History Film / BlankCheck

** Preston's parents. Dad's an ultracapitalist douchebag who only cares about his sons as long as they're trying to earn money and the mother is little better - she seldom initiates the abuse but she does give her support. His parents essentially let Preston's older brothers be complete assholes to him simply because they're starting up their own business and he isn't. Never mind the fact that Preston is approximately 12 and they don't do anything to help him accomplish this, either. The most jaw-dropping moment, however, is probably when Preston's bike is run over by a car and his parents are [[SkewedPriorities more concerned]] with the fact that he "didn't take care of his property" than, you know, ''the fact that their son was almost hit by a car.'' They then proceed to ground him for saying that the way they treat him compared to his brothers is unfair, totally unaware that they just proved him right.

''Blank Check'' (released in Europe as ''Blank Cheque'') is a 1994 movie directed by Rupert Wainwright, starring Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, Creator/MiguelFerrer, Tone Lōc, Creator/MichaelLerner and Creator/JamesRebhorn and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

''Blank Check'' (released in Europe as ''Blank Cheque'') is a 1994 movie directed by Rupert Wainwright, starring Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, Creator/MiguelFerrer, Tone Lōc, Michael Lerner and James Rebhorn and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

** Preston's parents. Dad's a capitalist douchebag who only cares about his sons as long as they're trying to earn money and the mother is little better - she seldom initiates the abuse but she does give her support. His parents essentially let Preston's older brothers be complete assholes to him simply because they're starting up their own business and he isn't. Never mind the fact that Preston is approximately 12 and they don't do anything to help him accomplish this, either. The most jaw-dropping moment, however, is probably when Preston's bike is run over by a car and his parents are more concerned with the fact that he "didn't take care of his property" than, you know, ''the fact that their son was almost hit by a car.'' They then proceed to ground him for saying that the way they treat him compared to his brothers is unfair, totally unaware that they just proved him right.

* TheUnseen: In-Universe: No one has seen Mr. Macintosh in-person.

* WouldHurtAChild: The criminals have no qualms about kidnapping or violent revenge against Preston for taking their money.

** Preston is given just $6 to spend at the carnival; he ends up finding only two kiddie rides worth that little.
** Part of Preston's father's EstablishingCharacterMoment is filling a blank check that Preston's grandparents sent him as a birthday present with the grand deposit sum of ''two dollars'' (even if Preston's deadpan request for him to make it for a million dollars was as excessive as he chastised him for, there is no bank in history with an interest rate good enough to make something so little a "worthwhile addition" as he tells Preston -- Preston uses his brothers' computer to calculate how much it would take him to earn a million on the interest rate of the account his father set for him alone and it comes back to about ''a thousand years''). And he still gives Preston flak over not earning money.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] the Art James GameShow of the same name that ran on Creator/{{NBC}} for 26 weeks in 1975.

** Preston's father and, to a lesser extent, his mother. Dad's a capitalist douchebag who only cares about his sons as long as they're trying to earn money and the mother is little better - she seldom initiates the abuse but she does give her support. His parents essentially let Preston's older brothers be complete assholes to him simply because they're starting up their own business and he isn't. Never mind the fact that Preston is approximately 12 and they don't do anything to help him accomplish this, either. The most jaw-dropping moment, however, is probably when Preston's bike is run over by a car and his parents are more concerned with the fact that he "didn't take care of his property" than, you know, ''the fact that their son was almost hit by a car.'' They then proceed to ground him for saying that the way they treat him compared to his brothers is unfair, totally unaware that they just proved him right.

** Preston's father and, to a lesser extent, his mother. Dad's a capitalist douchebag who only cares about his sons as long as they're trying to earn money and the mother is little better - she seldom initiates the abuse but she does give her support. His parents essentially let Preston's older brothers be complete assholes to him simply because they're starting up their own business and he isn't. Never mind the fact that Preston is approximately 12. The most jaw-dropping moment, however, is probably when Preston's bike is run over by a car and his parents are more concerned with the fact that he "didn't take care of his property" than, you know, ''the fact that their son was almost hit by a car.'' They then proceed to ground him for saying that the way they treat him compared to his brothers is unfair, totally unaware that they just proved him right.

* ObliviouslyEvil: Preston's parents, especially his father. They constantly mock their 12 year old child for having any money, humiliate him in front of his classmates by giving him pennies to spend at a theme park, and allow his brothers to bully and harass him just because they "have a business." When Preston is nearly ran over by a car, the parents are more concerned with his ruined bike. Instead of recognizing how badly they are traumatizing their youngest son, all of this abuse is portrayed as regular, no-nonsense parenting.
* ParentalFavoritism: Preston's father prefers his brothers over him because they're starting their own business...[[FridgeLogic despite]] being HopelessWithTech even by early-90's standards.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite treating him poorly, Preston's father's assessment of his son turns out to be correct. Preston gets a million dollars and fritters it away on junk food, a castle, and amusement rides for his backyard, showing no sense of responsibility or altruism with his fortune.
** That being said, his father certainly didn't help him ''learn'' responsibility. A kid who's only given a pittance to spend at a carnival is going to have trouble realizing just how fast you can blow large amounts of money. Quite simply, Preston acted like he'd won the lottery, having no knowledge how handle wealth--something he'd never had before.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Apart from the fact that his family is abusive towards him, everything Preston does is treated as right, not to mention how no one in-universe has a problem with Shay.

* ObliviouslyEvil: Preston's parents, especially his father. They constantly mock their 10 year old child for having any money, humiliate him in front of his classmates by giving him pennies to spend at a theme park, and allow his brothers to bully and harass him just because they "have a business." When Preston is nearly ran over by a car, the parents are more concerned with his ruined bike. Instead of recognizing how badly they are traumatizing their youngest son, all of this abuse is portrayed as regular, no-nonsense parenting.

** Preston misused the blank check Quigley gave him, spent all of the money Quigley had stolen in a week, and possibly forged the signature for the castle deed. In the end, Quigley returns to jail on his own charges, but also gets any of Preston's possible crimes pinned to him. Preston gets to go home and return to quite suburban life.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Shay kisses Preston on the lips even though he's a prepubescent boy, while surrounded by police officers no less. If the genders were switched, the movie would likely never have been released and there'd be some real-life arrests.

** Preston is given just $6 to spend at the carnival. He ends up finding only two kiddie rides worth that little.

* KarmaHoudini: Preston misused the blank check Quigley gave him, spent all of the money Quigley had stolen in a week, and possibly forged the signature for the castle deed. In the end Quigley returns to jail on his own charges, but also gets any of Preston's possible crimes pinned to him. Preston gets to go home and return to quite suburban life.

* ScaryBlackMan: Averted with Juice. But he ''is'' a criminal.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] the Art James GameShow of the same name that ran on Creator/{{NBC}} for 26 weeks in 1975.

** Preston's father and, to a lesser extent, his mother. Dad's a capitalist douchebag who only cares about his sons as long as they're trying to earn money, hence he essentially lets Preston's older brothers be complete assholes to him simply because they're starting up their own business and he isn't. Never mind the fact that Preston is approximately 12. The most jaw-dropping moment, however, is probably when Preston's bike is run over by a car and his parents are more concerned with the fact that he "didn't take care of his property" than, you know, ''the fact that their son was almost hit by a car.'' They then proceed to ground him for saying that the way they treat him compared to his brothers is unfair, totally unaware that they just proved him right.

* {{Fanservice}}: Shay Stanley for the boys and [[ParentService their dads]] in the audience.

* ScaryBlackMan: Averted with Juice. But he ''is'' a criminal.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Preston, which is strange considering his dad is a complete {{jerkass}}.

** Preston is given just $1 to spend at the carnival. He ends up finding only one ride worth that little.

* ButtMonkey: Quigley escaped from prison, gave his stolen money to a trusted accomplice only for him to give it all to a 12-year-old boy who promptly spent it all. He tries to exact revenge (and get some of the money back), but just gets humiliated and sent to prison again with charges of laundering, forgeries and everything else that said 12-year-old boy did.
* {{Fanservice}}: Shay Stanley for the boys and [[ParentService their dads]] in the audience.
* FBIAgent: Shay is revealed to be an undercover agent.

'''''Blank Check''''' (released in Europe as ''Blank Cheque'') is a 1994 live-action movie directed by Rupert Wainwright, starring Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, Creator/MiguelFerrer, Tone Lōc, Michael Lerner and James Rebhorn and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

* KarmaHoudini: Preston misused the blank check Quigley gave him, spent all of the money Quigley had stolen in a week, and possibly forged the signature for the castle deed. In the end Quigley returns to jail on his own charges, but also gets any of Preston's possible crimes pinned to him. Preston gets to go home and return to quite suburban life, even though a FBI Agent knows everything.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite treating him poorly, Preston's father's assessment of his son turns out to be correct. Preston gets a million dollars and fritters it away on junk food, a castle, and amusement rides for his backyard, showing no sense of responsibility or altruism with his fortune. That being said, his father certainly didn't help him ''learn'' responsibility. A kid who's only given a pittance to spend at a carnival is going to have trouble realizing just how fast you can blow large amounts of money.
** Quite simply, Preston acted like he'd won the lottery, having no knowledge how handle large sums of money--something he'd never had a point.

Pressed for time as he sees a police car patrolling the area, Quigley gives Preston a signed blank check and tells him to give it to his dad so they can buy him a new bike. Instead, Preston writes himself a check for $1,000,000, cashes it with the inadvertent help of the corrupt bank employee and uses the money to go on a spending spree and romance a 30 year old bank teller- until Quigley finds out what has been done and comes after him.

The story begins when bank robber Carl Quigley 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. After that introduction the plot switches to Preston Waters, a 12 year old boy tormented by his brothers and ignored by his hyper capitalist dad. He goes to a bank to open an account, but gets laughed out, while at the same time Quigley is exchanging the bills through a corrupt bank employee using checks. After the meeting, Quigley runs over Preston's bicycle while he was riding it in the bank's parking lot.

* InventedIndividual: Preston's alter ego "Mr. Macintosh".

* IAmHe: Preston tells the bad guys Mr. Macintosh isn't real and was him the whole time.