A thief is shot and wounded while robbing a bank. Some no-good beatniks nurse him back to health
in an effort to get their grubby hands on the loot. Lionel Stander (from Hart to Hart) plays a
coffeeshop owner who caters to the beatnik crowd who also wants to cash for
himself. Pretty soon, cops and crooks
soon start swarming around the place looking for the lost loot, further
complicating matters.
The Moving Finger is a borderline unwatchable pseudo-noir
beatniksploitation drama that is completely undone by the thoroughly repellent
characters. After an okay opening,
things quickly devolve into one interminably boring scene after the other. The scenes of the beatniks hanging out,
smoking dope, singing godawful songs, and holding cockroach races will make you
want to pull you hair out. Only Stander’s
crotchety rambling provides a brief respite from the listing pacing and the boneheaded
beatnik shenanigans.
Another problem is that the filmmakers couldn’t
figure out whether they wanted to make a crime thriller or a beatnik flick. Splitting the difference between the two does
no one any favors. The Moving Finger also briefly flirts with
being a full-blown horror movie during the scene where Stander makes out with a
sexy woman. Thankfully, this scene is
abruptly cut short before he can get to second base. In fact, a long section of the film is devoted
to unattractive people making out, further adding to the viewer’s displeasure.
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