Picking Up the Pieces (2000)

A small New Mexican village discovers a severed hand that is considered a miracle of God, when it actually belongs to a murdered spouse with a husband in search of it.

Director:

Alfonso Arau

Writer:

Bill Wilson

Stars:

Woody Allen, David Schwimmer, Angélica Aragón

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	Tex Cowley
Sharon Stone	...	Candy Cowley
Maria Grazia Cucinotta	...	Desi
Cheech Marin	...	Mayor Machado
David Schwimmer	...	Father Leo Jerome
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Officer Bobo
Alfonso Arau	...	Dr. Amado
Danny De La Paz	...	Lalo Taxi Driver
Andy Dick	...	Father Buñuel
Fran Drescher	...	Sister Frida
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Flaco
Elliott Gould	...	Father LaCage
Eddie Griffin	...	Sediento
Mía Maestro	...	Carla
Lupe Ontiveros	...	Constancia

Storyline

Woody Allen plays Tex, a kosher butcher. Sharon Stone plays his unfaithful wife Candy. Tex catches Candy in the act and in a fit of rage he kills her. To conceal his crime he cuts up her body and buries it in the desert in New Mexico. However, when her hand surfaces, a blind woman trips over it and it restores her sight. The hand is then considered to be the "hand of the Virgin." Despite the church's fallen priest objecting, the ambitious mayor of the town creates an international three-ring circus of miracle-seekers, TV crews, and born-again local prostitutes all interested in the hand. All of this goes on while Tex is desperately trying to recover the hand before the sheriff finds it and uses it as evidence against him.

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Plot Keywords:

uxoricide | mistaken for miracle | breasts growing | man wears eyeglasses | miracle | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cheech Marin agreed to be in the film because he wanted to act alongside Woody Allen.

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Quotes

Bobo: Women... you can't live with 'em... and you can't shoot 'em.

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story Of The VHS Collector (2013)

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Soundtracks

Corazon En Pedazos
Performed by Flaco Jiménez and his Band
Written by Ron Morales, M. Spindola

User Reviews

Enough bad actors can turn a bad movie into a meltdown

It's lucky for David Schwimmer that Fran Drescher and Woody Allen were along

for this loony ride, otherwise he would have had to take all the blame. The idea was crazy, the direction spliff-guided and the script lame. But the ACTING!

Woody does his stuttering, furrowed-brow, hands in the air schtick, but this is the umpteenth time and it is no longer just annoying, it's pathetic. Fran Drescher had one day, max two, on the set and treated it as a summer camp romp,

demonstrating ably that some people can build a career and a fortune on a

single act. Unfortunately, that act is on a TV set somewhere a million miles from this movie. But David Schwimmer!!?!! Oy-vey! He has one look (sensitive, troubled), one

tone of voice (ordering pizza on the phone) and no clues. Again, good luck to him for making a pile from being a Friend, but an actor he ain't. Kiefer Sutherland does his best with a stupid role but still doesn't convince as comic actor. Sharon Stone is great, but doesn't have more than a couple of

minutes on screen. But people -- this isn't a movie for watching. It's a movie for lying down, eyes shut, and hoping it will go away.

Details

Official Sites:

Kushner-Locke Company [United States] Metropolitan Filmexport (French)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 August 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

First on Max

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Comala Films Productions, Ostensible Productions, The Kushner-Locke Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1