Movie Notes: The Gift
= 3 stars
Starring Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Greg Kinnear
Directed by Sam Raimi
Synopsis
Psychic Annabelle Wilson (Cate Blanchett) becomes involved in the investigation of a young woman’s (Katie Holmes) murder. Set in the deep south where possible suspects are easy to come by.
The Good
- Raimi’s direction — he’s got a great visual sense, communicating emotion. Certain scenes played out with great prescience of what I wanted to see — when Donnie (Keanu Reeves) confronts Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi) and I wondered how Annabelle’s child would react — cut to the kid.
- The always dependable Blanchett puts yet another unusual role under her belt, but also decent are Ribisi and Keanu Reeves as an abusive husband. Reeves shows more emotion than usual — I guess he can act.
The Bad
- Falls into the cliche that the murderer is eventually revealed to be the least likely suspect.
- A little over the top with the violence and gore; I couldn’t shake the feeling that shocking eye candy was used instinctively to cover up plot shortcomings.
Conclusion
Worth a rental if you’re a Blanchett fan or to witness Raimi’s direction before his big Spider-man success. As for the rest — I’m pretty sure I had seen it all somewhere before — and I’m definitely no psychic.
IMDB: The Gift
Wikipedia: The Gift
Rotten Tomatoes: The Gift 57%