Richie Rich (David Gallagher) is the world's richest kid. He has his own personal "inventor", Professor Keanbean (Eugene Levy) who has just presented him with a terrific snowmobile! Also, the young man has Cadbury (Keene Curtis), a one-kid valet to help him with anything and everything. Lucky lad! On the down side, Richie has an evil, jealous cousin, Reggie Van Dough (Jake Richardson) who is as mean as Richie is nice. Keanbean now shows Richie a brand new gadget. While it looks like a washing machine, its actually a WISHING machine. On Xmas eve, Richie can make a wish! But, before that, Richie is extremely excited to drive a sleigh, filled with toys, to the local orphanage. Its the first time the boy has been allowed to be the driver. However, Reggie foils the plan for, using a universal remote, Reg makes Richie crash into buildings and, finally, lose the toys over a cliff, where they explode! Feeling awful, Richie uses his wishing machine to ask that he had never been born. It's so! His parents don't know him, nor do the town folk, but his loyal dog, Dollar does. As Reggie takes over the whole community, including Richie's parents (Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren), will Richie be able to take back the wish and set right the havoc that Reggie has wrought? This is a fun flick for families at Christmastime. Based on a Sixties series of comic books, Richie is an entertaining character, with a Dalmatian with dollar sign spots! All of the actors do a nice job and the production looks great, with nice sets, costumes, and art direction. The script and direction create a lively movie, with plenty of action and effects. No, this viewer didn't see the original Richie, with Macauley Culkin. But, after taking on this one, all one can wish for is MORE Richie films, someday, sometime.
