Finder's Fee (2001)

Tepper (Erik Palladino) finds a wallet in the streets. He's a caring guy who looks out for his elderly neighbor and about to propose to girlfriend Carla (Carly Pope). He calls Victor from a phone number in the wallet that belongs to Avery Phillips. Then he discovers that the wallet holds a $6 million lottery winner. It is the weekly poker night with Fishman (Matthew Lillard), Quigley (Ryan Reynolds) and Bolan (Dash Mihok). It is tradition to bet their lottery tickets and not check the numbers before hand. Tepper hopes that nobody comes for the wallet but then Avery Phillips (James Earl Jones) comes by. He decides to return the wallet but switch out the lottery ticket. Then the police locked down the apartment looking for a fugitive.The twist is flashing like a neon sign. So much so that it gets annoying. For the second half of the movie, I had great hopes that Jeff Probst would be smart enough not to do it. It would be a nod to fake out the usual twist but he falls right into the pitfall. This works a lot better as a moral dilemma which is destroyed. When Quigley makes that turn, the movie seems to figure it out. It just makes it so disappointing to lose it at the last moment.There are other problems. I don't know why Tepper switched the tickets. It solves nothing and assumes that Avery doesn't know the number he purchased. It makes no sense. If he just takes the ticket, it can always be explained as being stolen by somebody else. The game itself poses other problems. It feels more like a constructed premise although I must admit that I don't have another premise without a complete overhaul. It's just too fake. Why wouldn't they play before the draw? These two problem can be excused but the last 5 seconds cannot be.

Spoiler first: If you have a preference for resolved endings that close the books, happily or otherwise, then this film may leave you just this side of angry. On the other hand, if you like Hitchcock, 'Outer Limits' and/or 'Twilight Zone' you'll probably be very happy. I would have been better off with a warning.Note: I saw the broadcast TV version, no swearing.The movie is cleverly constructed to make you *think* while moving closer and closer to the edge of your seat. The viewer absolutely *must* pay attention or loose a lot of important little things as well as the giant, surprise U-turns/twists.For my part I approached the movie with skepticism because I have turned over found wallets and bank bags with no thought, no ethical dilemma. I don't understand the minds of those who have to think about the right thing to do. But this film is so well done I forgot all about myself and became caught up as though I were one of the walls in the room.Speaking of walls, it just now hit me that the main characters never leave the room in which they are playing poker. Not once did I feel claustrophobic, never did I come out of the movie from 'stale set' fatigue.So I recommend "Finder's Fee" for those with a yen for suspense, and I hope you enjoy it!

I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie. I just happened to stumble on "Finder's Fee". It's a 10+ for suspense. Anyone who likes good old fashion suspense will love this movie.In short, it's about a street artist who is put into an ethical dilemma after finding a wallet containing a $6 million winning lottery ticket. He returns the wallet. But does he return it in tact? Does he return the wallet empty, keeping the ticket? Does he tell his friends?The suspense in "Finder's Fee" just keeps building and building until the climactic ending. I have to applaud the writing, screen play, actors and directing. It was all perfect. And everyone was perfectly cast. I'd like to believe that Alfred Hitchcock himself would have been pleased with "Finder's Fee".

I totally disagree with the first commenter. ALL of the characters in this movie are annoying to the extreme. There isn't one sympathetic character except for Avery in the surprise at the end.(At one point in the show the exasperated lead character shouts out some garbage to his doting timid neighbour lady but even though I replayed the scene multiple times I could NOT make out the words that so abruptly stop everyone in their tracks. Only by turning on the sub-titles could I figure out what he said -- how the other characters involved in their own worlds figured out what he said is beyond me. More care towards the enunciation and editing of the dialogue would have helped ESPECIALLY since this was a KEY moment in the plot.)This show is an interesting attempt at exploring human greed, selfishness, guilt and the ability to lie/conceal using a poker game as the vehicle for moving the story. Everybody is bluffing, everybody is lying, and nobody is likeable. Friends cheat friends, strangers cheat strangers, out-of-place violence ensues and a gruff crooked cop pops up throughout the show.The secondary story of the lead character coming to grips with his feelings for his girlfriend was worked in partly as an excuse for his "antsy" behaviour during the poker game and partly to reveal that this guy is on the knife edge, teetering on which side to fall on. Does he love this girl or not? Her ultra demure and insecure attitude to their relationship is reflected in the lead's inability to make a commitment.*** SPOILER ALERT ***Why the surprise ending tacked on at the end? Can you say CHEESE?So now I guess the moral of the story is that even though you struggle with your conscious and your good side eventually wins, life throws everyone for a loop to steal and make a mockery of any good deeds you do. So what is the point? Better to be selfish and take it while you can before someone takes you to the cleaners. SICK SICK SICK