L'apprenti millionnaire

Preston Waters' father Fred is tight with money. After all, investments are how he makes his living. But Preston does not get to spend money like the other kids. A good example: he is invited to Butch's birthday party at an amusement park, but he does not get to go on nearly as many rides as the others do.

Preston's brothers Ralph and Damien have money. But they have jobs. Preston is not old enough to have a job. However, his grandmother does send him a blank check for his birthday. Preston's Dad doesn't see it that way, though. He says the boy's grandmother just forgot the amount, and he fills in a prudent number. But as the pretty new teller Shay tells him, it is not even enough to open a bank account!

Meanwhile, bank president Biderman is being asked to launder money by Carl Quigley. Biderman had some bad things to say about him in court, so Biderman will do this for him or else. Quigley intends to send someone to pick up the money the next day at 1:00.

But as Quigley is backing out his car, he is paying attention only to the cops nearby. Preston has fallen off his bicycle, but fortunately, he sees Quigley's car in time. But not in time for his bike. Quigley writes a check but doesn't have time to fill it in. That's okay, though; Preston has a Macintosh computer at home that can do that for him. And he decides the check will be for one million dollars. When he returns to the bank, it is not Shay but a teller who looks like a lunch lady who almost rejects the check. But it is almost 1:00 when Preston is dragged into Biderman's office. Biderman offers Preston juice (or at least that's what he believes). Believing this is Quigley's flunky, Biderman actually gives Preston the money!

And then the real Juice shows up with--guess what--ANOTHER million dollar check.

What do YOU think is going to happen?

Well, what does happen is very funny and includes a lot of physical comedy, most of that related to the bad guys getting what they deserve.

A couple of additional details: Biderman is being investigated by the FBI, and a reclusive mystery man named Macintosh is buying one of the finest houses in town and lots of toys and other fun stuff to fill it with.

There are lessons to be learned here: money is not the most important thing in life. Family and friends are. In fact, people are your friends only if they are still your friends when the money is gone.

Several actors rise above the material: James Rebhorn as Preston's Dad, Tone Loc as Juice, and sometimes Miguel Ferrer as Quigley. Brian Bonsall does a good enough job as Preston, and Rick Ducommun, as chauffeur Henry, convinces me that he is really Preston's friend. Karen Duffy is easy to like as the pretty teller. On the other hand, Michael Lerner (as the bank president) is never anything more than a cartoon character, and Debbie Allen as party planner Yvonne doesn't seem up to her usual standards.

On My 48, I saw some obvious signs that language had been cleaned up, but not really anything that should make this film inappropriate for most children. Butch (who is a bully) is manhandled by the bad guys and even dangled off a tall building. And the bad guys do threaten others convincingly, but this is still little more than a live-action cartoon. It's really up to individual parents as to whether this is too much.

You don't have to be a kid to like this, but it helps.

Preston Waters is a young boy with no money. His older brothers are taking over his room for their business. His grandma's birthday check isn't enough to open a bank account. Escaped robber Carl Quigley (Miguel Ferrer) threatens bank president Edward Biderman (Michael Lerner) and orders him to launder his stolen money. Carl is sending Juice (Tone Loc) the next day to cash a check. Outside the bank, Carl almost runs over Preston with his car and destroys his bike. Carl gives Preston a check but fails to write down an amount as he rushes away before the cops arrive. Preston fills in $1 million. Biderman mistakes Preston for the expected Juice and hands over the money. Preston creates a fake identity Macintosh to buy a mansion, hire chauffeur Henry, woo bank teller Shay Stanley (Karen Duffy) who turns out to be an undercover cop, and throw a big birthday party.

Money obsession is not necessary a great subject for a kids movie. This could still be fun if Preston has friends. It could be loads of childhood fun. Instead, he's alone and it's terribly sad. The young actor isn't charismatic enough and it's probably expecting too much from him. His fling with Karen Duffy is borderline creepy. The villains are not bumbling enough and Miguel Ferrer is actually quite scary. There is simply a lack of fun in this kids movie.

This is an obvious attempt to rip off 'Home Alone' and 'Richie Rich', which, coincidentally, both star Macaulay Culkin. If Culkin were young enough to play this part, I have no doubt he'd pull it off, if he did play it. In the case of the Home Alone-rip-off, instead of robbers you have money launderers. Preston's family is similar to that of Home Alone's: His brothers hate him (or at least act like they do). You've got all the elements here for a movie about a kid living in an adult world, except for one thing: a child his own age. That is one crucial thing that's never explored or mentioned here. Just think of the comic possibilities of the movie if he were trying to impress someone his own age, or at least slightly older. But those are just suggestions in an otherwise hilarious family comedy! *** out of ****

Don't waste your kids' time with movies about dreams, building relationships with family, overcoming life's obstacles with the help of best friends, or how they can improve themselves through scholarship or sport!

Instead, show your little future corporate CEO or CFO this film and teach them the important values of:

* how fun it is to have valuable toys and possessions, including a go-kart track in the back yard, and your own personal waterslide!

* how money gets people to do anything you want!

* how stealing money's OK, as long as it's from the bad guys!

* a fool and his gold are soon parted (and you don't want to lose your money, do you?)

* be wary of gold digging women!

* you CAN get away with it by lying!

An official selection at the Future Corporate Leaders Film Festival, this movie will be one your kids will always cherish.

I remember liking Blank Check when I was younger. And I was excited to show it to my children. It hasn't aged well. This is like a knock-off Home Alone that didn't really understand how the formula works, and it stretches plausibility almost to the breaking point. Also, I get that this is a childhood fantasy story, but the relationship between 11-year-old Preston and 30-year-old Shay borders on creepy. I don't regret watching it again, but I don't think this will make it into our regular family rotation of films.