Review of Cookie's Fortune (1999) by Alex M — 23 Feb 2004

[size=3]A disturbing tone of misanthropy (and particularly misogyny) runs through most of Robert Altman's work...although occasionally, as in his masterpiece [i]The Player[/i], his cynical attitude can result in a subversive and hilarious film. [i]Cookie's Fortune [/i]displays Altman at his most optimistic and gentle: it is a small-town comedy that is ostensibly about an unsolved death but is actually more of an examination of the eccentricities of the locals. Altman's film is set in an ideal, almost heavenly small town in Mississippi, one in which real concerns like racism are secondary to the town's welcoming and inclusive spirit. It takes place during an Easter weekend in which an elderly woman named Cookie (Patricia Neal) has died and her niece Camille (Glenn Close) attempts to cover it up. Altman is not really interested in the mechanics of this plot, he is more concerned with the flavour of the small town and the bizarre characters who inhabit it. Always a director who loves a large canvas of actors, Altman focuses on multiple stories and inhabits his film with an all-star cast including Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler and Charles S. Dutton, among others. Of the actors, the one that resonates the strongest is Dutton, as an aging man who had developed a strong friendship with Cookie that was not hindered by racial boundaries. For the most part, [i]Cookie's Fortune [/i]unfolds as a pleasant trifle, but occasionally, the effort by the actors to create zany characters is distracting and self-conscious. Close and Moore, two fine actresses, are both guilty of resorting to overacting to achieve their effect. The movie is much funnier, and sweeter, during its quiet moments, such as the peaceful fishing trips that Dutton and his friends go on. The plot twist at the end of the film is unwise and reveals Altman's innate cruelty, which for the most part the director manages to avoid displaying. [i]Cookie's Fortune [/i]is a flawed film, as most of Altman's work is, but it is not as nasty or uncomfortably snide as some of the director's other films. In its own offbeat and unusual way, it represents an effort by Altman to see the gentler side of humanity.[/size].

[size=3](BASIC)[/size].