written by john grisham and robert altman ( as al hayes ) directed by robert altman some time ago , a young director was given the opportunity to direct the screen version of a popular novel .
the novel was a summer smash , topping best - seller lists across the country and already drawing speculation as to which popular actors of the day might play the leads .
the only problem : the novel was n't very good .
it was far more pulp than pulitzer .
but the director realized that , no matter how pedestrian the prose , this book really grabbed people - that the author , while not a great writer , was a fantastic storyteller .
so he took on the project , convinced he could make something happen on screen .
the director ?
francis ford coppola .
the book , of course , was mario puzo 's the godfather .
the rest , as they say in showbiz , was history .
by bringing up the godfather , i do n't mean to suggest that robert altman 's the gingerbread man is destined for that level of greatness .
but the parallel does suggest that it is possible to create great cinema from questionable source material .
can you get any more questionable than john grisham ?
depends on whom you ask .
but there 's no question that grisham 's work grabs people .
like puzo , grisham is a better storyteller than a writer - unlike fellow hack michael crichton , who is a good idea man but who ca n't tell a well - constructed story from a can of spam .
so something in grisham 's unpublished story of a cocky savannah lawyer who gets involved in a deadly family squabble drew the attention of robert altman , who at 73 years old remains one of america 's greatest living filmmakers .
the result is a gripping thriller that , while falling short of classic cinema , deserves its place in the altman canon .
> from its opening shot to the closing credits , the gingerbread man is permeated with a sense of dread , with a fear of the natural destructive forces of the universe .
this terrific sense of mood is a classic altman touch .
witness said opening shot : we see an aerial view of coastal georgia with its writhing , undulating landscape while the soundtrack grumbles ominously in our ear .
we roll over the hills into the town of savannah , then zoom in close on a red sports car speeding over a bridge while its driver chatters oblivious on his cell phone .
right away we know that the driver of that car is in for a few surprises .
pay attention , boys and girls - this shot was not conceived by john grisham , but by altman .
this is what a great director can do for questionable source material .
the sports car belongs to rick magruder ( kenneth branagh ) , the aforementioned hotshot attorney who specializes in police brutality cases .
magruder has just won a high profile case and celebrates that night with a catered party at his office .
outside after the party he meets one of the waitresses , mallory doss ( embeth davidzt ) , just as she realizes her car has been stolen .
driven by southern chivalry , a driving rainstorm and his unspoken attraction to the fragile waitress , magruder offers her a ride home .
there he learns more about mallory 's life than he bargained for .
her car was stolen by her schizophrenic father dixon ( robert duvall ) , a ted kyzynski - style whacko who has been stalking and terrorizing his own daughter .
magruder , perhaps influenced by mallory 's decision to strip off her wet clothes in front of him , is sympathetic to her plight , and offers to help her get her father committed
- right after he sleeps with her , of course .
this simple offer of help leads magruder down a dangerous path with a black end .
he succeeds in having dixon incarcerated in a mental hospital , and for a moment all appears well .
but then dixon 's crack team of homeless commandos bust him out of the lockup - and suddenly magruder finds himself , mallory and his own children in danger .
the cops wo n't lift a finger to help a liberal attorney .
his only allies are his faithful assistant lois ( daryl hannah ) and his bumbling private - eye sidekick clyde ( robert downey jr ) .
if this predicament was n't bad enough , hurricane geraldo is bearing down on savannah and throwing the world into chaos .
altman may provide the atmosphere , but branagh 's performance holds the gingerbread man together .
an accomplished actor when he is n't directing himself in vanity productions , branagh does a fine job of making rick a sympathetic hero while casting doubt upon his motives .
is his offer of help to mallory an act of kindness , or of egotism ?
magruder is so sure of his place in the world that he never considers that he has bitten off more than he can chew until he has to swallow it - and by then it 's too late .
as the plot unfolds , magruder learns that none of us are as secure as we think we are .
and life is never so bad that it ca n't get worse . if you 're familiar with altman 's work , you 'll recognize several of his signature techniques .
characters are not introduced in establishing shots , but rather are allowed to wander in the background of scenes until their importance becomes apparent .
crucial scenes are shot from the outside through windows , making the audience unwitting voyeurs of the action .
dialog overlaps and the actors seem to slip naturally into an improvisational style .
and of course there 's
my favorite altman technique - the obligatory nude actress shot .
thanks to altman , here are some of the actresses i 've had the pleasure of seeing naked : sally kellerman , julianne moore , madeline stowe , even frances mcdormand .
and now i can add embeth davidtz , who looks quite healthy in the altogether .
the naked actress shot has become as ubiquitous to the altman film as the director cameo was to the hitchcock film .
is it old - school sexism , or a clever in - joke ?
you be the judge .
but back to the picture at hand .
in the hands of a mere mortal , the gingerbread man would have been a routine thriller , no better or worse than the countless others we 've all endured .
in the hands of a master
like altman , it becomes an exercise in existential doom , in its own way far more successful than scorsese 's cape fear remake , which tried for the same result .
what may prevent it from enduring with altman 's greatest work is a weak third act - in fact , there really is no third act in grisham 's story , so it appears that altman had to throw in the hurricane just to jazz things up .
but there are true moments of riveting suspense , and great performances by branagh , davidzt and downey jr - more than enough to see you through .
that polygram so hated this picture that they tried to steal final cut from altman , and then buried the marketing campaign when he won it back , should tell you how utterly clueless of quality most studios are .
they probably wanted it to look more like a time to kill .
and that , my friends , should make you very afraid .
deserves its place an exercise in existential doom , in its own way far more successful it is possible to create great cinema in the hands of a master a gripping thriller my favorite altman technique dialog overlaps and the actors seem to slip naturally into an improvisational style there are true moments of riveting suspense , and great performances