The Gift

Cate Blanchett stars as Annie Wilson, a young widow with three sons to raise -- her husband was killed a year before the story in a work-related accident. She and the boys survive on a social security check each month -- to further make ends meet, she gives 'readings' to various members of the small Georgia community of Brixton, calling her talent a 'gift'. She accepts donations, but doesn't set prices -- she doesn't come across as a sideshow fortune teller here. She doesn't have the power to read minds -- or, in a courtroom scene, to tell an attorney how many fingers he's holding up behind his back -- and she never makes any claims in that area. Her gift comes to her in the form of visions or dreams -- sometimes they occur when she's giving a reading, sometimes they come unexpectedly.

One of her clients is a battered wife (Hilary Swank) of a angry, ignorant redneck (played with frightening reality by Keanu Reeves) -- she advises the woman to leave her husband before he puts her in the hospital, advice that sends him to her home to threaten her and her children when he learns of it. Another of her clients, an extremely troubled man named Buddy, is given an outstanding portrayal by Giovanni Ribisi -- the character is seething with (believable) inner torment, which, as the story progresses, we see to be long-buried anger toward his father. Ribisi infuses his character with an incredible level of emotion and vulnerability. Greg Kinnear plays Wayne, the handsome school principal engaged to a beautiful but fairly trampy daughter of a successful local businessman. When this woman turns up missing and local law enforcement runs out of leads, the skeptical sheriff reluctantly turns to Annie for help. Through a series of visions, she aids them in finding the body, the violent redneck is arrested and put on trial...and then the twists begin. From here, you're on your own...NO SPOILERS! Suffice to say that the twists and turns don't always lead where you think they will.

Aside from the well-written story, the skillful direction, and the superb acting in this film, the thing that jumped out at me was noticing how many of these characters were in deep denial of their own primal pain. In one scene, one of Annie's sons asks her at bedtime why they don't go more often to visit their father's grave, why they don't talk about him. She replies by telling him to go to bed, that she wants to read. In doing this, her character is, in effect, telling this child (perhaps not intentionally) that his feelings don't matter -- but at the same time, she's denying her own pain, perhaps stemming from her husband's death. Hilary Swank's battered wife character is in denial that she doesn't deserve to live as a punching bag, that there might be a better way to go through her life. Keanu Reeves redneck Donnie is in denial of his own violent, woman-hating, hungry-for-control nature. The high school principal is blind to the fact that his wife-to-be is a trollop who neither loves nor respects him. And most touchingly, we see Giovanni Ribisi take his character through some very moving realizations about his own childhood and his relationship with his father.

The film is very dark and suspenseful -- and at times very jarring in its imagery and violence, but these moments are brief. It's certainly not exploitive in this regard. It's extremely entertaining -- I don't think most viewers would lose interest as it moves along -- but mostly it's very revealing about the way we humans deal with the primal pain that we all hold within us. Ribisi's character describes it very accurately as a wall in his head that he can't get past -- until we face whatever it iis that iis causing us pain, and deal with it as it stands, we won't get past it, and it will continue to torment us and, in some cases, rule over us. We each have to realize that we need to feel the hurt in order to begin to heal -- not a very attractive prospect, perhaps, but a realistic one.

This outstanding film shines a bright light on this aspect of the human psyche -- it's something from which we could all benefit in viewing more closely. Audiences may have been uncomfortable with this film in theatres because of this aspect -- and they may not have realized why.


katie holmes   March 15, 2006
Luke Skywalker (Massachusetts, USA)
13 out of 23 found this review helpful

the only reason why i would purchase this dvd is to see katie holmes topless


good movie   April 16, 2001
Chump (New York, NY USA)
12 out of 33 found this review helpful

I liked this movie, but I'm giving it 5 stars becuz Katie Holmes is a fine piece of tail with a great body that she wonderfully displayed in this movie, and that is why I originally saw this flick in the first place. Keep takin them clothes off katie, you prized piece. Seriously this movie is real cool though in a What lies beneath type of way, but Evil Dead 2 is the Sam Raimi movie I own and love to watch, it's one of my favorite movies and it is so friggin funny.


Oh My GOSH!   April 24, 2002
12 out of 26 found this review helpful

Three words: Katie Holmes Naked. Thats the only reason you need to buy this DVD. You'll never see her again as she's written off doing nudity from now on, so get it while you can!


The Perfect Mix   June 14, 2001
J. McVie (Houston, TX United States)
11 out of 16 found this review helpful

The Gift was, for me, the perfect mixing of ingredients for a film. Director Sam Raimi has never failed to please even in his intentionally campy, intentionally bad projects like Evil Dead and the Hercules/Xena TV programs. Give the man a budget and an incredible cast to work with, and I expect greatness in return. I was not disappointed.

Cate Blanchett's appearance in any film is reason enough to give it a try. Her performance in The Gift is wonderful. An Australian actress most known for her role as Queen Elizabeth I, Blanchett shows that she is capable of playing any role offered her by portraying a widowed psychic from the south (the deep south). Her accent never waivers and her performance elicits nothing but the fullest sympathy from the audience.

I had mixed feelings about Giovani Ribisi's appearance in the film, considering some of his earlier film choices, but Ribisi delivers in a big way here as a rather pathetic time bomb of a character trying to remember what happened in his past to result in violent episodes of freak-out. Ready to snap at any moment, he still somehow comes across as kind and gentle because of his protectiveness for Blanchett's character, the only person who has tried to help him. I now forgive him for appearing in The Mod Squad.

If you recognize Keanu Reeves for the lackluster performer that he is, you may enjoy his portrayal of an abusive, cheating husband in this film. He gives the audience more than enough reason to hate him here. Although his acting is the weakest in the cast, his run-in with the psychotic Ribisi is one of the highlights of this picture. His performance never reaches the low levels of some of his other films like Speed, Johnny Mnemonic, or Dangerous Liasons, but I don't understand why he would be cast alongside an otherwise untouchable ensemble. Perhaps Raimi also enjoyed the scene involving Ribisi's explosive encounter with Reeves.

It is possible to guess the ending beforehand, but the movie spotlights enough suspects that it does cast doubt in the viewer's mind until the final scenes play out. If you are interested in intelligent, dark, and slightly odd films (the films of Tim Burton, David Lynch, and Stanley Kubrick come to mind), you will want to investigate this film on DVD.

If you are a big fan of horror/thrillers but can't wait for the barrage of teenie-bopper slasher films to end, this movie should be arriving at your doorstep (as it will mine) in mid-July... a perfect summer "gift."