Robert Downey Jr.'s Forgotten '90s Thriller Is A Must-Watch For John Grisham Fans

When Robert Downey Jr. earned a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough's sluggish 1992 biopic "Chaplin," it felt like the explosively talented son of satirist filmmaker Robert Downey was on the cusp of a brilliant run. His brain had other ideas.

The movie star experienced a rough decade that found him self-medicating with various narcotics to treat undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He needed help, but Hollywood needed his talent. So he kept getting work and kept getting into trouble, like the time he wandered into a family's house and fell asleep in their child's bedroom (they did not press charges). When he worked (which, despite his legal troubles, was often), the talent was blindingly abundant, but there was a live-wire sense of not just danger but peril in emotionally charged dramas like "Two Girls and a Guy." Did this clearly distraught man belong in front of a camera or in psychiatric care?

Downey eventually got the help he needed, and has become one of the most successful and celebrated actors in the world (as a long-time fan, watching him win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Oppenheimer" was enormously satisfying). This makes it easier to revisit the performances from his wilderness period, when the work, regardless of what was going on in his life, was rock-solid. There's a lot to choose from, but one film that deserves way more love is Robert Altman's "The Gingerbread Man," where the stoner auteur turned a sudsy John Grisham legal thriller into a moody, behind-the-beat neo-noir.

Grisham began writing "The Gingerbread Man" as a novel, but found the story more suited to screenplay form. The narrative has the ensemble dynamic of his most popular books (most notably "The Rainmaker"), but it's considerably sillier — to the point where it feels like self-parody. Kenneth Branagh stars as big-time Georgia lawyer Rick Magruder, who finds himself embroiled in a bizarre family drama after he sleeps with Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz), the emotionally distraught daughter of crackpot gang leader Dixon Doss (Robert Duvall). When Dixon begins ramping up his psychological torment of Mallory, Magruder has Dixon arrested and committed to a mental institution.

Dixon is soon busted out of the facility by his buddies (who look like the world's stinkiest and least-stylish biker gang), and now Magruder finds himself the target of a harassment campaign. Given that the cops hate him for his successful defense of criminals, they're in no mood to help him. Fortunately, Magruder has an ace up his sleeve in Robert Downey Jr.'s Clyde Pell, a boozy investigator who's nonchalantly good at his job. Downey deftly slips into the ensemble vibe of Altman's film, less interested in stealing scenes than in elevating his co-stars' performances. It's a shame he only worked twice with Altman (on this and "Short Cuts") because the shagginess of the filmmaker's aesthetic suits his off-the-cuff style.

"The Gingerbread Man" is currently available to stream for free on Prime Video. It's easily one of Altman's most underrated films, and is well worth your time.