or additional head injuries that he might have sustained in prison). That scene where Marv was also thrown four bricks at by Kevin would make this more believable.
   • Marv had also received the worst of the slapstick violence than Harry ever had, even more so than he did in the first movie.
   • Much like Sylvester from Looney Tunes: Their rivalry with Kevin can be quite repetitive in Lost in New York.
   • Just like Wile E. Coyote: The constant, running gag of Harry and Marv's sheer ineptitude at their rivalry with Kevin or embarrassing themselves, in general, can get a bit stale in Lost in New York. In a way of the "beating a dead horse" territory at times since we already know how incompetent they usually are.

Trivia

• Many doctors and nurses in their reactions to both movies (such as the doctors featured in DistractifyYT) had pointed out how painful and how much treatment these two would've been actually had in real-life aside from their durability.
  • This video showcases how insanely durable they are, even for live-action standards.
• The clownish, cartoonish yet impactful slapstick that they were inflicted onto in Home Alone 1 was so memorable, many YouTubers such as Corridor Crew, Fame Focus, and Vsauce3 actually tested how realistic the injuries would've been like on professionally made dummies and other supplies. This video is a prime example out of the many.
• Marv returns in Home Alone 4 and is portrayed by French Stewart and Harry's name was only mentioned.

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