John Wood, left, and Shannon Whisnant in Finder Keepers (The Orchard)

Finders Keepers tells a rather bizarre story: how Shannon Whisnant found a genuine human leg in a broiler and what happened next. A legal battle ensues between Whisnant, the finder, and John Wood, the original owner of the leg. To Whisnant, the discovery represents fame and fortune; to Wood, it has more personal meaning. The story is quintessentially American, mired in petty feuds, materialism, lawsuits, and greed.

Years ago, Wood lost his father and his leg in a plane crash. After the amputation, he kept the leg and stashed it in a storage unit. In 2007, Whisnant won an auction for that storage locker and discovered the mummified leg. This results in a drawn-out legal battle in an unprecedented case. Does the rule “finders keepers” apply to everything, including human body parts?

Filmmakers Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel take us through every step of the legal wrangling, which spans multiple years. At times, the contention becomes tedious, with Wood and Whisnant rehashing the details of the case ad infinitum, neither one budging. It’s kind of like a really, really long episode of Judge Judy. How much you enjoy the documentary will depend on whether you like the repetition of reality television.

However, Carberry and Tweel tell the story with nuance, letting the story be messy. The directors said that they made this film to portray the real, complicated people behind a sensationalized news story. For example, Wood’s drug addiction, and the effect that it has on his family, is explored.

From the Deep South, Whisnant and Wood are entertaining. Whisnant is a big talker, the kind of guy who acts like he’s living his own reality show every day. He and Wood get to be stars of their personal drama for a time, and the world looks on. Once Whisnant has had a taste of fame, though, he does whatever he can to make it last, even as he admits it makes him feel cheapened. Meanwhile, Wood, already struggling with drug addiction, spirals out of control in the wake of all of the media attention.

What is Finders Keepers about? If you read into it, it might about the media: how it destroys lives after building them up. However, at the end, there’s not much more left to the story after the shock value is gone. Whisnant and Wood are just two people living their lives.

Prospective viewers probably have one burning question on their minds, though: Do they see the leg?

They do.