FFWD Weekly
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| Film by FFWD Staff Cookie’s Fortune There is no doubt the public – and critics – are going to have split opinions about Robert Altman’s new film Cookie’s Fortune. Coming on the heels of one of Altman’s better films, The Gingerbread Man, Cookie’s Fortune is a disappointment only in that story is a distant third in importance to character and location. This a trait most evident in Altman’s weak middle period of work. Jewel Mae "Cookie" is an eccentric matriarch whose substantial but dilapidated home in Holly Springs, Mississippi is embellished with the trappings and relics of her deceased husband, the beloved gambler and bon vivant, Buck. Cookie shares the manor with the easy and loyal Willis, a middle-aged black man with a penchant for catfish enchiladas and Wild Turkey bourbon. Cookie’s two estranged nieces – the imperious Camille and her pliantly obedient younger sister Cora – live across town in a house they consider below their means. Camille deplores Cookie’s indifference to social status and Cookie can’t tolerate Camille’s pretensions. Add to the mix Cookie’s one cherished relative, Cora, who returns from a failed adventure in Biloxi, and you’ve got the potential story material for a great movie. However, all that happens is that Cookie, wishing to be with Buck again, commits suicide, sending a ripple of odd occurrences that impact the whole town. As with all Altman films, characters abound and big stars like Chris O’Donnell and Liv Tyler are sublimated to supporting leads that serve as local colour more than story-driving protagonists. Textures are most important in Altman films so this is okay – to a point. What bothers me here is the use of Altman regular Lyle Lovett (a bad actor) again, as an unnecessary thread in a tissue-soft story. Very few directors work with actors as well as Altman does and his painstakingly perfect sense of location is a real treat for auteur connoisseurs. However, it takes forever for things to get moving, and though there are some wonderful twists in store for us at the end, Cookie’s Fortune has a lot of fat in the stew. The best Altman films are when the prolific American director places as much importance on story as characters and location. Well, here we get two of the three, and in Altman’s case, that ain’t all bad. |
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