Finders Keepers Movie Review

By Stephen Milek

Every now and then there is a documentary that comes out is so bizarre you have to see it. This year when I heard about a movie at Sundance about a guy that finds a leg in a grill and won't give it back to the original owner and eventually they end up on TV's Judge Mathis. I knew I had to see it. The story would be a crazy fiction movie but the fact that it actually happened is mind blowing.  

The story is so bizarre it's hard to describe it. Basically John Wood lost his leg in a plane crash. He ends up keeping the leg and when he lost his home he puts everything he owns (including the leg) in a storage locker. Along comes Shannon Whisnant who is always looking for a way to make money. He buys the locker at an auction and discovers the leg in the grill. Shannon sees this as a chance to become famous and decides he could use it as a kind of side show attraction. the fight over the leg eventually end up on TV on Judge Mathis' show. That's the story in a nutshell. But there is so much more to it. Each person has their own personal demons to battle. And neither one of their lives wil be the same.

The story sounds simple and crazy but of course real life is never that simple. And you will have to see it to believe all the twists and turns. Directors Bryan Carberry and J. Clay Tweel do a great job balencing the humor with the serious and there is plenty of both.

The end makes you realize how one single event can change a persons life. And you might not think finding a leg in a grill can make that big of difference but for these two guys it did. And for John it was a lifesaving change.

Overall: A. It's more than a simple documentary about finding a leg in a grill. The movie shows the dramatic change the single event had on the men's lives.