Cookie’s Fortune (1999)

Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Charles S. Dutton, Glenn Close, Liv Tyler, Julianne Moore, Ned Beatty, Chris O’Donnell, Donald Moffat, Danny Darst, Patricia Neal, Courtney B. Vance, Niecy Nash, Lyle Lovett, Ruby Wilson, Matt Malloy. [PG-13]

An upbeat, chummy ensemble piece from Altman takes a different tack with its Southern-fried murder investigation—there’s no question about whodunnit, how it went down, and how the case is going to be cracked, so the audience just gets to sit around and soak in the slack charms (it also refreshingly avoids some of the most unfavorable clichés about Mississippi small-towners, including an absence of racial intolerance when it comes to chief suspect Dutton). Elderly widow Neal takes her own life in her bedroom, but her niece (Close) believes that suicide is a disgrace, so she frantically “stages” a murder scene at the house, which inadvertently pins suspicion on Neal’s closest companion (Dutton). In the absence of tension and surprises, sleepiness sets in, which positions the film as a grower; unfortunately, the indolent fade-out is its weakest segment, negating even the softest of payoffs for a few of the satellite caricatures, and letting Close carry out a descent into madness that’s almost as hammy as her Cruella de Vil. What makes it work is Altman and screenwriter Anne Rapp spicing the flimsy narrative with little amusing touches and lines throughout (when sheriff Beatty is asked why he’s convinced that Dutton wasn’t responsible, he answers, “I’ve fished with him”), as well as the fondness that grows for several of these gently warm, weird souls. Filmed on location in Holly Springs, MS.

70/100