Review of The Gift (2000) by Harry W — 12 Feb 2014

With The Gift, the thing. that caught my eye was that it was directed by Sam Raimi, and that was more than enough to encourage me to watch it.

For one thing, the script isn't the finest. In Keanu Reeves' first appearance in the film, he at one point utters the line "You ain't no better than a Jew or a N*gger." which immediately characterises him as being a stereotypical brainless hick. This reveals much about the script, as in the fact that it seems like it was written in a rushed manner without putting effort into characters or development. While this doesn't affect the actors, it just serves as a sign of lazy writing in The Gift. It doesn't really persist because the script is mostly ok, but it had a few dull moments and isn't some of Billy Bob Thorton's finest work.

Also, the film is predominantly scattershot for a while. In the beginning of the film we are introduced to many characters and given hints about who they are and what they do, but for a while it seems like the film is just killing time by loosely explaining who characters are. But it's too loose in attempting to develop the story and it doesn't give the film much momentum until the setting changes place to a courtroom.

And the pacing is consistently rather slow, and lastly the film fails to really emphasise the fact that the main character has an extrasensory power or "gift" as the title refers to it. The story gets so caught up in the character troubles and investigation of the murder of Jessica King that it's easy to forget that the story rests on the protagonist's supernatural powers, so the execution of the concept is faulty in parts.

Once the story becomes involved in exploring the courtroom drama surrounding the murder of Jessica King, The Gift finally settles down and becomes an interesting story. Even though the thrills are all over the place and sometimes come at unnecessary moments, they are surprisingly chilling thanks to the eerie atmosphere of the film. It becomes a compelling story with interesting characters and a good cast, so eventually it becomes good enough to stick around an watch. It's first act is just a bit faulty.

The Gift is a different venture for director Sam Raimi considering that his arguably best and most popular works are the Evil Dead and Spider Man Trilogies which are both simultaneously thrilling and fun, whereas The Gift is simply a low-budget thrilling venture which relies on a chilling atmosphere to rope the viewers in. Sam Raimi gives it the touch that achieves that and proves to make a fairly good supernatural thriller since he takes a David Lynch-esq direction on the tale. The only issue I have with him is that he didn't give Bruce Campbell a cameo like he tends to it his films. But that doesn't make The Gift any less of a film. It just would have made it a bit better if he made a came.

The Gift is a simple story which does quite a bit on a low budget and combines beautiful scenery and fine cinematography with some skilfully timed editing and a great musical score. But above all is the fact that The Gift has a truly skilful cast to carry it to the end.

Cate Blanchett makes a good lead in The Gift. The character she works with is a strange one being a woman with an extrasensory power so Cate Blanchett needs to be able to create a line delivery with a sense of uncertainty to it and facial expressions with the same general sense. She executes it greatly and never misses a beat in her performance. She really proves to have the mindset of an unbalanced character dealing with strange visions, and there is never a dull moment with her because she is always interesting in some way. She is a great lead for The Gift.

Keanu Reeves is a real surprise in The Gift. Even though his best talent as an actor is playing a spaced out teenager or an action hero, in The Gift he manages to work through a weak character and really manage to dominate the screen when he is on it. He has a lot of ferocity in what he does for the character Donnie Barksdale, and his stature combined with his voice articulation is incredibly intimidating. Honestly, The Gift features some of his finest dramatic work, and he makes a powerful impact on the film.

Giovanni Ribisi is just terrific. I've never seen him do better work than he did in The Gift, because what he puts into his part of Buddy Cole is the same talent that Aaron Paul put into his award winning role of Jesse Pinkman in the TV series Breaking Bad. He doesn't have as much of a character to work with or much time to develop him, but his emotional intensity is incredibly raw with strength and he pulls off a really convincing job. Giovanni Ribisi is just terrific in The Gift, even though his role is small.

Hilary Swank's performance as a victimised woman is a strong one too because her honest characteristics make her an open yet troubled person and therefore it is easy to sympathise for her. Her efforts are good and when she talks to Cate Blanchett there is a lot that can be learned about her simply from the physical state of her character.

Gary Cole has a lot of determination in his role as a lawyer to prove himself to the court and the audience that watches him, and his effort is a really strong one. His skills in The Gift prove to be some of his best dramatic skills.

Greg Kinnear pulls off a convincing effort the whole time in The Gift, even if his performance does feel rather routine.

Although her presence onscreen is more notable for her nudity than for her performance, Katie Holmes does a good job in The Gift in the role of Jessica King, making her the object of everyone's affections. This makes her reminiscent of Sheryl Lee's role as Laura Palmer in the masterful surreal television series Twin Peaks, and she is attractive enough to be convincing in the part. Katie Holmes provides a strong supporting role in The Gift.

J.K. Simmons also does a good job.

And lastly, while some people have deemed the ending to be unsatisfactory, I found it to be a good one. It left things open ended and introduced a key theme of surrealism into the film which allows audiences to interpret it as they please and walk away from The Gift really trying to think about it. I don't understand why it was deemed poor, because if David Lynch did it everyone would call him a mastermind, yet when Sam Raimi does it his film is criticised. I don't agree that it is a bad ending, I think it causes viewers to be able to re-examine the film to pick up on the other surreal elements and attempt to piece it all together.

So although The Gift is scattershot with a troubled first act and a very slow pace, it's a well acted and eerie film with interesting ideas to it.