The Gingerbread Man

A Savannah, GA attorney, Rick Magruder (Kenneth Branagh), has a partly accidental one night stand fling with a rain-drenched caterer, Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz). Immediately, he becomes infatuated with her & simultaneously aware that her violently psychotic father, Dixon (Robert Duvall), is terrorizing Mallory. Magruder calls in his private detective, Clyde Pell (Robert Downey, Jr.), to hunt down the extremely deranged Dixon (Duvall). However, both Magruder & Pell soon realize Dixon is so cunning that even Magruder's law partner, Lois Harlan (Daryl Hannah), will be involved to the degree of risking her own life as Magruder extends the full force of his law firm in defense of his under-statused mistress Mallory. Once Dixon is arrested, the law firm subpoenas Mallory's ex-husband, Pete Randle (Tom Berenger), to testify, as a very reluctant witness, against Dixon. Dixon is ordered into an asylum, then escapes, fueled with more fury for violence against everyone involved. The thriller doesn't stop there, but my summary does! "The Gingerbread Man" is a Southern Gothic Thriller par excellance. Clyde Hayes rewrote John Grisham's novel into the screenplay that Robert Altman aptly directed. The cast is too experienced & talented to fail either the novel or the screenplay. Branagh, who usually plays in more classical roles, like Shakespearean characters, quite capably takes the leading role & steals the show with it. Due to depictions of violence, terror, deranged psychosis & adult language, this motion picture is not suitable for children or the faint at heart. It will keep a lover of Gothic thrillers on the edge of their seat, time & again. Plus, when you believe it's over, it's not.

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.

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 * scene of her,too. The plot is fairly standard but effectively executed.

I rented this film the first time but only got to see the first 20 minutes. I finally got a chance to rent it again and really wish I hadn't. The plot made absolutely no sense and as for the ending... *** Spoilers ahead *** Surely they would have found out that Berenger and Davidtz were still married when investigating for the hearing for Duvall. If the whole thing was an elaborate set up by Berenger and Davidtz they could have found out about the will before hand. There was no proof that either Davidtz or Berenger did actually anything wrong. So why would they kill Downey Jr? Why did Davidtz kill Berenger (did she mean to?, if not why would she risk it?).

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.

The plot of this film was only bad in the last section of the film. Before that it builds up to something good that never comes. I had to learn a Southern accent for a play (being from Kentucky and not having a Southern accent of course) so I rented this movie and learned one. Kudos to Kenneth Branagh and Robert Downey Jr. Watching this film it seemed like there was about 45 minutes worth of plot missing that would have made this a good movie. IF you have the missing 45 minutes please send it to me.

This is a wonderful Film Noir thriller, liked by the critics but hated by the public (as often with Altman). One of the reason people don't get it might be because they don't know film noir well enough and therefore miss the wonderful homage Altman makes in this film. I have also seen people complain that it is too slow to be a thriller. Well, I like my thrillers that way. Enough time to get to know the characters and the setting, and a slow built up tension. It does not harm that the film is also well acted and has a beautiful cinematography. This is one of Robert Altman's most underrated film, along with Popeye (1980). We can only hope that time will correct the harsh judgment this small gem got from the public. Who knows, maybe the rising star of Robert Downey Jr. might help to get a little re-appreciation of The Gingerbread Man.