The Gingerbread Man (1998) User Reviews (108)

Waterlogged

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 6 February 2004]

******SPOILERS****** Film Noir type movie set in Savannah Georgia that tries hard to stay afloat but it's waterlogged plot sinks it in the last fifteen minutes.

"The Gingerbread Man" is not at all a boring or bad movie it really holds your attention and you want it to deliver the goods via a surprise and film noir like ending. The movie like "Hurricane Geraldo" that lashes the Georgian coast during the entire film instead just sinks under it's wind swept waves.

"Gingerbread Man" has all the right ingredients for a film noir classic. It's directed by legendary director Robert Altman but it's story gets so muddled and confused that by the end instead of packing a wallop it just fizzles out like a balloon with a hole in it.

The chance meeting and later relationship between Rick Magruder, Kenneth Branagh, and Mallory Doss, Embeth Davidtz, at the start of the film is incredibly unconvincing and contrived that you can easily sense that Rick is being set up to be used for some unknown purpose. You can see Mallory constantly staring and trying to get close to Rick at the party before they meet outside in the rain.

Mollary's crazy and religious father Dixon Doss, Robert Duvall, who is being manipulated to be the villain in the film also doesn't seem at all that convincing of a being a heavy. If anything Dixon seems to be more normal then most of the people in the movie, like he so perfectly made clear to the court at his sanity hearing. And it doesn't surprise anyone that he like Rick is being set up for some reason known only by the villain or villains in the film.

Kenneth Branagh is very good as the person who's being used to unwittingly do the dirty work to clear the way for a 10-15 million dollar grab of fifteen acres of valuable black walnut trees. So is Robert Duvall as the person who they belong to and are the main reason for the crimes being committed in the film.

Besides the top stars in the movie there are also very good performances by Tom Berenger, Pete Randel, as Mallory's ex-husband and Famke Janssen, Leeanne, as Rick's ex-wife as well as Daryl Hannah, Louis Harlan, as Rick's law partner. Robert Downey Jr.,Clyde Pell, sparkles is a small but important role as the detective that works for Rick's law office. Still the illogical and contrived ending in the movie as well as some of the sub-plots that lead to it wastes their efforts and spoils what could have been a very good crime/mystery film.

Altman's strong suit usually isn't plot, and this shows why

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 1 October 2008]

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.

good suspense but sometimes hard to swallow

[tommyboy-16 · 6/10 · 13 January 2001]

I give it a solid 7. The acting was good and the story was good, to a point. Some of the actions of the criminal did not make sense, but I guess there are a lot of real criminals in prison that also ran a little short in that area . I can say the same thing for the lawyer. One minute he is brilliant and the next he does not know what is going on. Real people many times do the same. Fact is stranger than fiction. As an arm chair director I think this movie could have been better. Its worth watching.

Appalling waste of talent in dim flick

[Philby-3 · 20 April 2003]

It takes real talent to make a real lemon, and Robert Altman, a most talented director, has succeeded brilliantly here. He made things difficult for himself miscasting Kenneth Branagh as a boozy Savannah lawyer but the attempt to replicate the feel of a town in the grip of a hurricane really finishes things off. The last 20 minutes in the rain is truly appalling, with the audience reduced to guessing about what is going on. The lighting is awful throughout, the more so that it was done on purpose. Maybe we were supposed to experience the confusion of the lead character as he stumbled towards an answer but this does not make for entertainment. In this film noir genre to achieve tension at crucial moments the audience must know just a little more than the protagonist, not a lot less.

The story, though completely derivative, is actually quite tight, well plotted, and has a convincing resolution, but the lack of light and general confusion make it difficult to follow. Anyway, an absolute shocker, gross waste of talent and apparently a box office flop (there's some justice). Altman has since put this turkey behind him with the luminous Gosford Park but I am left wondering why on earth he did it.

Fine ingredients yet leaves a bad taste

[lowell-5 · 6/10 · 22 February 1999]

The Gingerbread Man has all the ingredients of a fine movie. A respected director, a script by a best-selling author, and a well-rounded cast, all of whom succeed in stretching their abilities. The question of why the movie crumbles, seeming more like a mediocre television show than a movie, lies with Grisham's set of unlovable characters and a director who, disrespectful of his audience's intelligence, gives away the entire pending two-hour plot within the first ten minutes of the movie by his choice of camera shots.

The cast, each out of the respective genres that made them famous, deliver unexpectedly fine performances. Yet their characters suffer from existing as Hollywood stereotypes of Southerners whose greed, stupidity, and amorality are not grounded in the audience's reality. The movie does manage to attain a high level of suspense, yet it is difficult to muster any compassion for a sleazy dolt of an attorney, his obviously manipulative one-night stand, and a uni-dimensional supporting cast. After viewing The Gingerbread Man you'll want two hours of your life back.

Altman, muzzled, falls short of greatness this time.

[mwa · 7/10 · 21 October 1998]

I found myself at sixes and sevens while watching this one. Altman's touch with zooms in and out were there, and I expected those devices to comment on characters and situations. Unfortunately, as far as I could see, they sometimes were gratuitous, sometimes witty, often barren for failing to point out some ironic or other connection. In particular, two zoom-outs from the gilt dome in savannah merely perplexed. To be fair, though, a few zooms (outs and ins) to Branagh heightened his character's increasing bewilderment, a la Pudgy McCabe's or Philip Marlow's. On the whole, the zooms were, well, inconsistent, and sometimes even trite.

Other Almanesque devices, such as multiple panes of glass between camera and subject, succeeded in suggesting characters' sollipsism or narcissism or opaque states of knowledge. Car windshields, house windows, and other screens were used effectively and fairly consistently, I felt, harking back to THE PLAYER and even THE LONG GOODBYE. A few catchy jump-cuts, especially to a suggestive tv commercial, reminded me of such usage in SHORT CUTS, to sardonic effect.

But finally, the mismatch between Altman's very personal style and the sheer weight of the Grisham-genre momentum, failed to excite me. This director's 1970s masterpieces revised and deconstructed various classic genres, including the chandler detective film which this resembled in some ways; this time around, the director seemed to have too few arrows in his analytic quiver to strike any meaningful blow to the soft underbelly of this beastly genre. Was he muzzled in by mammonist producers, perhaps? Or am I missing something, due to my feeble knowledge of the genre he takes on here?

Nonetheless, the casting was excellent all around: Tom Berenger (for his terrifying ferality), Branagh for his (deflated) hubris, Robert Downey Jr's pheromonal haze, Robert Duvall's method of trash, and Davidtz's lurking femme-fatality were near perfect choices all. And except for a few slips out of Georgia into Chicago on the part of (brunette?) Daryl Hannah, accents were convincingly southern.

Suspense and mood were engrossing, even if the story didn't quite rivet viewers. The moodiness of a coastal pre-hurricane barometric plunge was exquisitely, painstakingly rendered--I felt like yelling at the usher to turn on the swamp cooler pronto.

Torn, in the end I judged it a 7.

A Savannah GA lawyer misjudges a situation, and a girl, and finds himself in deep trouble.

[jn1356 · 5/10 · 17 April 2001]

I expected more of Kenneth Branagh. It is a decent movie, on the low side of watchable. I prefer my suspense movies not to be predictable from the outset, which this was! We saw it for two reasons--Branagh and John Grisham. My final opinion was that Grisham wanted to try his hand at writing a screenplay, and he had the clout to get it produced. I hope his next screenplay will benefit from his first errors, as his subsequent novels have gotten better as his experience as an author grows.

Foxed Out.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 29 May 2007]

It's good to see Robert Altman make a relatively straightforward, though not simple, story rather than a conglomeration of overlapping improvisations. And John Grisham may have been the right writer for him. Grisham is no artist. He doesn't lay waste the kitchen midden of the mind. He never digs much deeper than he finds necessary to uncover a little guilt or a bit too much confidence in one's self.

Kenneth Branagh is a Southern lawyer (what else?) separated from his wife (Famke Jenssen), seduced by the abused daughter (Embeth Davidz) of a lunatic (Robert Duvall). She's also the abused ex-wife of the meanly murderous Tom Berenger. Branagh is attended by his PI assistant (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his concerned partner (Daryll Hannah).

What a cast, eh? Take the girls alone. All three of them -- Davidz, Jenssen, and Hannah -- are tall and sinewy and sexy. If Altman could have made room in the cast for Uma Thurman he'd have had the core of a perfect girls' basketball team right there.

I can't imagine how I could spell out very much of the plot without winding up with something a French philosophical treatise. It's too long and complicated, and there are twists and turns that would require explanation before comprehension. Let's just say that, if he were as smart as he thinks he is, Branagh would have learned to trust only his secretary, as everyone should. Granted, it's a little hard to ignore Embeth Davidz in distress, all dripping wet, wearing fishnet stocking, and slowly fanning her knees open and closed as if in anticipation of an embrace. That's aside from the temptation nobly to rescue a beautiful woman who happens to have a butterfly tattooed just above her pipick.

The story's pretty good, too, and Altman handles it nicely. Imagine a scene in which Branagh and the local Savannah cops raid a tumble-down shack in the dense forest at the end of a five-mile dirt road, looking for Duvall, who has been described as a guy who is a little crazy, dresses oddly, and wears no shoes. And what they find is an entire house full of raggedly dressed, shoeless oldsters, scurrying like silent cockroaches from room to room, passing each other on the run, trading hats like Laurel and Hardy. It's confusing as hell and for a moment we might be tempted to think that Altman's head has finally exploded but when we realize what's going on it's quietly funny.

The script has these characters wrong though. Downey describes Duvall as being "one beer short of a six-pack." And later on in the narrative they seem to have become evil and organized a kidnapping of Branagh's children. Like hell. Schizophrenics aren't evil or organized. They aren't anything. They don't do anything more evil than collect tatters of cloth or old newspapers. And they couldn't organize a trip to the toilet. In the late 1960s rebellion and new identities were all the rage. Everybody discovered there was a Cherokee, a Jew, a woman, or some other minority in his family tree. And they organized into collectivities designed around identity assertion and self defense. Except schizophrenics. A psychiatrist named Sugarman investigated this complete lack of interest in the formation of social borders or self promotion and uncovered "the schizophrenic No Society." They ended the rebellious decade as they began it, as flat as road kill.

I'm afraid I didn't get the photography. The location shooting is thick with atmosphere and very effective. But why is it so dark? It's dark all the way through, inside and out. And it's not chiaroscuro. We don't see Branagh contemplating the bust of Oliver Wendell Holmes or anything. It's just dark. And this is Georgia in the summer. A logical progression would be from steaming sunlight to turbulent night, but no. It's just dark.

Well, dark or not, and sometimes confusing or not, this is a pretty interesting film. A generally good job by all concerned.

A Murky, Pointless Mess.

[mark_leeforshaw · 1/10 · 20 August 2001]

Rarely have I witnessed such a gratuitous waste of talent. There is almost nothing constructive to be said about this hopeless swamp of a film. What few interesting strands the film seems to promise initially turn out to be little more than red herrings. Actors of stature - Robert Duvall, Robert Downey, Jr. - are deployed in roles which go nowhere; a director of occasional genius produces a film which looks like it is filmed through a coffee-stained camera lens; a writer (John Grisham) who has never produced anything of merit, discovers new depths of under-motivated incoherence. The film has a cheap, lecherous feel about it - but barely at the level of commentary - its really part of the aesthetic. Normally, I come on to the IMDb to write balanced, generally appreciative comments. This egregious disaster of a film just makes me want to produce an endless, bilious rant. I won't, but only because I no longer want to occupy my "mind" with this trash.

Intrigue and atmosphere in Georgia!

[pied · 7/10 · 28 September 1998]

Another underrated gem! The Gingerbread Man taken from a Grisham novel is better than the book. Kenneth Branaugh is excellent is as the supporting cast including the great Robert Duvall. Accents and atmosphere are realistic and the suspense is great even if the story line is somewhat predictable.

Dull and predictable

[mcdoodad49 · 2/10 · 16 April 2004]

I rented this DVD for two reasons. A cast of great actors, and the director, even though Robert Altman can be hit or miss. In this case, it was a big miss. Altman's attempt at creating suspense fell on its keester. After seeing Kenneth Branagh in a good film like "Dead Again", I didn't think he could possibly contribute to such a turkey, and I hope it didn't ruin his reputation. Robert Duvall seems to have fallen the way of most one-time Oscar winners. On a downward spiral that includes acting in eating-money films such as this one. Duvall was once a great actor in excellent films, even though his best performance was not "Tender Mercies", but "The Great Santini". This movie was truly a big waste of time. I give it a 2 out of 10.

A well-made, very underrated film

[Verbal-17 · 10/10 · 6 February 1999]

With this movie, it's all about style, atmosphere, and acting. True, I didn't believe all of the plot developments, but it didn't matter- the terrific acting, the unexpected plot twists, and the wonderful atmosphere sucked me right in, and carried me along for the ride, and I had a great time. Kenneth Branagh is not only a great actor but a master of accents, and he proves it once again with a flawless Georgia accent. He's surrounded by so much talent in supporting roles (Robert Downey, Jr., Embeth Davidtz from Schindler's List and Fallen, Tom Berenger, Daryl Hannah, and Robert Duvall) that I was simply blown away. I recently bought a copy of this movie, and I never tire of watching it. Simply one of the best thrillers of the year. If you've ignored this movie (and chances are you have), then I suggest you check it out.

Could've been so much better

[rothtein · 6/10 · 25 July 2000]

This movie had a lot of promise, but never really went anywhere with it. Early on it's kind of an interesting mystery, and you never quite know what's going on, but once all is revealed it's really not much of an ending. Plus, once you know what happened, it really doesn't make a lot of sense. Disappointing.

awful film.

[pinkertonrules · 1/10 · 17 December 2004]

this was the most pointless film i have ever seen as there was no plot and the actors did not seem to care. 90% of the film had absolutely no plot whatsoever, i laughed so much my ribs began to ache. the bit where the old men when to capture Robert Duvall was ludicrous. on a directorial level making a noir film does not involve lots of raining sequences and pointless closeups on the main character. this is a failed attempt to create a noir thriller and instead alienates the viewer with incoherent scenes. seeing as this was based on a 'manuscript' by john Grisham i do not count this as one of his book to film adaptations as it displays none of the suspense and engaging storyline as films such as 'the firm' or 'the rainmaker'.

Well-made, but thrill-less thriller

[shadowflame · 19 August 2001]

The promising first half-hour is let down by the failure to develop the characters and thus waste a great cast. Downey Jnr is a fantastic actor but is given very little to work with, same goes for Hannah, Berenger and Janssen (who seems to have no purpose in the film whatsoever). Davidtz would've been great if her character had grown, but instead all she got to do was mope around for the whole movie. Majority of the bog-standard material here is given to Branagh, and although he is by no means poor, he just does not get the viewer involved in his battle.

The direction, for me, was the film's only virtue. Altman creates a wonderfully dark and intriguing atmosphere, it's just a shame neither the story nor the undercooked characters are equally dark and intriguing.

With more complex characters, more of Downey Jnr and Jansenn, and more explosive dialogue, I could've easily overlooked and forgiven the silly plot turns and contrivances, but sadly they stick out like a sore thumb.

Disappointing sub-noir thriller. 4/10

Could have been better

[Nigel-26 · 6/10 · 19 December 1999]

I am a fan of Grisham novels. Seeing this, I thought the movie would be terrific, especially with the cast. However, I was so disappointed. Much more could have been made of this and while suspenseful, it did not quite produce at the end of the day. It was entertaining without being dramatic. Could have been better!

Ok, do you want something simple?

[Dockelektro · 6/10 · 15 February 2003]

You got it, even though this movie is from director Robert Altman, he has managed to produce a very average thriller here, which is raised a few bars up by the cast, which takes the movie with ease. Robert Duvall is underused (he only has three or four lines of dialogue), and Robert Downey Jr. performs his usual "wisecracker" role. The treat here is seeing Kenneth Branagh on one of his non-Shakespeare incursions and stepping into the skin of a workaholic, stressed-out, mundane lawyer which bumps into a woman that will change his way of life. Altogether it is rather watchable, but doesn't bring anything new to the genre, and one thinks if the names involved aren't just a way to promote such a standard script. Anyway, it has some fun in it, despite the clichés.

Gingerbread Man is Crummy

[st-shot · 3/10 · 27 February 2008]

In spite of its impressive cast and crew pedigree Gingerbread Man crumbles early and often. The plot is unrealistically convoluted, the actors sport bad accents and director Robert Altman's participation amounts to collecting a pay check. Once again he has assembled an impressive cast (Like Woody Allen, everyone wants to work with Altman)that this time around to the letter is miscast. But that's only part of the problem.

Kenneth Branagh is Rick Magruder a high powered Georgia lawyer who in the film's heavy handed opening scenes manages to get himself preposterously seduced by a mysterious catering company waitress who convinces him she is in grave danger from an ex-husband and a loony dad. With red flags everywhere the astute lawyer plods on even managing to get his children in harms way. Fights of gun and fist follow along with a requisite car chase and if that's not enough there's a hurricane thrown in for the ridiculous finale.

Branagh plays MacGruder with a mealy and unconvincing Southern accent. Running around in a trench coat in all kinds of weather he's blind to the obvious in order to keep the story going. Hipster Bob Downey Jr. is every bit as bad as a P.I. but with a little more emphasis on the bad accent. Robert Duvall as the old man is Boo Radely all growed up en crazier than a bed bug serving some thick slices of ham but at least his twang is plausible. The female leads (Embeth Davidtz, Darryl Hannah, Famkhee Jansen)are lean leggy and unemotive. Even the celebrity lawyers doing cameos (Vernon Jordan) are wooden with the few throw away lines they have.

In addition to paying little attention to his actors, Altman's mise en scene dripping with Spanish moss is murky and shapeless, his action scenes comic book. It lacks his offbeat touches and observations (he does inform the viewer that the Stars and Bars still wave in Georgia)that make a well done Altman so unique. Unfortunately, Gingerbread Man is Altman at his worst, even if the pay is the same.

Unbelievable Waste of Talent

[ZacAtak83 · 6/10 · 19 April 2003]

The Gingerbread Man is one of those unfortunate films that throws together premium talent and then asks nothing of it. Based on a story by John Grisham, directed by Robert Altman and starring Kenneth Branagh, one would be hard pressed to find a drama with better credentials. However, in this instance, those credentials don't translate into sucess. The film is not horrible, merely laughably implausible and a huge letdown. Branagh (complete with a convincing Southern accent) plays a divorced lawyer who gets mixed up with a mysterious woman (Embeth Davidtz, whose only success has been in Schindler's List) and her dangerously wacked out backwoods father (Robert Duvall, in an intriguing performance). One thing leads to another and he's on the run to protect his kids. The Gingerbread Man raises many questions but answers few of them. If you like Grisham, stick with The Firm or A Time to Kill instead.

5.5/10

-Zac

You'll See it Coming/Drawn in Crayon

[Gingerella · 3/10 · 4 May 2006]

Have you ever heard the saying that people "telegraph their intentions?" Well in this movie, the characters' actions do more than telegraph future plans -- they show up at your house drunk and buffet you about the head. This could be forgiven if the setting had been used better, or if the characters were more charismatic or nuanced. Embeth Davidtz's character is not mysterious, just wooden, and Kenneth Branagh doesn't succeed in conveying the brash charm his character probably was written to have.

The bottom line: obvious plot, one-note performances, unlikeable characters, and grotesque "Southern" accents employed by British actors.

A great performance by Daryl Hannah

[rascal-2 · 7/10 · 13 August 1998]

The biggest surprise in this movie was the performance of Daryl Hannah. Rather than playing the stereotypical ditzy blonde roles that she usually does she plays a street-smart, intelligent, world-weary character. She doesn't have a huge role but she does a great job portraying Lois Harlan as a woman tired of, although used to, covering up for her boss' indiscretions.

Very boring movie

[imdb-592 · 1/10 · 26 June 2002]

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. While featuring good actors the movie doesn't live up to the expectations. The most dramatic thing about this movie is the music, which pretty much sums up the movie: compensating for a bad and confusing storyline by having known-good actors, loud and dramatic music. It doesn't change the fact, that this is a very boring movie to watch. Earned itself a score of 1.

Good dark suspense

[wardoktor · 10/10 · 26 November 2003]

I don't understand the low 5.7 rating on this film. It's a delight for people who like a strong suspense plot and dark atmospherics. The tone is reminiscent of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, down to the locale (Savannah). The acting is strong, and I was amazed at the verisimilitude of Kenneth Branagh's southern accent. Famke Jansen is great, Robert Duval is effective in a small part, and Embeth Davitz is the BOMB. Great full nude scene of her,too.

The plot is fairly standard but effectively executed.

One for the money.

[DukeEman · 6/10 · 17 February 2003]

I've never been a great John Grisham fan. The only reason for watching this is because Altman directed it and he at least made an effort with his usual long takes, camera zooms and dialogue over loud background noise. I'm sure Altman, Branagh and Duvall got paid well, enough to finance their own projects. As for Duvall, a talent wasted in a small but effective role.

If this was made by a bunch of unknowns, I might have been kinder

[Billy_Tallent · 2/10 · 18 August 2006]

Did anyone who was making this movie, particularly the director, spare a thought for the logic of the story-line? These are not mere plot-holes, but plot graves, that become ever deeper as we lose any sympathy for the main character and his plight. That is, if you are kind enough a viewer to valiantly ignore the fact for most of the movie that the characters are either servants to the grave-hole plot, or boring and unlikeable. Or, in the case of Downey's & Hannah's characters, apparently superfluous. In pondering the reason for existence of Downey's character's significant screen-time in the movie, I decided that either the director had liked his character and unnecessarily increased his screen-time (unlikley, as the director didn't change anything else about the script he actually needed to) or that his character was going to be sacrificed on the altar of bad plotting. I'll leave you to guess which one it was to be.

I had to keep checking the cover of the DVD to confirm that this really was made by credible talents. I cannot understand why Robert Altman would take this job. Surely he has some power to pick and chose. Actually, I can't understand why anyone would take this script on, except a first-time director looking for the experience.

I suppose Robert Downey Jr. needed the money for his habit. I suppose Kenneth Branagh wanted to try a southern accent. I suppose Robert Duvall was only given a few pages of the script and thought the role in isolation sounded intriguing. These are the only motivations I can see that would coerce good actors to take on roles in this movie. As for Robert Altman, plenty of effort has gone in on his part to making the movie look fantastic. I found myself noticing how he had framed such and such a scene, or used the bright orange float vests in another scene to draw the eye's movements, or imposed a beautiful filter to create a particular mood. I do not typically notice such things in movies, since most movies I bother to watch to the end actually engage me for reasons of good story-telling and interesting characters with understandable motives. I watched this to the end only because some ridiculous element of optimism in myself kept looking at that DVD cover and being convinced that, due to the talent involved, there had to be some redeeming factor in this movie.

Nice direction. But that's not why I watch movies.