- Title: USA: DIRECTOR ROBERT ALTMAN'S LATEST MOVIE - COOKIE'S FORTUNE
- Date: 5th April 1999
- Summary: REUTERS TELEVISION SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CHRIS O'DONNELL AND LIV TYLER saying "I love small town America. We had such a great time I mean the people were so nice to us in this town. And we'd just, we'd walk around, ride our bikes around, and the little pharmacy was the ice cream parlour. Yeah it was great. We really, the houses were beautiful, we rented all these beautiful
- Embargoed: 20th April 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA5R95DK62KUMYFI94DWEQ4CN33
- Story Text: Director, Robert Altman's latest movie is a comedy set in the real southern town of Holly Springs, Mississippi.The stars of the "Whodunnit", Glen Close, Liv Tyler, Chris O'Donnell and Charles Dutton made themselves very much at home in small town America.
Emma Duvall (Liv Tyler) has only been back home in Holly Springs for a couple of days when her great aunt Jewel Mae "Cookie" is found dead in her bed.Her companion and all-round helper Willis Richland (Charles S Dutton) is arrested after Cookie's two nieces, Camille Dixon (Glen Close) and Cora Duvall (Julianne Moore), who discover the body, call the police.
An investigator from out of town, Otis Tucker (Courtney B.
Vance) is brought in to solve the crime, but soon finds himself out of his depth in the sleepy town where everyone knows each other and everyone has a point of view.
The two nieces assume that the aunts' fortune will be left to them, but a will is found which leaves them nothing.
Meanwhile, Emma and ex lover (Chris O'Donnell) are making up for lost time, anytime, anyplace and anywhere.Plus, it's Easter and Camille has a play to put on.In the middle of their big night, the police pay a visit backstage and the plot thickens as Emma finds out that Camille is her mother, not Cora.
Making the movie in small town America was a joy for the cast, who revelled in the opportunity to mix with the locals, "ride their bikes around the town" and live in the southern style mansions with "porch swings".
For some, "it was the way they grew up, and the familiarity felt good".For others, it was a "reminder of why they left small town America in the first place" but "the local food was worth the visit".
Living the "easy, calm and relaxed style of life of his character in Holly Springs, Charles Dutton was slightly envious that he has more to think about on a daily basis than whether or not to go fishing".
Patricia Neal enjoyed herself immensley, all the more so because she had two "divine italian men doing her hair and makeup everyday" to make her look older.
Although there are similarities between Liv Tylers' real life and the character she plays, and she could identify with the role, she concentrated on making Emma her own person rather than a carbon copy of herself.
For the amateur dramatics scenes, local people were used as extras, which was a bit "nerve-wracking" for Chris O'Donnell.Not least because they weren't told that the performances of the "Hollywood actors were meant to be really bad, and not catching on, they just thought Chris and the rest were really not as good as tinseltown had cracked them up to be".
The locals may not necessarily be impressed with the performances they saw that day of shooting, but Director Robert Altman "was very impressed".
Despite his many years in the business, Altman "is still amazed that actors can do what they do and on occasion gets a bit starstruck".But that's par for the course says he, and would "quit if he ever stopped being a fan himself.
Premiere night for "Cookie's Fortune" in Los Angeles on Monday (29th March) was a cozy affair, apart from Glen Close, the cast were all there and suitably glammed up for the occasion.
"Cookie's Fortune" opens in theatres on Friday, April 2nd. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None