Throughout the long trajectory of his career, Robert Altman was known for interweaving multiple plots and characters within the context of a given theme. Think the brotherhood of the country music community in "Nashville" or the detachment of contemporary California life in "Short Cuts." But in 1999, Altman tried something a bit unique – he directed a motion picture with a plot. One plot. One story. A comparatively small cast of characters. It was called, "Cookie's Fortune," and it's this month's Buried Treasure.With a clever screenplay by Anne Rapp, "Cookie's Fortune" tells the story of Willis (Charles S. Dutton), a handyman wrongly accused of murder in a small Mississippi town. His widowed employer (Patricia Neal) commits suicide at the outset, and her daughters decide to disguise the shooting as a murder in a vain attempt to preserve the family's reputation. Since Willis had just cleaned the widow's guns the night before, his fingerprints are all over them. And there you have the most plot structure you'll ever find in an Altman film.What follows this sullen and morose setup is Altman's funniest picture since "M*A*S*H" in 1970. You see, everyone in the town knows Willis couldn't possibly commit murder. The jailer (a young Chris O'Donnell) consistently leaves the cell door open, and the sheriff (a fantastic Ned Beatty) plays cards with him – in the cell! You see, Beatty's character knows Willis is innocent because, "I've fished with him" – which seems to be his quintessence test for everyone he knows.But, as in every Altman film, there's one character who doesn't quite fit. One who takes things more seriously than the others. Remember how pathetically dangerous Robert Duvall's Major Frank Burns seemed in "M*A*S*H" (as opposed to the maniacal buffoon Larry Linville played on the long-running television series)? It was as though the Major Burns character walked on the set from another movie – just to give the audience a jolt; to let us know this is war, and war is real.In "Cookie's Fortune," Glenn Close plays Camille, the theatrical and mildly deranged daughter of the deceased – a slightly more comical version of her wicked turn in "Fatal Attraction." Camille is the smartest character in the picture, but she's also the one who doesn't belong; the one who, in a panic attack, might just turn this lovable comedy into a dreary exercise in unhinged madness. Fortunately, Altman is a skilled enough director to not allow this to happen, but my does he dangle it closely (pun intended). Had Glenn Close played her role ever so slightly more unsettled, the entire film would have been ruined. Altman walks a fine line allowing Camille to exaggerate her pomposity, but then her function seems to be to remind us that this is murder, and murder is real.Still, Altman never loses sight of the fact that "Cookie's Fortune" is a comedy, dark though it may be. The script is peppered with well-drawn characters, and the acting is first-rate – particularly Ned Beatty as the sheriff, and also Liv Tyler as Camille's desperado niece, whose boyfriend just so happens to be Chris O'Donnell's maladroit jailer. Altman is a master handling these intertwining characters, as he doles out information in small enough doses for us to completely process their connections, and for us to understand the soul of the town in which they regale.Unfortunately, "Cookie's Fortune" was released during the spring doldrums – that period between the Oscars and the summer blockbusters, when the studios trot out the fare they don't think anyone will pay to see. By the time the Oscars rolled around that year, the talk was all about "Magnolia," "American Beauty," "The Cider House Rules," and "The Green Mile." "Cookie's Fortune" was simply a forgotten footnote to American cinema in 1999. And that's a shame. You need to seek out this one. It's funny, touching, and intelligent – and easily one of Robert Altman's ten best films.

I loved this wry comedy that takes place in a small Mississippi town where everybody is, at least outwardly, friendly with everybody. It was directed by the late Robert Altman (1925-2006), who also gave us M*A*S*H and Nashville, and much more. Terrible title, however. It has nothing to do with fortune cookies, or cookies of any kind. The fortune refers to the assets that the heirs of a family matriarch, whose nickname is Cookie (Patricia Neal), will inherit when she dies.One of the little comedic touches I appreciated were the historical markers in the town, one of which I think read "nothing historical occurred at this spot." I enjoyed the treat of four generations (each about 20 years younger than the next) of noted actresses in one film. In addition to movie legend Patricia Neal (1926-2010) who won an Oscar for Hud, Glen Close (who has had 6 Oscar nominations so far) played Camille Dixon, Cookie's over-bearing theatrical-obsessed niece. Four time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore played Camille's subservient and perhaps dim-witted younger sister Cora Duvall. Cute Liv Tyler (who was Arwen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) is Emma Duvall, Cora's estranged daughter.Charles S. Dutton is great as African-American Willis Richland, who is kind of a genial gentle care-taker for Cookie. At the end of the film we learn he is more than a friend.Famed singer Lyle Lovett plays a spooky peeping Tom character who is interested in Emma. His role didn't seem to be fully developed and didn't contribute much to the film. Chris O'Donnell plays a Barney Fife type sheriff's deputy, except he is very good looking and is romantically involved with Emma.Cookie, who's mind is beginning to go, misses her late husband and kills herself to be with him. Camille Dixon discovers the suicide and initially is shocked and horrified that people will learn that her aunt killed herself (nice people don't commit suicide) and affect Camille's social standing. So she makes it look like a thief murdered Cookie. But once she does that her horror turns to appreciation. She now can move into Cookie's grand house. But she hadn't counted on anyone in the town becoming a murder suspect.

No spoilers here. The movie is about love, deception, "rapscallionality" and other cool things in a small town, with the kind of cinematography we associate with Altman. Pearl is the right term to use for some of Altman's ensemble pieces: they are layers on layers on layers, and they are built up very slowly, just as a pearl grows.I don't admire everything that Altman has done; there are a number of his movies that didn't rock my socks, but when he hits it, he hits it (as with Short Cuts, McCabe and Mrs Miller, and recently with Prairie Home Companion), with scary precision. You sit there in the theater seat feeling as if not just the director, but the whole cast and crew have you in their sights. Part of this has to be due to Altman's working so much with so many of the same actors. But also, he is simply a great ensemble director.Cookie's Fortune starts out in a quite leisurely fashion, and I had to warn some of my friends not to go to a late night show, but it gets quick fast. While I think the whole cast was great, for me the on-going show-stopper was the performances of Glenn Close and Charles Dutton. It was so clear to me that these two actors, both with considerable stage experience, were having a lot of fun chewing up each other's scenery, and their voice control is what one would expect from them.In Altman's best films there are a multitude of small gem parts, and this is no exception.

We can pretty much always expect something good from Robert Altman, and "Cookie's Fortune" doesn't disappoint. Focusing on a suicide in a Mississippi town and how it reveals some secrets about various people, they make the most of everything. Camille Dixon (Glenn Close) is a character of her own: when she sees that her aunt Cookie (Patricia Neal) has taken her own life (the old woman wants to rejoin her late husband), she tries to make it look like a murder, claiming that only crazy people commit suicide; watching the movie, anyone would have to agree that Camille's the craziest person in the movie.I will assert that this is Charles S. Dutton's best movie yet. As Cookie's caretaker who gets charged with the murder, he shows himself as strong, but not ridiculous. Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Chris O'Donnell, Ned Beatty, Courtney B. Vance and Lyle Lovett also have some great lines. The movie mainly goes to show that despite the racism in the South, white people and black people have a lot more exposure to each other than in the rest of the country. Really good.