11-year-old Preston Waters laments his relative lack of money compared to his entrepreneurial older brothers and his
white collar father, Fred, an office worker who is very cheap. Preston regularly experiences humiliating situations including having his brothers, 16-year-old Damian and 15-year-old Ralph, invade his bedroom to use as an office for their home business, as well as attending a birthday at an amusement park yet only having enough money for the smaller rides. On his birthday, Preston receives a blank check from his grandmother. Fred fills the amount out for $11 and Preston takes it to the bank to open an account but is told that he requires $1,000 minimum. On his way home, he gets involved in a bike accident with escaped convict Carl Quigley, who had just left a
Zero Halliburton briefcase containing $1,000,000 in stolen cash in the care of bank president Edward H. Biderman to be
laundered and retrieved by an associate the next day. Afraid of drawing attention from the police, Quigley hastily hands Preston a signed blank check and flees the scene. Preston uses his brothers' computer to fill out the check himself for $1,000,000 and attempts to cash it the next day. He is taken to Biderman, who believes Preston is the associate named "Juice" that Quigley told him he was sending. Believing this is part of Quigley's plan, Biderman fills Preston's backpack with $1,000,000 in clean money and Preston leaves the bank just as the real Juice arrives for the money. An angered Quigley sets out to find Preston with Juice hoping to reclaim his stolen money and threatens Biderman's family with death unless he comes along. Meanwhile, Preston goes on a spending spree, purchasing a large house and a limousine service with a chauffeur named Henry, and then fills the house with toys, gadgets, and electronics all in the name of a mysterious employer he creates named "Macintosh", after
his brothers' computer. Preston uses a computer program called
MacSpeak as the voice of Mr. Macintosh when he needs to conduct business over the phone, otherwise Preston presents himself as Mr. Macintosh's assistant. Shay Stanley, a teller from the bank who is really an undercover FBI agent that is investigating Biderman for money laundering, seeks out Preston and his employer Mr. Macintosh, after the realtor who sold the house to Macintosh deposits $300,000 cash with her bank. Suspicious of the sudden flow of cash that has come through Biderman's bank, she follows the trail to Preston/Macintosh. Denied a meeting with Macintosh, Preston claims that he handles some of Macintosh's financial affairs, and the two end up going on a business date. Later, Preston throws an expensive birthday party for himself and Macintosh, which he later finds out he can't pay for. Still checking on the computer, Fred shows up to the party. He admits to Macintosh (Preston hidden behind a chair) that he doesn't want to lose Preston, and requests that he lets him go early to celebrate his birthday. When Preston tells the planner that Macintosh has left and there is no more money, she shuts the party down, leaving Preston alone in the empty house. Quigley, Biderman, and Juice arrive, only to find out Preston has spent all of it in six days. Preston escapes, and the three pursue him throughout the property. Although Preston manages to fend off his pursuers by using his various purchases, they eventually catch up to him, but the FBI shows up with Shay in time to save him. Quigley announces that he is Macintosh, thinking that assuming the false identity would grant him the new life he was seeking after escaping prison. However, the FBI arrest Quigley for numerous crimes they intended to charge Macintosh with, along with Biderman and Juice as accomplices. Preston bids Henry farewell and shares a goodbye kiss with Shay before returning to his family to celebrate his birthday, now understanding that money cannot buy happiness and that family is what matters most. == Cast ==