Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Billionaire heir Richie Rich has it all, including Reggie Jackson as a batting coach and Claudia Schiffer as a personal trainer -- but no playmates. What's more, scoundrel Laurence Van Dough is scheming to take over the family empire. Uh-oh! Enter faithful butler Cadbury to save the day.
Richie Rich is a perfectly serviceable mid-90s family comedy adaptation of the Harvey Comics character, but it excels in no particular dimension. The plot is formulaic — a lonely rich kid foils a corporate villain — with no real surprises. Macaulay Culkin was already past his peak, and the supporting cast (John Larroquette, Edward Herrmann) deliver competent but unremarkable work. Cinematography is workmanlike studio fare with no memorable visual moments. The film offers little novelty beyond its comic-book source material, recycling Home Alone-style slapstick in a mansion setting. The ending resolves predictably with family unity restored and the villain defeated. It lands exactly where its reputation suggests: a passable, forgettable family time-capsule.