Finder's Fee is a 2001 drama/thriller, written and directed by Jeff Probst, best known as the host of Survivor. On his way home, Tepper (Erik Palladino) finds a wallet on the ground and calls the owner, Avery Phillips (James Earl Jones), to come and get it. Inside, he finds a winning lottery ticket. Tepper's friends - the Jerkass Quigley (Ryan Reynolds), responsible Family Man Bolan (Dash Mihok), and immature hothead Fishman (Matthew Lillard) - are coming over, as is Avery. When the apartment building gets put on lockdown, everything spirals out of control.
Tropes
- All Men Are Perverts: Played for laughs in terms of being The Peeping Tom. Quigley tries to get the men to stand up by claiming that two young women are stripping in an apartment across the street.
- Bottle Episode: The film is set entirely in Tepper's apartment, and the street/hallway just outside, over one night.
- Chromosome Casting: All the characters are men, except a brief cameo from Tepper's girlfriend Carla and his neighbor.
- Closed Circle: Enforced in two ways. The apartment building is on Lockdown, and one of the rules of the game is that nobody is even allowed to get up from the table during a hand. Quigley is eliminated after standing up because Bolan suggests it smells of cat piss.
- Cunning People Play Poker: Enforced. The guys' games are usually light and fun, but when Tepper gets a chance at some real money (millions of dollars thanks to Avery's lottery ticket), the games, especially between Avery and Tepper, become increasingly cunning and manipulative.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Quigley smashes Avery over the head with a bottle to prompt the finale, planning to kill him for the money.
- Lockdown: The apartment building is put on lockdown due to the police looking for someone in the area.
- Only Sane Man: Bolan is a kind and mature person. He's also the only of the younger men who wants to have kids (though he and his wife can't get pregnant yet); Quigley has a daughter, but he's a deadbeat.
- Scary Black Man: Zigzagged. Avery isn't physically imposing, and he seems affable...enough. But he is manipulative and seems to know a lot more than he lets on. But he's not the real threat.
- The Smurfette Principle: There are two woman in the cast, Tepper's girlfriend Carla and his neighbor, and even they only appear for ten minutes and two scenes respectively.
- The Tell: Quigley figures out Tepper's tell: that he looks Fish straight in the eye when he's lying to him.
- Token Minority: All of the characters are white except for newbie Avery.
- Wham Line: "You found my wallet." Suggesting that the "Avery Phillips" who first came to the door was not the real Avery, but instead walked away with a winning lottery ticket.
- Wham Shot: Of the second Avery's "Avery Phillips" name tag.
