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The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man

List Price: $14.98
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Quite Good
Review: The Gingerbread Man should be a better noir than it is. A primary flaw is its inability to get us behind its protagonist in any way- Rick MacGruder (Kenneth Branagh) is pompous, vain, and tempestuous. As an attorney, he is the polar opposite of Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch, willing to sink to any level in order to win a case. When MacGruder helps a young woman deal with her mentally unstable father, we know he is doing so out of a desire to get in her pants rather than any sort of altruism. It is simply hard to care for him as his situation deteriorates- indeed, one almost gets the feeling that karma is simply at work.

Another issue is the plot. While twists and turns are fine, this film saves all of them for the final thirty minutes, and they feel a little overwhelming. While you are trying to figure out how one twist happened, the next one barrels onto the screen.

Stylistically, the film has some interesting and cool moments. The slick opening shot, accompanied by the discordant score, takes us over the Georgia coastal plain and eventually tracks MacGruder's car over the Talmadge Bridge and into Savannah. It hardly matters that traveling from Jacksonville to Savannah (as we are told) doesn't take you over said bridge. The setting is an important part of the story, and Savannah is a location that never fails to lend its uniqueness to a film.

On the whole, The Gingerbread Man has some genuinely suspenseful moments (Duvall is particularly menacing) but it is otherwise disengaging. I was waiting for it to end.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A decent film that does what it set out to do
Review: The Gingerbread Man starts out like a film ready to send you into a maze of plot twists, but ends like an effective action picture. It disguises itself well. You know somethings up but you can't tell where its going. If that's good enough for you, you'll probably enjoy this film, but if you've seen a lot of mysteries or detective films this one may not be surprising enough

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Loved it thats why i bought it
Review: The movie set in savannah Ga. was just like small town GA. realistic to me. Iwas an extra in this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: gingerbread man
Review: THIS IS ONE GREAT MOVIE,AS YOU CAN SEE IT IS HARD TO FIND.I
PLAN TO ORDER IT WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.

FRANKIE H.HARRIS

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: gingerbread man
Review: THIS IS ONE GREAT MOVIE,AS YOU CAN SEE IT IS HARD TO FIND.I
PLAN TO ORDER IT WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.

FRANKIE H.HARRIS

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sly and Surprising
Review: This review refers to the DVD edition(Universal) of "The Gingerbread Man"....

Director Robert Altman almost always has a way of keeping us involved in the characters and storylines of his films. That is the case with the "Gingerbread Man" as well. This one though is a huge departure from his usual brand of comedy and satire that makes us smile from first frame to last. This one is a fast past thriller, based on a story by John Grisham, that will keep you on the edge of your seat and not wanting to miss a moment of what twist or turn may come next. As a matter of fact, if you didn't already know that this was an Altman film, you may not recoginze it as such. One thing for sure that remains the same is his intuitive ability to put together the perfect ensemble cast that work well together and all have impeccable timing.

The story revolves around golden boy Southern defense attorney Rick Magruder,who becomes romantically involved with a beautiful but mysterious client. Her deranged father and his co-horts are stalking her, and Magruder gets so deeply invovled that pretty soon his own family is put in danger as well. The same justice system that helped make him the success that he is, is now working against him at every turn.He's left to his own wits to keep himself, his family and his client safe.

Not only is this film something very different for fans of Altman, but even the stars seem cast very much against type. Kenneth Branagh, trades in his Shakespearian tones for a Southern drawl, and becomes somewhat of an action hero as our man Magruder. The usually alluring Daryl Hannah, is now a somewhat dowdy(while still looking good!) and uptight legal assistant, and Robert Duvall takes a turn at at being one of the most deranged lunatics you may ever meet! Of course there is also Robert Downey Jr, who treats us to his always fabulous brand of charm, and Embeth Davidtz and Tom Berenger round off this mega cast wonderfully.Once you get past Branagh and his accent it all seems to work surprisingly well!(hey.. if we could handle Kevin Costner doing an English "Robin Hood", why not Branagh as a Savannah lawyer???)

The DVD is a pretty good buy. The price is right for this package that gives you a choice a widescreen or standard formats,Dolby Dig 5.1, English captioning,and French and Spanish subtitles. You will also find several cast bios and filmographies, a theatrical trailer and there is commentary by the director, but may only be accessed on the widescreen side of the disc.The sound is excellent. There is a huge storm going on through most of the story and if you have surround sound, you will think it is happening right there in your living room. The picture in a matted widescreen format is good but not the most crystal clear I have seen.

A highly entertaining thriller/mystery that will almost certainly keep you guessing. That is of course unless you are as sly as the fox that ate the Gingerbread Man!...Get the popcorn ready and catch him if you can.....Laurie

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sly and Surprising
Review: This review refers to the DVD edition(Universal) of "The Gingerbread Man"....

Director Robert Altman almost always has a way of keeping us involved in the characters and storylines of his films. That is the case with the "Gingerbread Man" as well. This one though is a huge departure from his usual brand of comedy and satire that makes us smile from first frame to last. This one is a fast past thriller, based on a story by John Grisham, that will keep you on the edge of your seat and not wanting to miss a moment of what twist or turn may come next. As a matter of fact, if you didn't already know that this was an Altman film, you may not recoginze it as such. One thing for sure that remains the same is his intuitive ability to put together the perfect ensemble cast that work well together and all have impeccable timing.

The story revolves around golden boy Southern defense attorney Rick Magruder,who becomes romantically involved with a beautiful but mysterious client. Her deranged father and his co-horts are stalking her, and Magruder gets so deeply invovled that pretty soon his own family is put in danger as well. The same justice system that helped make him the success that he is, is now working against him at every turn.He's left to his own wits to keep himself, his family and his client safe.

Not only is this film something very different for fans of Altman, but even the stars seem cast very much against type. Kenneth Branagh, trades in his Shakespearian tones for a Southern drawl, and becomes somewhat of an action hero as our man Magruder. The usually alluring Daryl Hannah, is now a somewhat dowdy(while still looking good!) and uptight legal assistant, and Robert Duvall takes a turn at at being one of the most deranged lunatics you may ever meet! Of course there is also Robert Downey Jr, who treats us to his always fabulous brand of charm, and Embeth Davidtz and Tom Berenger round off this mega cast wonderfully.Once you get past Branagh and his accent it all seems to work surprisingly well!(hey.. if we could handle Kevin Costner doing an English "Robin Hood", why not Branagh as a Savannah lawyer???)

The DVD is a pretty good buy. The price is right for this package that gives you a choice a widescreen or standard formats,Dolby Dig 5.1, English captioning,and French and Spanish subtitles. You will also find several cast bios and filmographies, a theatrical trailer and there is commentary by the director, but may only be accessed on the widescreen side of the disc.The sound is excellent. There is a huge storm going on through most of the story and if you have surround sound, you will think it is happening right there in your living room. The picture in a matted widescreen format is good but not the most crystal clear I have seen.

A highly entertaining thriller/mystery that will almost certainly keep you guessing. That is of course unless you are as sly as the fox that ate the Gingerbread Man!...Get the popcorn ready and catch him if you can.....Laurie

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: This was a terrible movie---totally ridiculous, illogical, unbelieveable plotline--I just can't believe it got favorable ratings from the critics. The only reason I gave it one star above the worst rating is because Kenneth Branagh does a great Southern accent.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: *yawn*
Review: Utterly pedantic. Worst Altman film I've ever seen. You knew from the beginning what the outcome would be. A waste of two hours of my life. Don't bother!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: BORING
Review: Was the twist supposed to THRILL us? It didn't thrill me that's for sure


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