THE GIFT (2000) / ** 1/2
Directed by Sam Raimi. Screenplay by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson. Starring Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves. Running time: 112 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on February 25th, 2001.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
I enjoy a lot of different kinds of films, but none more so than the scary ones. There are few things more satisfying than sitting in a darkened theatre and feeling my heart pounding in my chest, sweat beading on my forehead, each breath coming just a little bit faster as the action on the screen unfolds. Being startled so much that I actually jump back in my seat -- that, to me, is perhaps the ultimate cinemagoing experience. It's the surest sign that I'm not just watching the movie, but am completely absorbed in it.
These days, sadly, Hollywood tends to favour the more low-brow slasher genre. Some of these are enjoyable enough in their own right (I'm a big fan of the original "Scream"), but too often they substitute gore for real terror, and that's a thrill that's far more ephemeral. Even the occasional movie which does harken back to more mature suspense frequently sacrifices atmosphere for cod mysticism -- last autumn's "Bless The Child" springs to mind.
"The Gift" attempts to reverse this trend. Its setting is a staple of the classic American thriller: the Deep South, in this case the backwoods town of Brixton, Georgia. Brixton is a place made up of rusted pick-ups and old Gothic mansions, murky lakes and gnarled old trees. The denizens are a superstitious lot making a pretense of living in modern times: they scoff at the unknown, until they have no other choice but to accept it. I was most reminded of the excellent but little-seen TV show "American Gothic" from the mid-Nineties (indeed, that programme's demonic sheriff, Gary Cole, makes an appearance here as a philandering lawyer).
The movie's title refers to the paranormal abilities of a woman named Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett). Annie's husband died a year earlier and she now supports herself and her three sons by telling people's fortunes with the help of a deck of Tarot-like cards. Amongst those who appeal to Annie's wisdom are a troubled mechanic (Giovanni Ribisi) and Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank), who is trapped in a marriage to abusive redneck Donnie (Keanu Reeves). When Donnie finds out that Annie has been encouraging Valerie to leave him, he threatens both her and her children. The local police are little help: not only are they friends of Donnie's, but they view Annie as little better than a Satan worshipper.
One evening, Annie and a friend go to the local country club to relax. There, Annie meets her son's school principal, Wayne Collins (Greg Kinnear). There is an obvious attraction between them, but Wayne is already engaged to heiress Jessica King (Katie Holmes), whose status as the town slut seems to be no secret at all, except to Wayne. That night, Jessica vanishes. Quickly exhausting their leads, the police reluctantly turn to Annie for help. Annie begins experiencing visions which help her uncover Jessica's grisly fate. But in the process, she puts herself and her boys at risk of an equally grim end.
In most good thrillers, the setting is as vital an ingredient as any actor, and director Sam Raimi does a fine job of filming his rural locale. Nature is filled with unseen menace, and we can readily believe that such an environment would have bred a woman like Annie. There is a palpable atmosphere in scenes such as one where the psychic wanders outdoors after experiencing a horrifying vision. We know that her ordeal is not finished yet, but the source of the terror could be anywhere.
Blanchett is in good form as the small-town seer, demonstrating that Annie is a normal woman who just happens to have a special talent -- no different than if she were a great pianist or a gifted surgeon. She sees her "gift" as simply a means to keep her family going. It is interesting to observe the role that Annie plays in the community of Brixton. While many view her with suspicion, for others she plays the same role that a psychiatrist might in a different setting. She doesn't just tell her customers' fortunes, but consoles them and advises them: she is as much counsellor as clairvoyant.
But despite these promising beginnings, Raimi, working from a script by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson, isn't able to maintain his momentum. Things start off far too slowly, for one, as Raimi awkwardly brings his player on stage. And then, just when things get rolling, the movie detours into a by-the-numbers legal sub-plot, with Annie defending herself and her abilities before the courts. The idea of fortune tellers being mistrusted and feared is hardly a new one, and "The Gift" does not put a new spin on the concept. As a result, this extended sequence is just marking time, dragging out the proceedings between Jessica's disappearance and its ultimate resolution.
Simply put, "The Gift" is too straightforward a story for a feature film. There are no real twists and turns, and those that do crop up are obvious and predictable. The entire movie is cliche piled upon cliche: the would-be frights are standard fare, the plot unravels without enormous surprise, and most of the characters are common stereotypes, such as Reeves' country redneck and the woefully miscast Holmes' high-society trollop. Even a last-minute "Sixth Sense"-like twist has been lifted wholesale from any number of old folk tales.
"The Gift" is the sort of movie that probably would have been better off as part of an anthology (if Hollywood made those). Cut down to an hour or so, with a better balance between the plot and the film's focus on Annie as a character, this could have been a nice atmospheric piece. As it is, "The Gift" is entertaining in places, but is simply too insubstantial and too typical of the genre to succeed as a whole. While it's great to see an old-fashioned thriller back in theatres, I don't think it's too much to expect a few new ideas too.
Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/TheGift.html
_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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