Nick Deezy (Jeff Goldblum) is a ‘psychometrist’ capable of touching an item and being able to psychically tell things about the person who handled it. Sylvia Pickel (Cyndi Lauper) is a psychic with the most fabulous hairstyle and a spirit-guide named Louise.
The two are drafted by Harry Buscafusco (Peter Falk) to help him find his lost son in the mountains of Ecuador – he says.
In reality, Harry is a (hilariously incompetent) con man and there is no lost son – but there is a lost Incan city of gold. Harry lies (badly) constantly, changing his story every time someone pokes a hole in it.
Goldblum and Lauper clash as every good romantic comedy couple do. Nick is obsessive, bringing his own water and freeze-dried food to the southern hemisphere, while Sylvia plays her Queens-vibe to the hilt, dressing in increasingly bizarre cotton-candy colour combinations and dispensing New York wisdom about life and love.
The great supporting cast includes Googy Gress as nasty fellow psychic, Ingo Swedlin, and Julian Sands in an all-too-brief appearance as the researcher who introduces Nick and Sylvia.
There are also short cameos from Steve Buscemi and Elizabeth Peña and a requisite dance number (so popular in 1980s comedies) which pairs the 6’7″ Goldblum with the diminutive Lauper.
Nick Deezy
Jeff Goldblum
Sylvia Pickel
Cyndi Lauper
Harry Buscafusco
Peter Falk
Ingo Swedlin
Googy Gress
Eli Diamond
Ramon Bieri
Burt Wilder
Michael Lerner
Juan
Hercules Vilchez
Lyle
Harvey J. Goldenberg
Dr Scott
Ray Stoddard
Dr Drake
Tom Henschel
Dr Silver
Susan Bugg
Dr Harmon
Rodney Kageyama
Dr Weiner
Van Dyke Parks
Dr Thompson
Steven Scott
Dr Harrison Steele
Julian Sands
Fred
Steve Buscemi
Consuelo
Elizabeth Peña
Baseball Man
Jerry Vichi
Monty Man
Leo V. Finnie III
Director
Ken Kwapis
