History Film / BrewstersMillions1985

* ''SuspiciousSpending'': Several characters jump to dark conclusions about where Brewster got the money.

* DisproportionateReward: Downplayed. Rupert's will stops Monty from just giving his money away (aside from a certain amounts that can be donated to charity and lost by gambling). If he wants to give money to someone, he has to hire them and get some valuable service in return.

* MoneyToBurn: Defied. Rupert makes it clear Monty can't burn any of his assets, nor buy a bunch of Picasso paintings and use them for firewood, or he'll lose the challenge.

* MoneyToThrowAway: [[DefiedTrope Defied]], again. Monty is forbidden to give the thirty million away to anyone else, as that would defeat the entire point of the challenge.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Among the many ([[SpringtimeForHitler unexpectedly successful]]) "investments" Monty makes is in a company that [[ZanyScheme seeks to solve water shortages by towing icebergs to arid countries]]. [[https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/the-many-failures-and-few-successes-of-zany-iceberg-towing-schemes/243364/ Iceberg towing schemes have been around since the 19th century]].

* ConsolationPrize: The will offers Brewster a million dollars with no strings attached, but as it's a "wimp" clause, he'd have to walk away from the challenge. If he accepts the challenge, it's AllOrNothing, with no consolation prize.

** With $20,000 left to spend and only minutes left to spend it, Brewster seems to have lost. Then Warren Cox threatens to sue him... in front of Brewster's paralegal, who is well aware of the will. Brewster immediately pays her the last $20,000 as a retainer and completes the terms of the will. [[note]]Though Monty could just threaten ''to sue them'' once it came to light they were [[AmoralAttorney trying to defraud him]] out of his own inheritance.[[/note]]
* DisproportionateReward: Downplayed. Rupert's will stops Monty from just giving his money away (aside from a certain amount that can be allotted to charity and some that can be wasted on gambling). If he wants to give his money to someone, he has to at least get service from it.

* FriendlessBackground: Rupert never had any peers or close friends throughout his life, and ensures one of the conditions for Monty to inherit his fortune is that he can't ask anyone for help in spending the thirty million. As he put it, [[TaughtByExperience no one helped him]] when his father locked him in a closet years ago.

* GuileHero: Gradually, Monty manages to find sneaky ways to blow his money: from mailing an expensive rare stamp (removing its value as an asset, while still getting a service from it) and then buying an incredibly overpriced political campaign.

** Spike has a somewhat savvy head for finance, and is able to become modestly wealthy himself with the salary that Brewster pays him. He also repeatedly tries to advise Brewster tone down his carefree spending (unaware that it is the conditions of his inheritance).

* MoneyToBurn: Defied. Rupert makes it clear Monty can't burn any of his assets, nor buy a bunch of Picasso painting and use them for firewood, or he'll lose the challenge.

* MythologyGag: If Monty chooses not to take the challenge, he walks away with one million dollars, the consolation prize specified in the "wimp" clause. In the novel, Brewster also has the option to decline the challenge and walk away with one million dollars, but in that case (minus eight decades of inflation) the one million dollars is the entire amount he was challenged to spend.

* OnOneCondition: And it's a ''doozy'' of a condition. A few smaller conditions come with it, but they're meant to prevent LoopholeAbuse: Brewster can't have any assets after the challenge (except for anything he owned before it began); he can't tell anyone what he's doing or why; he must get value for the services of anyone he hires; he can only spend a predetermined small percentage on charities and gambling; and he can't buy expensive goods, then destroy them or give them away.

* SillyWill: Brewster inherits $30 million, 10% of the estate, and he must spend all of it within a month to get the remaining 90%. The hurdle is that he can't acquire assets, donate, or simply throw the money away, and nobody else may know what he's doing. He spends the movie hiring assistants, renting hotels, and baffling his friends who think money drove him insane.

* ExactWords: The will only forbids ''unnecessary'' destruction of valuable goods. If they're devalued by ''[[LoopholeAbuse using them as intended]]'', there's no problem. Brewster uses this to his advantage, buying and mailing a massively-expensive postage stamp (causing it to lose all its value when it gets canceled) and buying large amounts of expensive wine and then actually ''serving'' it.

** Brewster comes across at first as a working-class schmuck, a minor-league baseball player with little money or prospects. Brewster's Uncle Rupert states openly that he's disappointed in Brewster but has to name Brewster in the will because "I'm stuck with you." But as time goes on, Brewster finds more and more creative ways to waste money while staying within the conditions of the contest, from financing an expensive exhibition game, to buying a rare stamp and then ''mailing it,'' to buying a supply of expensive wine and then opening the bottles and serving them. When he has a serious setback and thinks he has no chance of making the deadline, he comes up with a perfect way to drain his bank account -- run for Mayor, spend through the roof on his campaign then purposely tank the election so he doesn't win and collect the salary that the job offers.

* InstantlyProvenWrong: The law firm scoof at Monty's decision to purchase the "Inverted Jenny" very rare stamp as it counts as an asset, believing he doesn't understand the rules to Rupert's challenge. However a postcard came for them that same morning with said stamp, now used. It's no longer an asset, and he didn't destroy or give it away, as it was used for its original intended purpose.

Pryor is Monty Brewster, an impoverished young man who inherits $30 million from a long-lost relative and also stands to further inherit $300 million. But the inheritance [[OnOneCondition has a catch]]: to receive the $300 million, Monty must ''waste'' the entire $30 million in 30 days. He must end the challenge with no tangible assets whatsoever, with severe limits on possible outs like charity or purchasing items...and keep the arrangement a secret from everyone else. Monty wins the full inheritance if he pulls it off, but if he breaks any of the rules or fails to spend the $30 million in full, he gets nothing.

* ExactWords: The will only forbids ''unnecessary'' destruction of valuable goods. If they're destroyed by ''using them as intended'', there's no problem. Brewster uses this to his advantage, buying and mailing a massively-expensive postage stamp (causing it to lose all its value when it gets canceled) and buying large amounts of expensive wine and then actually ''serving'' it.

** With $20,000 left to spend and only minutes left to spend it, Brewster seems to have lost. Then Warren Cox threatens to sue him... in front of Brewster's paralegal, who is well aware of the will. Brewster immediately pays her the last $20,000 as a retainer and completes the terms of the will.

* AllOrNothing: If Brewster fails the challenge, he gets nothing, and he has to give back whatever's left over of the $30 million.

* GuileHero: Gradually, Monty manages to find sneaky ways to blow his money: from mailing an expensive rare stamp (destroying its value while still getting a service from it) and then buying an incredibly overpriced political campaign.

* LonelyAtTheTop: Rupert died a wealthy man...but he has no friends or family to speak off, with his only relative to give his money to being Monty.

* LonelyAtTheTop: Rupert died a wealthy man...but he has no friends or family to speak off, with his only relative to give his money too being Monty.

* InadequateInheritor: Rupert makes it clear in his video will how disappointed he is with Monty for his lack of success, which is one of the reasons he forces him through the challenge.