Robert Altman forsakes the scattershot storytelling technique of Nashville and The Player for a more conventional form of movie-making with this dramatisation of a John Grisham story set in Savannah, Georgia. Kenneth Branagh brings a touch of Shakespearean bravado to the role of successful lawyer Rick Magruder, who becomes involved with a waitress (Embeth Davidtz) after she accuses her religious fanatic father (Robert Duvall) of pursuing her. Soon Branagh feels compelled to kidnap his own children to save them from danger, while the menacing atmosphere grows along with the threat of impending floods. Altman's dictum that "film-making is playing jazz" makes this one of the better Grisham dramatisations.

A successful Savannah defense attorney gets romantically involved with a sexy, mysterious waitress troubled by psychopaths and dark family secrets.