Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers can boast of having one of the better single-sentence synopses of recent memory, when it comes to documentaries: “After a man loses a leg in a plane crash and mummifies it himself, an errant storage locker sale deposits it into the hands of an entrepreneur who refuses to return the body part even after the leg’s original owner demands it back.”

That’s the “meat” of Finders Keepers, if you will—a custody battle over a severed body part that really took place between leg-loser John Wood and leg-finder Shannon Whisnant in the years following 2007, when the discovery of the leg and resulting feud made national news. The resulting documentary is an absurd, rambling, he-said/he-said story that reveals two fascinating personalities residing in rural North Carolina. At times, the story seems headed toward an expected conclusion, but every time it feels like things should be wrapping up, some new hurdle arises to be overcome.

The story begins with Wood, a former resident of Maiden, NC who was involved in a tragic and deadly plane crash that claimed the life of his father and caused him to lose his leg. As co-pilot, Wood harbors intense feelings of guilt, believing there’s something he could have done to avert the crash. His lifelong struggles with addiction are also highlighted, and he unsurprisingly falls back into the throws of addiction after being sent home from the hospital with painkiller prescriptions. Hoping to craft some sort of macabre monument to his father, who he idolizes, Wood requests his leg back from the hospital, thinking that he’ll be presented with cleaned and sanitized bones. Instead, they gave him the whole, fleshy leg, leading to Wood being forced to crudely mummify the leg on his own.

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In the years that follow, Wood’s addictions essentially destroy his life, and his possessions are placed in storage. After defaulting on storage payments, the smoker grill containing the hidden leg was purchased at auction by one Shannon Whisnant, who was understandably shocked to find a mummified human foot inside when he got back home.

This is where the story diverges from anything resembling reality. Any normal person would simply have allowed police to collect the leg and gone on with his life, but we quickly learn that Whisnant is anything but “normal.” Seeing himself as some sort of flea market tyrant/local funnyman/entrepreneur supreme, he demands custody of the leg back from police and literally starts manufacturing leg-related merchandise after the discovery makes him a local celebrity. Highlight of a Friday night in Maiden, NC? Driving down to see the “Foot Man” and pay $3 for a gander at his grill ($1 for kids).

Whisnant quickly emerges as the film’s truly fascinating figure, a man who has seemingly been waiting his entire life for this moment to arrive—and not only waiting, but EXPECTING fame to somehow eventually drop into his lap. The zeal with which he relishes any kind of attention, no matter the source of it, is frankly terrifying at times, and you wonder if there’s any level he wouldn’t stoop to if he was promised some kind of media coverage. This is a man who drives around in a car with the license plate “FTSMOKER” and sincerely wants strangers to address him as “foot man,” because he had the honor of finding the foot. As he fights for the right to retain the leg, he attempts to wheedle and deal with John Wood, promising him “business opportunities” that seem all the more ridiculous when you remember that what he’s after is exhibition rights for a mummified leg, which he naturally assumes is the kind of bargaining chip that could make a person FILTHY RICH. Matters are complicated by Whisnant’s totally unhidden disgust for Wood and everything he represents, from his privileged upbringing to lack of “business sense.”

Wood, meanwhile, cuts a fairly sympathetic figure with a complicated family past, including a rather heartless mother who he resembles more than either care to admit. Actual line of dialog from Mom: “Forgive and forget, what kind of dumb statement is that?” His addiction problems are the only factor that keep him from being the clear-cut “protagonist” of the story, complicating his quest to regain his leg, which he’s come to inexorably associate with the plane crash and the memory of his deceased father. The actual question of possession finally receives its conclusion in the oddest of places: on a televised episode of Judge Mathis.

As a documentary, the story can’t help but “side” somewhat with Wood, even as it depicts how he’s often alienated himself from his family. The alternative is Whisnant, whose behavior and delusions of grandeur make him a figure of both humor and sympathy. Whisnant’s long-suffering wife often appears in these moments to have no idea how she ended up in such a situation, but she shares absolutely none of his interest in the media spotlight.

At a brisk 84 minutes, Finders Keepers certainly isn’t long, and yet still feels a bit stretched at times to reach the all-important feature-length benchmark. It sometimes obfuscates the facts of the case, such as who actually possessed the foot at any given moment in the timeline, spending more of its time highlighting the eccentricities of both men in the heart of its story. It is, however, difficult to turn away from the bizarre story as it unfolds, even as we acknowledge that the feature-length documentary may not have been entirely necessary to tell their story.

Still, the character of Shannon Whisnant alone goes a long way toward justifying the existence of Finders Keepers, and will likely send audiences out of screenings shaking their heads, wondering at how such a person operates. The macabre, darkly humorous documentary has been well-positioned for a Halloween season release.

Director: Bryan Carberry
Release Date: Oct. 2, 2015, theaters and VOD

Jim Vorel is Paste’s news editor. You can follow him on Twitter.