
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 12, 1994                   TAG: 9402120076
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JACKIE POTTS KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KIDS, DON'T TAKE `BLANK CHECK' TOO SERIOUSLY

If the movies have taught us anything about human nature, it's that everyone has a price, and often it's $1 million. Robert Redford was able to purchase Demi Moore for that in "Indecent Proposal," for example. And now in Disney's "Blank Check," an 11-year-old receives a blank check from a crooked stranger, and he immediately starts typing in the magic zeros for, you guessed it, $1 million.

"Blank Check" is an entertaining but sheerly materialistic fantasy aimed at kids. Parents might want to think twice before taking their junior consumers to see a movie that so slavishly glorifies the greenback. And kids will undoubtedly drool over the array of video games and toys on display. Be prepared to hear choruses of "I wanna's" as soon as the credits roll.

Brian Bonsall ("Father Hood," "Mikey") is fresh and engaging as Preston Waters, a middle-class kid whose parents keep a tight rein on the family finances. You can't help but feel sorry for Preston when he can't even afford to ride the roller coaster at his friend's theme-park birthday party.

But his luck changes when an expensively dressed thug named Quigley (wickedly played by Miguel Ferrer from "RoboCop" and "Hot Shots! Part Deux") accidentally backs over Preston's bicycle in a parking lot. So as not to involve the police, Quigley hurriedly signs a check and stuffs it in Preston's hand before zooming off in his Jaguar.

A money-laundering scheme and a case of mistaken identity figure into Preston's successful withdrawal at the bank the next day. By the time Quigley realizes what's happened, Preston is gone with his nest egg.

Predictably, Preston goes on a shopping frenzy. Using the alias Macintosh, he buys an estate to rival Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, gorges himself on garbage cans full of ice cream and orders cookies, soda and toys by the truckload. (Sponsors Coca Cola, Chips Ahoy and The Sharper Image will be laughing all the way to the bank.)

But Preston overlooks the most important asset, an accountant, and soon his stash is gone. And Quigley and his bumbling sidekicks (Tone Loc and Michael Lerner) are at the front door.

"Blank Check" turns schmaltzy toward the end by borrowing gimmicks from the "Home Alone" movies and resorting to the cavalry-to-the-rescue formula ending. This is de rigueur Disney, best when it's kept light and fantastical.

Blank Check:

A Walt Disney release. Rated PG for slapstick violence, vulgar language. 105 minutes.

by CNB