Wesley's The Gift Review

A storm made it’s way through my neighborhood this past Wednesday, the sky becoming overcast and rain bellowing down on my front yard. Bored and tired of reading, I decided to put in Sam Raimi’s 2000 thriller The Gift in my DVD player. I had just picked it up the night before at Best Buy for only four dollars. I had only previously seen bits of the movie on TNT, but honestly couldn’t remember much from it. So, technically it was a blind buy. Well, I must say: it was definitely the right movie for a rainy day.

Although The Gift is not the perfect movie by any means, it’s a moody, eerie, and emotional little thriller directed by Sam Raimi, of The Evil Dead and Spider-man fame, and written by actor Billy Bob Thornton. The film boasts a really impressive cast with Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Gary Cole, Keanu Reeves and Raimi staples such as J.K. Simmons, Rosemary Harris, and Chelcie Ross. The film truly has a great cast. Since I hate doing a plot synopsis, here’s a good one from IMDB.com:

“In the bayous near Savannah lives Annie, a widow with three young sons and a gift: she's clairvoyant, supporting her family by reading cards. Not long after she's menaced by Donnie Barksdale, the abusive husband of a client, the sultry daughter of a prominent citizen (and fiancée of the school principal) goes missing. Annie leads the police to the woman's watery grave, Donnie's pond. At the trial and after, Annie must sort through an attack on her credibility and her gift, knowledge of the dead woman's affairs, her own attraction to the principal, and a separate crisis brought on by the mental illness of one of her neighbors. The visions won't quit either: what if Donnie is innocent?”

Even though Raimi directed For the Love of the Game before this, I tend to see this as his next logic step after his vastly underrated thriller / character drama A Simple Plan in 1998. Even though the filmmaking displayed in this picture is inferior to that shown in A Simple Plan (which I consider Raimi’s masterpiece), it just feels like the next movie Raimi had to tackle. He even uses some of the same actors from A Simple Plan (Gary Cole and Chelcie Ross) and a screenplay written by Billy Bob Thornton, one of the main actors from that film. Overall, Raimi really handles this movie well. Much like in A Simple Plan, he uses a more restrained and mature directing style than usual for the more dramatic and character-driven moments in the film. In these moments, he manages to get some truly get performances out of his actors, especially in the cases of Blanchett and Ribisi. In the more horror and thriller themed moments, Raimi gets a little zanier in direction approach (although not as extreme as his Evil Dead days). He manages to really pull off a Southern gothic feel in these sequences and actually manages to make these pretty scary. I was surprised how vicious some of these sequences were. I loved how he handled the ghost of a murdered character coming back to warn Blanchett’s character. It was a very visceral approach to handling this aspect of “the gift.”

That’s another thing that I enjoyed about this film. Blanchett’s psychic ability was really downplayed most of the time, making it feel more realistic and grounded in reality. Sure, we got to see some crazy visions that she had every now and then, but in the long run it seemed to be something that was very vague and difficult to use. It kept her from seeming like a superhero and more of a really vulnerable character that was really misunderstood.

So, what else did I like about this movie? Well, for one, Cate Blanchett gives a very strong performance as the misunderstood main character of Annie Wilson. Annie really takes a beating. Everyone seems to have a problem with her in this movie and Blanchett manages to show the character’s sense of strength while also portraying her vulnerability. It seemed like a tough acting job to take on but she managed to get through it and then some. As I previously mentioned, Giovanni Ribisi gives a really stand out performance as Buddy Cole, the mentally disturbed man who Blanchett befriends and reads for. Some standout scenes are his breakdown in the car and his very disturbing confrontation with his abusive father later in the film. Ribisi is really good at playing these off-kilter characters and here is no exception. Greg Kinnear also gives a great but understated performance as Wayne Collins, the naïve principal and possible future love interest of Annie Wilson. The guy has to go through a wide range of emotions throughout the film and he pulls it all off rather well. I also enjoyed J.K. Simmon’s small part as the closed minded Sheriff Johnson. This guy is great at playing a jerk and honestly there hasn’t been a movie that I haven’t enjoyed him in. Another thing that I enjoyed was the mood-injected score by Christopher Young. Although I do enjoy it more when Raimi works with Danny Elfman (something that appears to have ended unfortunately), Young’s score is perfect for the film and covers all of the wide range of emotions required, the horror that arises, and gives off a Southern bayou setting kind of feel. I also enjoyed Raimi’s handling of the film’s climatic ending. He managed to make it a stylistic, visual feast and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Also, with his direction, he made all of the events that occurred a surprise to me. Really good job there, Raimi.

Still, The Gift has its rough moments. One thing that tended to get on my nerves was the portrayal of Donnie Barksdale by Keanu Reeves. Now, I don’t know if this is attributed to Keanu’s acting skills (which are limited) or the way the character was written, but, in my opinion, the portrayal was just way too one-sided. There was no way that you could pity or like this guy in anyway. I kind of just wanted to smash his face in myself. As I mentioned, it may have just been the way he was written but the guy just seemed too extreme for me. He’s just a stereotypical, close-minded, abusive, angry redneck. Another thing that tended to get on my nerves was the nearly constant abuse of Annie’s character, whether it be verbal or physical. I know Raimi wanted to show her strength through all the struggles she went through but, after a while, I just got tired of watching her go through it all. I just felt like I needed a breather.

Despite some problems here and there, The Gift is a really underrated and well-crafted thriller from Sam Raimi and company. It offers an engaging mystery, some creepy horror and supernatural moments, and some impressive acting moments from a solid cast. It’s the kind of movie that’s perfect for a rainy day or a big group of people. It never tends to get boring and it definitely packs more of an emotional punch than your typical run-of-the-mill thriller. I recommend it, especially if you are a Sam Raimi fan. It’s not his best movie by any means, but it’s one of his most enjoyable efforts.

7/10