The Gingerbread Man (1998)

Too much of everything

hyped garbage

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Even though it was a good watch I found that the reason for the title was not disclose.There were many instances where the movie lost me, maybe because I don't understand the American South idioms. I enjoy Gresham's book generally but this was difficult to watch especially as most of it was depicted in the dark hours and it was constantly raining.

From director Robert Altman (MASH, Nashville, Gosford Park, A Prairie Home Companion), the title I knew wouldn't be anything to do with the fairytale, so I was intrigued to try it. Basically Rick Magruder (Kenneth Branagh) is the divorced lawyer in Savannah, Georgia who stumbling out drunk from a party has a chance meeting with waitress and caterer Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz) who has apparently lost her car. So he drives her home, where seemingly her father has parked the car, and after a small argument she innocently undresses in front of him, and they end up kissing and spending the night together. He rushes to work after the one night stand, but he can't stop thinking about her, and he is surprised and glad to see her again at his office, she is asking to file a suit over her abusive father Dixon, nicknamed "The Gingerbread Man" (Robert Duvall), after he has been threatening her. Rick manages to indeed take Dixon to court and have him put on trial to prove these accusations, with the help of witnesses such as Mallory's ex-husband Pete Randle (Tom Berenger), and he is sentenced to a mental institution. But Dixon has a small group of friends who go to the institution and break him out, as well as a few other inmates, and of course he is after Rick and Mallory. Together, with his children Libby (Independence Day's Mae Whitman) and Jeff Magruder (Jesse James), their lives are in danger and they must find places to hide and people to help catch the nut-case again, and put him back where he belongs, or maybe even kill him. Also starring Robert Downey Jr. as Clyde Pell, Daryl Hannah as Lois Harlan, Famke Janssen as Leeanne Magruder, Clyde Hayes as Carl Alden, Troy Bailey as Konnie Dugan, Julia Ryder Perce as Cassandra and Danny Darst as Sheriff Hope. Branagh gives a not too bad performance putting on his Southern American accent he brought to Wild Wild West, and Duvall is fitting a psychotic father to the innocent Davidtz, I will admit the story went slightly downhill after halfway through, but all in all it isn't a boring thriller. Good!

How a director of Altman's experience could ever expect us to want to spend time with, or to care about what happens to, a lead character who is neurotic, a whiner, a jerk with no redeeming qualities -- that is the central puzzle about this profoundly confused piece of work. A monstrous piece of trash. In addition to this crippling flaw, the plot line requires serious concentration to follow. The setup that the Branagh character walks into is so obviously a setup from the start that we are inclined to wonder whether the writer and director have totally lost respect for their audience. This latter issue is at the core of the film: it represents directorial self-indulgence with profound contempt for the taste, values, and intelligence of the viewer. Very unusual for Mr. Altman.Patrick Watson

Robert Altman shouldn't make a movie like this, but the fact that he did- and that it turns out to be a reasonably good and tightly-wound thriller in that paperback-tradition of Grisham thrillers- shows a versatility that is commendable. In the Gingerbread Man he actually has to work with something that, unfortunately, he isn't always very successful at, or at least it's not the first thing on his checklist as director: plot. There's one of those big, juicy almost pot-boiler plots where a sleazy lawyer gets caught up with a desperate low-class woman and then a nefarious figure whom the woman is related with enters their lives in the most staggering ways, twists and plot ensues, yada yada. And it's surprising that Altman would really want to take on one of these "I saw that coming from back there!" endings, or just a such a semi-conventional thriller.But it's a surprise that pays off because, oddly enough, Altman is able to catch some of that very fine behavior, or rather is able to unintentionally coax it out of a very well-cast ensemble, of a small-town Georgian environment. The film drips with atmosphere (if not total superlative craftsmanship, sometimes it's good and sometimes just decent for Altman), as Savannah is possibly going to be hit by a big hurricane and the swamp and marshes and rain keep things soaked and muggy and humid. So the atmosphere is really potent, but so are performances from (sometimes) hysterical Kenneth Branaugh, Embeth Davitz as the 'woman' who lawyer Branaugh gets caught up with, and Robert Downey Jr (when is he *not* good?) as the private detective in Branaugh's employ. Did I neglect Robert Duvall, who in just five minutes of screen time makes such an indelible impression to hang the bad-vibes of the picture on? As said, some of the plot is a little weak, or just kind of standard (lawyer is divorced, bitter custody battle looms, innocent and goofy kids), but at the same time I think Altman saw something captivating in the material, something darker than some of the other Grisham works that has this standing out somehow. If it's not entirely masterful, it still works on its limited terms as a what-will-happen-next mystery-Southern-noir.