Cookie's Fortune (1999)
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86% of critics liked it
(56 reviews) -
57% of users liked it
(6,791 ratings)
Robert Altman directed this bittersweet ensemble piece about an eccentric and entangled group of family and friends living in the Deep South. Jewel Mae "Cookie" Orcutt (Patricia Neal) is the widowed matriarch of a small-town Mississippi family, which includes her nieces Camille (Glenn… More Robert Altman directed this bittersweet ensemble piece about an eccentric and entangled group of family and friends living in the Deep South. Jewel Mae "Cookie" Orcutt (Patricia Neal) is the widowed matriarch of a small-town Mississippi family, which includes her nieces Camille (Glenn Close), a pretentious would-be artist staging an amateur production of Salome at a local church, and Cora Julianne Moore), her less than enthusiastic leading lady. Willis (Charles S. Dutton), the caretaker of Cookie's rambling mansion, tries to persuade her sweet but aimless grand-niece, Emma (Liv Tyler), to move in with her, but she's more interested in her on-again, off-again romance with local cop Jason (Chris O'Donnell). Typical of Altman's work, Cookie's Fortune weaves together a number of different plot lines with relaxed grace, and features an impressive cast, including Ned Beatty, Lyle Lovett, and Courtney B. Vance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Robert Altman
- Written By
- Anne Rapp
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Apr 2, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- USA Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Most of what transpires is low-key, affectionate comedy and a fair amount of fun.
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Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Cookie's Fortune is a wittily diagrammed portrait of a small town shaken to its roots by this deceptive calamity. The movie, though, never really becomes more than a diagram.
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Todd McCarthy, Variety
The deceptively modest Cookie's Fortune may or not be Robert Altman's best film in years, but it is certainly his most pleasurable.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
What's so distinctively charming is the easygoing tone, which manages to turn black comedy into a strangely gentle, touching and delicate affair.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Cookie's Fortune is Robert Altman's sunniest film, a warm-hearted comedy that somehow manages to deal with death and murder charges without even containing a real villain.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Glenn Close
as Camille Orcutt
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Julianne Moore
as Cora Duvall
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Liv Tyler
as Emma Duvall
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Chris O'Donnell
as Jason Brown
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Charles S. Dutton
as Willis Richland
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Patricia Neal
as Jewel Mae "Cookie" Orcutt
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Ned Beatty
as Lester Boyle
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Courtney B. Vance
as Otis Tucker
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Donald Moffat
as Jack Palmer
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Lyle Lovett
as Manny Hood
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Danny Darst
as Billy Cox
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Matt Malloy
as Eddie "The Expert" Pitts
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Randle Mell
as Patrick Freeman
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Niecy Nash
as Wanda Carter
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Rufus Thomas
as Theo Johnson
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Ruby L. Wilson
as Josie Martin
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Preston Strobel
as Ronnie Freeman
