Two Fingers The Windy City Wonder – Review

Hello everyone Kevin with Film Fervor here bringing you another installment of the Fandependant Film Festival. Today we will be discussing the first place prize winning Documentary Two Fingers the Windy City Wonder by director Scott Baehrend. Featuring George Nottoli Aka Vinny two fingers Fontane.

Two Fingers the Windy City Wonder focuses on the very entertaining life of George Nottoli, a third generation sausage chef in the Windy City of Chicago who at the age of thirty five decided to be a professional wrestler. The documentary shows this mans amazing journey from a over the top sausage salesman to his wacky wrestling character Vinny in a very charming and real way that had me smiling the entire seventy three minute run time. Unlike many documentaries that can become stale and just grind away the hours you spend watching them Two Fingers continues to inspire and entertain through out. George himself is not shy around the camera and is never rude, condescending or dull and his retirement at the end will have you laughing as well as a little broken up with all of the fond farewells his colleagues in the wrestling world give him. As a man I personally think George is someone to aspire to from his no fear attitude to his extremely loving and caring nature you just can’t help but to root for the guy no matter what the situation is, weather it is as “The Sausage King” (His title at his restaurant well earned as he is in the Guinness Book of World Records) or as Vinny Two fingers Fontane.

Perhaps the only negative thing I can say about Two Fingers the Windy City Wonder is the fact that it’s production quality is so poor. When I started watching it I thought I was seeing a film that was made in the seventies or eighties giving how grainy and artifact filled the film was. This wasn’t just in the actual period pieces from George’s family home videos but the actual production crew it’s self. This is clearly not up to the caliber that Scott Baehrend can deliver as he has done short films in the past and has many years worth of experience to rely on.

The sound quality however is spot on and very well executed. From the hard pumping music when they show brief snippets of Vinny Two Finger’s matches to the softer choices when George is talking about his family life, the music very much fits in with this documentary and never feels just shoved in there. The microphone work is also very skillfully done as none of the voices ever drop into that annoying “tin can” sound nor to they get so low that you can’t properly hear what the star is saying. So all in all the production quality is about fifty fifty with the Video being poor and the sound being excellent.

If you are a fan of Professional Wrestling you will very much enjoy this documentary as it shows quite a bit of the behind the scenes without the superstar power of the WWE getting in the way. You will see how these men and women actually do their training and also how they actually get badly injured yet still continue on the match just to keep the fans happy. Seeing how George personally buys all the items used in the “Hard Core” matches really makes you wonder how anyone could considered wrestling fake. Is it scripted? Yes of course it is, it is basically a Soap Opera for men but that doesn’t change the fact it takes great physical endurance to be hit on the head with an actual steel chair or a board with nails in it (Both of which you will see in gruesome detail in the documentary).

If you are looking for an inspiring tale of what a productive midlife crisis can bring you, Two Fingers the Windy City Wonder will be all that you can hope for. Even if you are not a Professional Wrestling fan you will find this a very good watch despite it’s somewhat glaring technical flaws in the video department. If you are however interesting in the life of Professional Wrestling I hope you take the lessons you learn here in this documentary to heart, you are never to old to follow your dreams. I give Two Fingers the Windy City Wonder a three out of five only due to the fact of the poor video work.

Watch it here on Fandependent Films!