Robert Altman has assembled a perfect cast, as usual, to tell a slow-moving tale of denizens of a sleepy southern town. "Cookie's Fortune" refers to Patricia Neal (Cookie) who lives with Charles S. Dutton (Willis) as her aide and confidante. The other characters, and I do mean "characters", are the members of her family. Her niece is Glenn Close (Camille) who is fantastic as the most idiosyncratic of her relatives. Julianne Moore (Cora) portrays another family member subtly. She will be one of the great actresses of the coming years. Liv Tyler is Amy, Cookie's grand niece. If this sounds complicated, it is. But don't worry, it all comes together in the end. Other fine performances come from Ned Beatty and Chris O'Donnell as local sheriffs. Altman, as usual, has his eye on characterization rather than plot. However, his setting of the mood and the magical relationship between Cookie and Willis, and Willis and Amy are the warm core of the film. Count on Altman to have a few surprises in store, even though he sort of runs out of steam toward the end.
Review of Cookie's Fortune
