Themes: Hide the Dead Body, Unlikely Criminals, Religious Zealotry
Main Cast: Woody Allen, David Schwimmer, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Cheech Marin, Kiefer Sutherland
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A crime of passion unwittingly leads to a "miracle" in this satirical comedy. Tex (Woody Allen) is a butcher who is married to Candy (Sharon Stone), a former exotic dancer who has no skill or enthusiasm for fidelity. Unhappy with her extramarital affairs, Tex kills Candy while performing a "sawing the woman in half" trick with her during a magic show. Tex tries to bury the pieces of Candy's body on the outskirts of town before anyone can find out the trick was real, but he makes the mistake of losing one of Candy's hands along the way; a blind woman happens upon it, and when she can suddenly and miraculously see, she's convinced she's found the hand of the Holy Virgin. Father Jerome (David Schwimmer), the priest of the local Catholic church, isn't so sure, but the town's mayor (Cheech Marin) is more than happy to have hundreds of tourists coming into town to see a holy relic, and word of the miraculous hand spreads like wildfire. However, Sheriff Bobo (Kiefer Sutherland) is convinced the severed hand appeared through foul play, and Tex is eager to retrieve it before anyone finds out who was once attached to it. Picking Up the Pieces, which also features Fran Drescher, Eddie Griffin, Andy Dick, and Elliott Gould, had its American premiere on the Cinemax premium cable network after the film's controversial themes prevented it from getting a distribution deal with a U.S. studio. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Allen plays Tex, a butcher who kills his unfaithful wife Candy, played by Sharon Stone. After cutting up the body, Tex buries most of her body parts in the desert in New Mexico. A blind woman accidentally trips over Candy's hand, which has not been buried. Picking it up, her sight is restored, and she proclaims the hand to be the "hand of the Virgin." The hand then becomes the talk of the village and people flock there to heal themselves. This ranges from a crippled man growing new legs, a teenager being relieved of his acne and a midget having his manhood enlarged. Tex hears of these miracles, and attempts to retrieve the hand without being caught.
