Nice little touches here and there . . .
Like all Altman films, this gem has nice little touches here and there. For instance, despite being a wealthy blueblood, Cookie eschews the local society and doesn't get carried away with her niece's pretensions. A subtle, but nice illustration of this was Cookie's donning of her purple Mississippi State sweatshirt, rather than Ole Miss (where the sons and daughters of Mississippi aristocracy have long attended). She is, indeed, kindred spirits with her grandniece Emma, a wayward outlaw who works in a fishhouse when she could be a debutante at some junior league.