The Gingerbread Man (1998)
a review by Christian Pyle
I'm a bit surprised that "The Gingerbread Man" came and went with so little fanfare. It boasts a plot penned by best-selling novelist John Grisham, direction by legendary director Robert Altman, and a cast of familiar faces. Or, perhaps, it's not so surprising . . . because, despite having so many talented people associated with it, "Gingerbread Man" is a run-of-the-mill thriller.
Kenneth Branagh stars as Rick Magruder, a (you guessed it, Grisham fans) Southern lawyer. A divorced father of two, Rick is always on the prowl for women and giving a ride home to Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz) turns into spending the night in her bed. Mallory is menaced by her father, Dixon (Robert Duvall), an lunatic who has a posse of other crazy old men. When Rick finds Mallory's murdered cat dangling in her doorway, he volunteers to help commit her father to a mental institution. Dixon's pals break him out, and Rick starts getting death threats. When he gets a photo of his kids with their heads cut out, Rick kidnaps his kids and hits the road. When the kids disappear, Rick and Mallory are drawn toward a violent confrontation with Dixon.
There's a twist or two before it's all over, of course.
The cast also includes Robert Downey Jr. as a private eye who works for Rick, Daryl Hannah (hidden underneath hair dye and spectacles) as a coworker of Rick's, and Tom Berenger as Mallory's ex-husband. Overall, the performances are impressive. Branagh sports the most convincing Southern accent in recent memory (Downey's accent is less so).
While "The Gingerbread Man" is a enjoyable excursion, it is easily Altman's most conventional movie. Even when he's worked with genre fiction in the past, Altman has retained his knack for creating quirky and original films (who else would cast Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe?). His long list of grade-A work includes "M*A*S*H" (1970), "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971), "Nashville" (1975), "The Player" (1992), and "Short Cuts" (1993). But "The Gingerbread Man" offers little that resembles any of Altman's previous movies and even less that blazes any new trails. It's a thriller-by-the-numbers, redeemed slightly by a strong cast and a refusal in the end to forgive the hero for his sins.
Grade: C
© 1999 Christian L. Pyle
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