I caught FINDERS KEEPERS on The Mystery Channel, of all things. Well, spies and a missing mini atom bomb *do* figure in the plot, so I guess it's not *totally* out of place on the Mystery Channel lineup... :-) I have sort of a chart for rock 'n' roll comedies, with the following ratings: A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is my "Excellent" rating, HELP! is "Very Good," Elvis Presley's DOUBLE TROUBLE is "Good," THE GHOST GOES GEAR is "Fair," and CATALINA CAPER is "Poor." I place FINDERS KEEPERS somewhere between DOUBLE TROUBLE and THE GHOST GOES GEAR! :-) As screen presences, Cliff Richard and the Shadows don't quite have the sparkle of The Beatles, but they're still pretty cute and amiable, and they're surrounded by such fine British character actors as Robert Morley and Graham Stark. Also, it's sort of oddly endearing to see a film from such an innocent era that an A-bomb can be used as a comic McGuffin (unlike in the recent unfairly underrated BIG TROUBLE; most audiences are too spooked to appreciate the satiric possibilities in their cynically funny, Billy Wilder-esque treatment of atomic bombs and laissez faire airport security...but I digress...). And the use of paella as a love song cue is one of the most hilariously hokey rock movie song cues outside of a typical Elvis Presley flick! If you like Cliff Richard and/or the kind of cheerful lighthearted, lightheaded pop music movies they cranked out in the 1950s and '60s, FINDERS KEEPERS is pleasant fare for a lazy afternoon if you happen to stumble across it on cable.
Review of Finders Keepers
