The Gingerbread Man
With Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Robert Downey Jr..
US, 1998, 35mm, color, 115 min.
Print source: UCLA
Discreetly upending yet another familiar genre, Altman tests the waters of the Nineties wave of twisting dramas featuring lawyers and their clients behaving badly—many penned, as this one was, by John Grisham. With Hurricane Geraldo drenching the film in an unnerving, obfuscating downpour, Kenneth Branagh realistically fills the role of an Atlanta attorney whose intimate involvement with a mysterious, unhinged woman leads to a slowly building game of deception, murder and continually turning tables. Apparently, Altman rewrote much of Grisham’s original script, taking the drama out of the courtroom and redirecting the thriller toward a nerve-racking suspense that naturally erupts from the dangerous workarounds carried out by arrogant, hypocritical, or simply inept custodians of the law.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Vincent & Theo
Fool for Love
Prêt-à-porter
California Split
Thieves Like Us
A Perfect Couple
A Prairie Home Companion
O.C. and Stiggs
That Cold Day in the Park
Corn's-A-Poppin'
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Gingerbread Man
Dr. T and the Women
Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
