Good concept, poorly executed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

"Picking Up The Pieces" is an unusual project for Woody Allen to be involved with: it's one of the very few times in his career where he only stars in a movie without also having written and/or directed it, plus it's set in New Mexico, quite a few states away from his favorite city in the world, New York. He might seem like a fish out of water at first, but he does seem to have written a lot of his own dialogue (I'm assuming that because his lines are considerably funnier than anyone else's - "If the police find all these pieces they might suspect something" or "I confess I killed my wife - but I did it only once!"), and he sneaks in his usual ruminations about death and the afterlife as well. Only Woody could make the character he plays here so human, sympathetic, and funny. The rest of the cast, though distinguished and diverse, are simply not at his level, the direction is shapeless, and the story is thin. But I do appreciate the fact that this black comedy stays black to the end and does not play "nice" to win the audience's approval. ** out of 4.

My wife hated it, all the way through watching it and now we can't stop talking about it. A single gesture has come to symbolize a triviality that is no longer viewed as an obscenity but now a talking point when it appears. The scenes of the "miracles" are interesting and provocative with a dark underlying sense of serenity. It all seems to flow from Woody as a redemption of his actions and his attitude on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The photography was intriguing with the moving pans when picking up the pieces and the surreal depictions of the towns people. I hope this movie will become a cult classic. I recommend a group viewing with martinis and steak tartare.

"Picking Up the Pieces" is one of those nonsense stories that gets morphed into something really neat. In this case, Sheriff Tex Cowley (Woody Allen) tries to bury the body of his wife, but accidentally leaves her hand above the ground. I should identify that her hand has the middle finger sticking out. When a blind woman stumbles upon the hand, she regains her vision, and then the hand starts performing all sorts of miracles.Yes, it's a totally outlandish idea, but they do some really funny stuff with it. I especially liked the scene with "Ortiz". One might say that this movie looks at the interconnectedness of everything. Maybe. But overall, I'd say that it's an excuse to have fun. And it sure is something to see Woody Allen in a small Texas town. Also starring Sharon Stone, Cheech Marin, David Schwimmer, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, and Kiefer Sutherland.

Maybe it's just the mood I'm in but after a failed first attempt at viewing this film (lasted about 10 minutes) I just finished seeing the "hole" thing and thought "what a great WA film ala the pre-serious Woody phase that he didn't write! This film was obviously not done with the BIG audience in mind, but out of love for the absurd to a sublime degree. Over the top puns abound in a truly profound way. Like for instance, "You can save your ass, or you can save your soul. But you can't save both. You choose, ass....soul...etc.,etc. I can't believe the many stars in this cast (albeit off-ctr types) did this for the money, so they must have had a blast making it. And c'mon folks, tell me you didn't love to see Kieffer hung up and beaten like a pinata with fireworks going off on his body. I hven't seen cast interviews, so I'm not as informed as some of the commenteers here are, but the overall message (last words of Woody)of this movie is not to be ignored: "f__k em if they can't take a joke". Yeah, the production was cheezy, but it fit so well. The patchwork editing just may have been intentional.... I can easily see how people panned this film. But, no offense intended, maybe you take yourself a bit too seriously.PS: the quip about Jesus' party getting out of hand _was_ Lenny Bruce's comment as stated by Woody in the film.Ahhhhhh