Richie Rich

I didn't absolutely hate Richie Rich, but for me it wasn't that great either. As usual, there were some good things, but some not so good things as well.

THE GOOD THINGS:

1) Macaulay Culkin, personally I think he is better an actor than people give him credit for. He is one of the main reasons why I love the first two Home Alone movies so much. Here, he gives a very spirited lead performance, admittedly not as cute as he was when he was starring in underrated gems like Uncle Buck, but he shows once again what a talented actor he was.

2) Jonathan Hyde as the butler comes very close to stealing the show, a very funny and sly performance. Also Edward Hermann and Christine Ebersole give humorous performances, while John Larroquette plays the villain of the piece more than adequately.

3) The scenery is quite impressive, captured well by the breezy cinematography. The Biltmore estate was gorgeous.

4) The soundtrack was decent, nice background music especially.

5) I liked the moral the film taught; All the money in the world can't make you happy, thinking about it that is true.

THE NOT SO GOOD THINGS:

1) While I liked the moral of the film, the story itself is predictable and somewhat contrived. it probably doesn't help you have seen it all before.

2) The script is quite weak in general. Don't get me wrong there were some good spots like "Oh my god I look like Michael Jackson!" but the jokes are admittedly very silly and juvenile, and the scripting does fall in the danger of becoming clichéd.

3) The pacing. Now I don't mind films that move fast. I do have more of a problem if the pacing is TOO fast, despite the feel good nature of the film, and its valiant attempt to rise above superficial material, the film feels a little too rushed, the ending particularly felt skimmed over.

4) The characters feel rather stereotypical. Maybe that is an unfair complaint as it probably couldn't be avoided, but I couldn't help thinking yeah I recognise that type of character.

Overall, definitely not a bad film, worth watching at least once, but I personally didn't find it that great. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Sometimes, when I come home tired from work and have a brewski and want to zone out, I feel like a total fluff movie. Richi Rich fills the bill. It moves along, something most movies don't. It's harmless and doesn't require any involvement on my part. The jokes are silly. I can miss some of it on a fridge run, come back to it, and still follow it. In fact, if I don't finish the movie, it doesn't seem to matter. However, it is charming, so I usually do.

The movie pokes fun at the super rich on a superficial level, but that's all right. I'll save the harshly critical movies for a different mood. There's some lovely views of the Biltmore estate. There's light ribbing of the corporate world. Oh dear, I'm falling asleep. I'll miss the end of the movie. Too many brewskies.

Based on the comic strip of Richie Rich, this is an underrated film starring McCauley Culkin in a non Home Alone film. The co-star cast is not so bad either with John Larroquette (Dan from Night Court), Edward Hermann (voice of the History Channel) and Jonathan Hyde (Van Pelt from Jumanji). Christine Ebersole as Mrs. Rich though, was a letdown.

For an early 90s family film, it can seem flunky by standards of 2018, but it was all in fun. What kid wouldn't want to live the life of Richie Rich, or have their very own McDonald's restaurant right inside their home?

Definitely a fun film to show kids, especially if you were a fan of the film growing up. Of course, the story wasn't the best, but what do you expect. However, it's still entertaining in its own right. The sequel, a Christmas foray, is another story!

I don't know why it has such a low rating. The movie does not want to be taken serious. So it is not serious. The movie is aimed at kids and that makes it great. I watched it in my early twenties and had a good evening watching the movie. Great for family's and kids.

This was Macaulay Culkin's first major flop, when he was finally un-cute enough that viewers noticed he couldn't act. Other than that, compared with other mindless, shallow, hopelessly far-fetched pseudo-adventures designed for either very small or very uncritical children, it's really not worse than one would expect. Well, the comic book on which it's based is not exactly Stan Lee either… From a pedagogical point of view, one must say that Richie takes control of his situation in the absence of his parents, makes decisions that are largely sensible and practical, and carries them out mostly without adult help. He combines emotional and rational qualities without violating his basic identity as a kid. To me, that's all good, and redeems the entertainment value of this movie for a young audience.