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 Cookies rambling mansion, tries to persuade her sweet but aimless grand-niece, Emma (Liv Tyler), to move in with her, but shes more interested in her on-again, off-again romance with local cop Jason (Chris ODonnell). Typical of Altmans work, Cookies 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, All Movie Guide