The Gingerbread Man (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Gingerbread Man


image_size =
caption = Theatrical poster
director = Robert Altman
producer = Jeremy Tannenbaum
writer = Clyde Hayes (screenplay)
John Grisham (original story)
narrator =
starring = Kenneth Branagh
Embeth Davidtz
Robert Downey Jr
Tom Berenger
Daryl Hannah
Robert Duvall
music = Mark Isham
cinematography = Gu Changwei
editing = Geraldine Peroni
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = January 23, 1998
runtime = 114 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget = $25,000,000
gross = $1,534,569 (USA)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:158882
imdb_id = 0119196

"The Gingerbread Man" is a 1998 legal thriller film directed by Robert Altman and based on a discarded John Grisham manuscript. The film stars Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Berenger, Daryl Hannah, and Robert Duvall.

Plot

Divorced lawyer Rick Magruder (Branagh) stumbles drunk out of a party hosted by his firm one night and has a chance meeting with a woman named Mallory Doss (Davidtz), who was a waitress at the party and seems to have lost her car. Rick drives the woman to her home and there they discover that her car has been already parked there, seemingly by her father, Dixon Doss (Duvall). Rick and Mallory walk into the house arguing about the situation when Mallory carelessly undresses in front of Rick, and he then spends the night with her.

Rick wakes up in the morning and Mallory encounters him later in the day, asking him to file suit against her father because of his dangerous behavior. Rick, now obsessed with Mallory and willing to do anything for her, is successful in having Dixon put on trial and sent to prison, but when he is freed by his local friends, Rick finds himself in a trouble, trying to protect himself and his children from the danger he has unknowingly brought into his life.

Cast

*Kenneth Branagh as Rick Magruder
*Embeth Davidtz as Mallory Doss
*Robert Downey Jr. as Clyde Pell
*Daryl Hannah as Lois Harlan
*Tom Berenger as Pete Randle
*Famke Janssen as Leeanne Magruder
*Robert Duvall as Dixon Doss

Production

The film was based on an original story by John Grisham that was subsequently adapted into screenplay form. Kenneth Branagh liked the story and agreed to do the movie but only if a highly-regarded director signed on as well. Robert Altman wanted to work with the British actor but only, as he told him, "If we can fool the audience by not making you the hero, by making you flawed."cite news
last = Chollet
first = Laurence
coauthors =
title = Forget the Author - This is an Auteur
work =The Record
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = January 22, 1998
url =
accessdate = ]

Once Altman came on board, he and his screenwriter, Al Hayes, heavily reworked the script. Altman said in an interview, "I just wanted to change the elements of these kinds of stories as much as I could. And then I wanted to stay out of the courtroom." Altman changed the setting to Savannah, Georgia, and added the threat of a hurricane throughout the movie.

For the look of the film, Altman was inspired by "The Night of the Hunter".

Reception

In August 1997, after an audience test screening reportedly went badly, Polygram Films brought someone else in to re-edit the movie without informing Altman and claimed that his version, "lacked tension and suffered from an inappropriate music score."cite news
last = Clarke
first = Roger
coauthors =
title = A Right Dust-Up in Tinseltown
work =Financial Times
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = August 1, 1998
url =
accessdate = ] At one point, the publicized squabble between the studio and the filmmaker got so bad that he wanted his name taken off the film.cite news
last = Portman
first = Jamie
coauthors =
title = Working with Altman Sweet Treat for Branagh
work =Calgary Herald
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = April 9, 1998
url =
accessdate = ] According to Branagh, the film previewed well but not up to the expectations of the studio. He said in an interview, "There's this enormous pressure to wrap everything up neatly and to resist things that stray from formula. Anything that suggests complexity in a character makes them unsympathetic in the eyes of the some people, and they see that as a great crime." Polygram backed down when their version tested worse than Altman's in a preview. The studio was upset that Altman had completely rewritten Grisham's script so that it was more critical about lawyers.

Years later, Ray Pride interviewed Altman about the post-production debacle and he replied, "Well, it's criminal, their treatment of that film. There was a vindictive order from the guy who was running (Polygram Films), he was so pissed off with me, he literally told them, 'I want that movie killed.' We're talking to lawyers, but it's almost impossible to win a lawsuit. You can't prove what a film could have done. They were just pissed off because it didn't test the way they wanted it to with the teenagers, y'know, in those malls."cite news
last = Pride
first = Ray
coauthors =
title = Robert Altman: putting my gloves in a shoe box
work =Movie City Indie
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = November 22, 2006
url = http://www.mcnblogs.com/mcindie/archives/2006/11/robert_altman_o.html
accessdate = 2007-05-30 ]

In his review for the "San Francisco Chronicle", Mick LaSalle wrote, "If it weren't for Altman's touches, "The Gingerbread Man" would be a mediocre thriller. Even with them, it can't be more than a top-notch genre film, but top-notch is top-notch."cite news
last = LaSalle
first = Mick
coauthors =
title = Altman's Sure Touch is "Gingerbread"s Best Thrill
work =San Francisco Chronicle
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = March 6, 1998
url =
accessdate = ] Jay Carr of the "Boston Globe" said that the film "is fun junk...We're talking claptrap here, but it's more enjoyable than it has any business being, thanks to director Robert Altman and star Kenneth Branagh."cite news
last = Carr
first = Jay
coauthors =
title = "Gingerbread Man" has the Altman Taste
work =Boston Globe
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = March 6, 1998
url =
accessdate = ] In his review for "The Independent", Boyd Tonkin wrote, "It does not sprawl or wander as the Altman of old would have. Neither does it ever really catch alight. This is a waterlogged venture in more ways than one."cite news
last = Tonkin
first = Boyd
coauthors =
title = The Big Picture: Shiftless in Savannah
work =The Independent
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = July 23, 1998
url =
accessdate = ]

References

External links

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