Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Cookie's Fortune (1998)

Director: Robert Altman

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Holly Springs, Mississippi. Snooty aesthete Camille (Close) is off to rehearse her Easter am-dram production of Wilde's Salome. First, however, she and her downtrodden sister Cora (Moore) must drop in on eccentric aunt Cookie (Neal). When Camille finds the old lady dead in bed, she persuades Cora it couldn't possibly be suicide (such disgrace!), steals a necklace to make it look like murder, and then lets Cookie's loyal caretaker/companion Willis (Dutton) take the rap. Not that cop Lester (Beatty) believes his fishing pal should be behind bars, any more than do the town's only lawyer (Moffat) or Cora's rebellious daughter Emma (Tyler). Altman's mercurial film is a mesmerising jewel that works its magic as soon as the faintly shaky opening scenes are over. It may not be 'about' very much (friendship, loyalty, love, self-knowledge), and it'd be too easy just to praise the excellent performances of the typically eccentric cast. Rather, what's so distinctively charming is the easygoing tone, which manages to turn black comedy into a strangely gentle, touching and delicate affair.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Robert Altman

Producer: Robert Altman, Etchie Stroh

Cast: Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Chris O'Donnell, Charles S Dutton, Patricia Neal, Ned Beatty, Courtney B Vance, Donald Moffat, Lyle Lovett full cast

Duration: 118 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.