The Gift (2000) Arrow Player Review
In rural Georgia, recently widowed psychic Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) works as a tarot reader to support her young family. When she is introduced to her son’s affable school principal (Greg Kinnear) and his socialite fiancée (Katie Holmes), Annie has a grisly premonition of things yet to come. After her violent vision comes true, all eyes turn to Annie, leaving her with no choice but to use her clairvoyant abilities to find the culprit herself. Could it be the abusive husband (Keanu Reeves) of one of Annie’s regular clients (Hilary Swank)? Or the nervy mechanic (Giovanni Ribisi) whose yearning for friendship masks an uncontrollable rage? Or is another terrible secret hiding in plain sight?
Sam Raimi is a favourite film director of mine. Having reached out and grabbed my attention with his classic THE EVIL DEAD in my much younger years Mr Raimi has rarely disappointed me with his directorial efforts, DARKMAN, DRAG ME TO HELL, any of THE EVIL DEAD flicks, and even SPIDERMAN 2, which I rank as the best superhero flick this side of Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN II, all bowled me over. However, the less said about Raimi’s muddled SPIDERMAN 3 the better.
Back when Raimi’s THE GIFT was released theatrically, I was beyond excited. Working from a script written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson (SLING BLADE) and boasting a stellar cast – Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Michael Jeter, Gary Cole, J. K. Simmons and Danny Elfman as Tommy Lee Ballard – all the ingredients looked to be in place for something that would be truly exceptional. So why does it end up playing out like a below par TV movie of the week instead?
A starry cast are wasted on cliched characterisation that veer towards stereotypes and the storyline is run-of-the-mill, uninspired, and fails to maintain one’s interest. I would have expected something far less predictable given the heavyweight talents involved. I couldn’t wait for it to finish and it’s rare indeed that I say that about a Sam Raimi flick. Seriously, I REALLY wanted to like this but alas I didn’t. Had the storyline been up to the standard of the acting and directing talents involved then this would have been a masterpiece.
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
