The Gingerbread Man

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The Gingerbread Man

R

1998

1h 55m

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

60%

Tomatometer

47 Reviews

27%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Rick (Kenneth Branagh), a divorced lawyer, has what he thinks is going to be a one-night stand with the troubled but beautiful Mallory (Embeth Davidtz). However, he finds he's much too enamored with her to let the affair end so quickly. He offers to help her with some of her problems, most significantly, her unhinged father, Dixon (Robert Duvall), whom she claims is stalking her. Rick succeeds in getting the father committed, but the insane Dixon escapes the asylum and comes after the couple.

Mike Clark

USA Today

The Gingerbread Man, a neo-noir thriller that unwinds with off-kilter promise, is the big yawn.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 9, 2018

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Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Robert Altman the up-and- down director meets John Grisham the constant mediocrity. Just where, in our hypothetical picture, should we place that unlikely scene?

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 25, 2003

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Jack Mathews

Los Angeles Times

Altman had a fine time composing difficult shots, through screens, bushes and sheets of rain, and Chungwei's images, sometimes delicate, sometimes harsh, stick with you long after you've forgotten their context.

Feb 14, 2001

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Tom Hutchinson

Radio Times

Robert Altman forsakes the scattershot storytelling technique of Nashville and The Player for a more conventional form of movie-making with this dramatisation of a John Grisham story set in Savannah, Georgia.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 16, 2024

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Dan DiNicola

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY)

Altman lays compelling groundwork for a story that eventually turns on deadly clichés, and Kenneth Branagh lacks the star power needed to overcome shortcomings of character and plot.

Rated: C

Jan 19, 2023

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

More entertaining than the narrative's predictable beats are the swaths of dialogue floating in and out of focus from the support staff at Magruder's firm.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 18, 2020

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Alec B

Its all fairly ludicrous but its interesting to see Altman make something like this. He pushes against the genre conventions (very little of the movie takes place in a courtroom) while also upping the stakes (the hurricane was apparently his idea) and the result is one of the more tolerable entries in the legal thriller genre.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/04/25

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kristin h

I know it's not exactly a critical success, but I love this movie. It's one of those movies that I can put on at night and fall asleep to, about 40 times in a row before I switch it out. I just adore Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr, and Daryl Hannah is great in this part. It's one of those things where I just love the feel of this movie. It's Savanah, most of the scenes are at night, and there's a hurricane on the way. The bar they hang out in reminds me of hurricane parties in Miami Beach, right across from the ocean, battenning down the hatches and stocking up on candles and liquor.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/20/24

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Louise C

Not as good as other John Grisham stories. However, he had discarded this one. Robert Altman made it into a film. I did find this interesting. Robert Duvall portrays the unhinged father well, and others put in a good performance. I watched it twice and liked it better the second time.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/30/23

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Scott H

Any reviewer who had a positive word to say about this disaster should never be trusted by anyone again, ever.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/09/23

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Steve D

Predictable and not quite effective despite a fantastic cast.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

Why the hell did I waste 115 minutes on this?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Robert Altman

Director

Kenneth Branagh

Rick Magruder

Embeth Davidtz

Mallory Doss

Robert Downey Jr.

Clyde Pell

Daryl Hannah

Lois Harlan

Tom Berenger

Pete Randle

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Synopsis

Rick (Kenneth Branagh), a divorced lawyer, has what he thinks is going to be a one-night stand with the troubled but beautiful Mallory (Embeth Davidtz). However, he finds he's much too enamored with her to let the affair end so quickly. He offers to help her with some of her problems, most significantly, her unhinged father, Dixon (Robert Duvall), whom she claims is stalking her. Rick succeeds in getting the father committed, but the insane Dixon escapes the asylum and comes after the couple.

Director: Robert Altman
Producer: Jeremy Tannenbaum
Screenwriter: Clyde Hayes
Production Co: Island Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.5M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Surround