Movie Type: Family-Oriented Comedy, Children's Fantasy
Themes: Rags To Riches, Mischievous Children, Family Vacations
Main Cast: Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, Miguel Ferrer, James Rebhorn, Tone-Loc
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
This low-rent Disney comedy mines the Home Alone territory for labored laughs. Brian Bonsall stars as the eleven-year-old Preston Waters, who is low-kid on the family totem pole -- his father Fred (James Rebhorn) lectures him on saving his money, while his older brothers, Ralph (Michael Faustino) and Damian (Chris Demetral), are pushy bullies. The final insult arrives when Preston is invited to a friend's birthday party -- held at an amusement park -- and Preston doesn't have enough money to go on any of the good rides. Preston wishes to the gods in heaven that he had his own money. At that point, on-the-lam criminal Quigley (Miguel Ferrer) takes his cue and runs over Preston's bike with his car. Eager to leave the scene before the cops arrive, Quigley hurriedly gives Preston a half-written check and vamooses. Preston looks down at the check and notices that the amount has not been filled in, so he obligingly completes the transaction by adding six zeroes and a one -- for a million dollars in cold cash. This amount, by a strange coincidence, happens to be the exact amount that Quigley has deposited in a money-laundering bank run by his partner-in-crime Biderman (Michael Lerner). Preston goes to the bank, cashes the check, and purchases a neighborhood mansion with all the toys he has ever dreamed of owning. But Quigley and his gang want the money back, and they are on their way to Preston's new home for a housewarming he will never forget. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Jayne Atkinson - Sandra Waters; Rick Ducommun - Henry; Debbie Allen - Yvonne; Chris Demetral - Damian Waters; Michael Faustino - Ralph Waters; Alex Zuckerman - Butch; Michael Lerner - Biderman; Coquina Dunn - Party Guest; Gil Glasgow - Van Driver; Eric Glenn - Truck Driver; Lu Leonard - Udowitz; Turk Pipkin - Magician; Joe Stevens - Neighbour; Mary Chris Wall - Betty Jay; John Edson - Neighbour; Diane Perella - Guest; Richard Dillard - Guest; Alex Allen Morris - Riggs; Randy Moore - Maitre d'
Credit
Charles Skouras III - Associate Producer, Deborah Everton - Costume Designer, Michael Daves - First Assistant Director, Rupert Wainwright - Director, Jill Savitt - Editor, Hubert de la Bouillerie - Editor, Blake Snyder - Executive Producer, Nicholas Pike - Composer (Music Score), Nelson Coates - Production Designer, Bill Pope - Cinematographer, Gary Adelson - Producer, Craig Baumgarten - Producer, Colby Carr - Producer, Blake Snyder - Screenwriter, Colby Carr - Screenwriter
The story begins when bank robber Carl Quigley (Miguel Ferrer) escapes from jail. Soon after his prison break Quigley enters a warehouse and recovers $1,000,000 he had hidden there sometime before his arrest (it is unclear exactly how he illegally obtained the money). Quigley, with the help of assailants Juice (Tone Lōc) and bank president Edward Biderman (Michael Lerner), devises a money laundering scheme where Quigley will exchange the bills from his hidden "nest egg" (which have been watermarked by the FBI) for unmarked bills in Biderman's bank.
After Quigley visits Biderman in his bank office to discuss his plan (along with threatening Biderman's family if he does not comply with it), Quigley explains that Juice will be stopping by Biderman's office with a check to be cashed for $1,000,000 the next day at 1:00. After the meeting, Quigley runs over Preston Waters' (Brian Bonsall) bicycle while he was riding it in the bank's parking lot. Pressed for time as he sees a police car patrolling the area, Quigley gives the boy a signed blank check and tells him to give it to his parents so they can buy him a new bike. Instead, the boy writes himself a check for $1,000,000 by printing it on his computer. Preston goes to the bank the following day and is directed to Biderman's office by a teller (as the teller could not approve a check that size herself). Thinking that Preston is Quigley's assistant, Juice, Biderman cashes Preston's check with money from a safe hidden behind a painting. As Preston is leaving the bank, the real Juice enters Biderman's office with another check for $1,000,000. Realizing that Biderman mistook Preston for Juice, the trio begins a frantic search for Preston. Meanwhile, Preston embarks on an extreme shopping spree over the course of 6 days, buying a castle-style house (by outbidding Quigley using the voicebox on his computer over the phone) along with many other expensive items (limousine service, go-kart track, water slide, etc.). He spends $999,675 of the original $1,000,000. Preston covers himself by saying he is making these purchases for a millionaire known only as "Macintosh" who lives in the castle house (named after Preston's Macintosh Performa 600).
The entire time, Preston was being investigated by FBI agent Shay Stanley (working undercover as a teller at Biderman's bank) for money laundering as the bills Preston was using to make his purchases were Quigley's watermarked stolen bills. At a birthday party Preston throws for Macintosh that forced Preston into debt (it was also Preston's birthday), he is forced into a showdown with Quigley, Juice, and Biderman. When the trio is confronted by the FBI at Preston's castle house, Quigley claims to be Macintosh. However, with the FBI knowing that Macintosh had been using the watermarked bills, they arrest Quigley (who is pretending to be Macintosh), Juice, and Biderman.[citation needed]
