Lost & Found in Cleveland 2025 Movie Review
Lost & Found in Cleveland is the kind of movie that makes you think to yourself, “They don’t make movies like that anymore” without really knowing whether that’s good or bad.
The film, like so many slice of Americana films, takes place around the holidays and has that old-timey, small town vibe that makes you nostalgic for a past we’re supposed to yearn for even though it almost certainly wasn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
Here, the story revolves around five Clevelanders who are preparing to bring their individual “trash or treasures” to the experts at Lost & Found, “America’s favorite televised antiques appraisal show,” (think Antiques Roadshow), which is headed to town for a one-day taping.
The ensemble cast includes Martin Sheen, June Squibb, Stacy Keach, Dennis Haysbert, Liza Weil, Jon Lovitz, Jeff Hiller and others you’ll recognize but it’s hard to become fully invested in any of them because the filmmakers spend the first half of the movie flitting back and forth between the main characters’ stories.
It’s all pleasant enough to keep watching, though, and the movie does come together on the day of the shoot, when we get to see what each person’s piece is worth and how the appraisal impacts their life. That was always the most irresistible part of Antiques Roadshow and it works just as well here. There’s a genuine sweetness to a couple of the outcomes and a surprisingly thought-provoking and comically awkward story about a professor who is totally (and understandably) embarrassed by the collection of Aunt Jemima ceramics passed down to him from his grandmother.
It’s impossible not to compare Lost & Found in Cleveland to Best in Show and imagine what Christopher Guest would have done with this whole concept. Marisa Guterman and Keith Gerchak’s first feature as writers-directors is more sincere than satiric and will probably play well in Ohio, where the quirky locations are more likely to be recognized and appreciated.
Ultimately, viewers will decide for themselves whether the movie is a sweet nothing or a satisfying treat because, as Lost & Found in Cleveland makes clear, one person’s trash is another’s treasure.
