GINGERBREAD MAN, THE (director: Robert Altman; cast: Kenneth Branagh (Rick Magruder), Embeth Davidtz (Mallory Doss), Robert Downey Jr. (Clyde Pell), Daryl Hannah (Lois Harlan), Robert Duvall (Dixon Doss), Tom Berenger (Pete Randle), Famke Janssen (Leeanne), Jesse James (Jeff), Mae Whitman (Libby), 1998)
This wasn't a bad film, as much as it was a mediocre one. It is taken from a paper thin story by the renown pulp writer of the vox populi, John Grisham (the screenplay is credited to Al Hayes, but rumored to have been re-written by Robert Altman). It was directed with misdirection by the legendary director Robert Altman (M*A*S*H (69), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (71), The Long Goodbye (73), Nashville (75)), who has never directed a thriller quite like this one before, and shows with this film that his enormous talent, probably, does not lie with this genre. The only thing that saves this movie from being a complete bust is the marvelously energetic cast. They took this inane formula story seriously and did a fine job in keeping it going.
In particular, I liked Duvall's Dixon Doss portrayal of the supposedly insane father of Mallory Doss (Davidtz). A minor part for Duvall, but a good diversion from the constantly intense and impetuous performance of Branagh's (Magruder) amoral, Southern accented, slick Savannah lawyer. Branagh might be a capable British Shakespearian actor, but he has a tendency to chew up his scenes, which he does here, to the further detriment of the film.
That Altman did such a haphazard job in directing this thriller, is proven in the first fifteen minutes of the movie, when he gives away the plot by anxiously holding his attention too long on an obvious set-up situation. If you didn't know that the lawyer was going to be set-up by the low-life Mallory, who literally throws her nude body on this divorced father/lawyer, whose only redeeming quality is that he loves his children, then you must have been out getting popcorn in the lobby while that scene was taking place. As a result, with all the tension taken out of the film, in the very beginning of it, the only reason for seeing the rest of the film has become dissolved into watching how well the actors could work without a well-developed story.
The plot revolves around a surprise party being given for Magruder, who is coming off a victory in court, where he got his client off by thrashing the police. Here he meets the waitress Mallory who needs a ride home after her car is missing and there is a big rain storm. Once at home, the seduction takes place. Magruder and Mallory from now on become inseparable, or maybe not. So the obvious set-up begins and Magruder is unwittingly drawn into a whacky families' dirty business.
Magruder becomes the lawyer for Mallory, who is accusing her father of stalking and harassing her. She succeeds in getting him put away. But the dangerous father escapes and begins to make not only the life of his daughter hell but also her lawyer's life, as he kidnaps Magruder's child.
When the best part of the movie for me, is watching the hurricane take place, and I know that the weather conditions has little to do with the story, except as setting a mood, then I'm certain that I haven't been swept away by this film. There was, as far as I could tell, no particular character development of the principal players, no intense drama taking place, no new insights into the judicial system, or compassion felt for any one remotely connected with this story. I found myself trying to figure out why there is such a huge market for Grisham's stories, and it sure beats me...
The film becomes an Actor's Studio venture, with the following characters acting out their supporting roles with varying degrees of effectiveness: Clyde Pell (Robert Downey Jr.) appears to be the most likable one in the film, playing a fun-loving alcoholic private dick and buddy of Magruder. Pete Randle (Tom) is scary as Mallory's ex-husband. Daryll Hannah is the busybody aide in Magruder's office. Famke Janssen is Leeanne, Rick's nondescript ex-wife. They all make an earnest contribution to a film that would have served Altman better if it wasn't so thin a story he was telling.
REVIEWED ON 3/6/99 GRADE: C-
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
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http://www.sover.net/~ozus
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