Blank Check
Blank Check
PG | 11 February 1994 (USA)
Blank Check Trailers

Bullied by his siblings and nagged by his parents, 11-year-old Preston is fed up with his family -- especially their frugality. But he gets his chance to teach them a lesson when a money-laundering criminal nearly bulldozes Preston with his car and gives the boy a blank check as compensation. Preston makes the check out for $1 million and goes on a spending spree he'll never forget. Maybe now, his family will take him seriously!

Reviews
Lovesusti

The Worst Film Ever

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Plustown

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

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AshUnow

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Juana

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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Steve Pulaski

Blank Check is probably the best film that could've been made from such a materialistic idea, with a warm-hearted aura quietly ghosting around every scene and a collection of competently-handled scenes that make a fairly strong film. The story opens showing a convicted bank robber Carl Quigley (Miguel Ferrer) escape from prison, to which he immediately obtains a million dollars he had hidden for quite sometime. Before long, we meet ten-year-old Preston Waters (Brian Bonsall), who finds himself constantly pushed around by his investment-banker father, who continues to bask in the light of frugality. After receiving a blank check from his grandmother, Preston asks his dad to fill it out, to which he puts down only $11.00. All Preston wants is a little spending money so he can buy some toys and feel like he has some sort of freedom, rather than being confined to anything other than pocket change.One day, Preston is riding his bike in a parking lot and winds up being struck by Quigley, who doesn't have time to stick around and fill out police reports, so gives Preston a blank check and tells it to give it to his father, presumably to pay for the bike since Preston is unharmed. Rather than giving it to his father, Preston recalls the blank check of his grandmother's and decides to cash it for $1,000,000. Before he knows it, Preston is filthy rich at the expense of Quigley, who, along with his goons, now needs to track down a kid while struggling to adhere to his criminal plan. Meanwhile, Preston lives the dream, buying a house, numerous accessories, and all the materials he could ever want.Anyone who says they didn't dream of something like this, or tries to shout at Preston for being materialistic, is ridiculous. Preston's attitude is no different than a lot of us when we were younger, whether we'd like to admit it or not. Not to mention, Preston acts entirely on impulse throughout the entire film, as most of us did when we were younger, providing situational realism. The kid isn't a god-child who would donate all the money to charity, nor is he using his money to try and manipulate and control others. He is a kid acting out his dream of having enough wealth to live without the worries or authority of his parents chiming in and ruining his fun, and I don't know what kid didn't want that kind of security growing up.Blank Check also, some way, somehow, manages to sustain a romantic relationship between a young kid and an older woman in a surprisingly genial, refreshing manner. Early in the film, Preston meets the gorgeous Shay Stanley (Karen Duffy), a bank teller for the bank Preston winds up cashing his check at. Preston quickly falls in lust with Shay, mainly for her elegant conversations and her radiant appearance, and tries to sustain something of a romantic relationship with her, even though all signs point to impossibility. In unsteady hands, this relationship could've been cheap and exploitative. Under the care and attention of director Rupert Wainwright and writers Blake Snyder and Colby Carr emerges a more gentler focus on the relationship, one that isn't haphazardly strung-along by nonsensical one-liners, but deep-rooted intimacy, despite both parties knowing they can't carry this on forever.Finally, there seems to be a lot of criticism with Preston's character being "a brat." If one refers to Preston as a brat, then one must refer to Kevin from the Home Alone serious a brat as well. Preston is a character who simply wants some freedom and some liberties, which are not offered by his parents, so when he finally gets the opportunity to take responsibility and encounters his own finances, he is acting out on one of his oldest fantasies. If he's a brat because he wants a little leeway and space, then I suppose we were all brats at one point.Finally, there's the ending, which, like the remainder of the film, comes under certain scrutiny because the lead character allegedly doesn't learn anything. Blank Check's ending is quiet and low-key, never over-emphasizing the idea that now Preston appreciates all he had back when life was simpler. Had the ending been louder and more sentimentalized, it would still be criticized for its sappy handling of what should've been a quieter ending. The criticism here is especially ridiculous because, surprisingly enough for a Disney movie, Blank Check doesn't embellish its conclusion nor its character. It simply comes to a quiet, personal realization, evident enough for the audience to pick up, and concludes. As far as I'm concerned, the biggest issue with the film is its datedness, seeing as how the house Preston acquires would be enough to bankrupt him alone, even with one million dollars.Starring: Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, and Miguel Ferrer. Directed by: Rupert Wainwright.

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Walter_Skinner

In the same vein as Disney movies such as the Parent Trap this is the embodiment of a movie that would had been shown on the Disney channel before they started making their own movies, or it would just be shown on TV. The plot of this movie is simplistic and predictable, the acting is passage, and the jokes are so lame that they make Dane Cook look good but with typical kids movies like this you don't exactly expect greatness. This movie has a fair rating on IMDb. A very bland obscure 90s movie that no one saw or even if they did, they forgot it to make room for other things. It was very clear that this movie was made for profit. No true effort was put into this movie from the characters to the humor.

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Kilurself Pleez

Blank Check is about a young boy who writes a check for a million dollars and gets a bunch of stuff and then learns a bunch of life lessons pretty much. The acting is better then a lot of Hollywood films I see today sadly enough. It doesn't really matter what I say though, this is meant to be a kids movie for people under the age of 12. I have to say I absolutely adore it up until around 60% when the movie takes a dive and Preston Waters begins to really annoy me with his immaturity. This teaches a lot of life lessons involving money which I feel is really important to children and I wish more parents would show this to their child. Really, this is just a really cute fun movie for the youngsters and is not meant for real film viewing, especially if you're a film connoisseur. I am still fully entertained with this movie until this day and this is still much better then 90% of the children's movies they put out today. 5/10

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getmeagasmask

The summary says it all. Blank Check is just one of those movies.The story follows Preston, a young boy who obsesses over money just as quickly as he spends it. One day Preston is riding his bike around, and thus the story begins. He's struck by a car, and although he's okay the driver hands him a blank check to avoid any trouble. Preston goes ahead and fills in one million dollars for that check and manages to cash it and purchase a house and several other excessively self-indulgent items. The man who hit Preston, Quigley, has a darker and more dangerous history and is far from happy when he realized one million is missing from a money scandal he's involved in. The story follows Preston as his greed with money leads him down a tunnel that grows only deeper and deeper. As he makes up lies for spending so much time at a mansion that his parents don't realize he owns and manipulates others around him, Quigley embarks on a journey to hunt down the man (or boy) that took his money.Blank Check is not realistic and is completely implausible in real life. We all have our own little guilty pleasure movies, whether its Spice Girls or Power Rangers or Rugrats or Blank Check. If this movie doesn't become one of those guilty pleasures, chances are you won't enjoy it and will find it shallow and worthy of several "Oh, yeah right"s. Needless to say, this is a good family film. Any parents out there should be able to put up with it and kids 12 and under will probably enjoy it.

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