Review: The Gingerbread Man

Sir Kenneth Branagh stars as a slick lawyer from Savannah, Georgia, whose decision to involve himself both legally and most unprofessionally with a troubled waitress (Embeth Davidtz) opens up one helluva crackpot can of worms. Apparently her crazy old man (Robert Duvall) has been stalking her, and she wants the crazy bastard committed to an asylum. Unfortunately, he’s crafty and elusive, and seems to have helpers everywhere, which also puts Branagh and his kids in danger. Oh, and did I mention that it’s hurricane season? Robert Downey Jr. plays Branagh’s favourite hard-drinking private eye, Daryl Hannah is Branagh’s mousy assistant, Famke Janssen is his bitter ex-wife, and Tom Berenger is Davidtz’s bitter ex-husband.

A transparent mystery and completely overpitched job by director Robert Altman (“The Player”, “Nashville”, “3 Women”, “*M*A*S*H”) threaten to derail this 1998 adaptation of a discarded John Grisham (“The Client”, “The Rainmaker”, and “Runaway Jury”) manuscript, written by Altman himself under a pseudonym (Though according to IMDb, the pseudonym is for Grisham who objected to changes Altman made to his original script. Whatever). Thankfully the cast is mostly stellar, and no matter its flaws, the picture is only a slight miss. If it weren’t so predictable and overdone, though, it would’ve been even better. Things progress way too quickly between Kenneth Branagh and Embeth Davidtz to be remotely credible, for one thing, though Branagh’s Georgia accent is certainly more convincing than any other Yank accent he has tried. The character is just implausibly inappropriate, though I know I’d have a hard time containing myself if Embeth Davidtz performed a full-frontal nude scene in front of me. But no, he just comes across as way too stupid.

Almost as silly are the throng of bums Robert Duvall hangs out with, and who make a fuss in court. They aren’t around much, but when they are it’s unfortunate. Everything about the film is too much, from Davidtz’s put-upon night terrors and sleeping in the nude even when in bed with a virtual stranger, plus all the thunder and lightning and the unnecessary hurricane, etc. Even the drum-heavy Mark Isham (“The Hitcher”, “Point Break”) score feels unnecessary here. I wonder if Altman felt the story wasn’t thrilling enough on its own and he’s tried to jazz it up a bit. If so, he shouldn’t have felt that way, because the story is interesting enough, and not remotely boring. It’s also extremely well-shot by Changwei Gu (“Red Sorghum”, “Farewell, My Concubine”). However, the performances are the chief selling point here. Branagh and Davidtz shouldn’t be faulted for some of the silly behaviour of their characters, but for me Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. walk off with this one. Duvall is playing a role not too far removed from his “Sling Blade” character and performance, and he’s bloody good at it. You’d swear he had up and lost his damn mind. Downey, meanwhile pretty much runs away with it, even if he’s just doing his usual incorrigible impish schtick. Is there anyone in movies better at reaction shots than Downey? Tom Berenger is spot-on too, it’s a shame he doesn’t get parts in too many high profile films these days, he’s a more than capable actor in the right part. Famke Janssen is perfect too as Branagh’s constantly annoyed and bitter ex-wife, even if she can’t get her mouth around a Georgia accent.

This isn’t a bad thriller at all, but transparency and an overall over-the-top production nearly do it in. It certainly could’ve been better.

Rating: C+