The Gift backdrop
The Gift poster

THE GIFT

2000 US HMDB
December 22, 2000

Annie Wilson, young widow and mother of three, makes her living foretelling others' futures⁠—though her own has become cloudier than even she can see. Threatened by a client's violent husband and plagued by visions of a missing local woman, Annie finds herself pulled into a thicket of lies and deception in which her extraordinary gift may ultimately get her killed.

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Crew

Production: James Jacks (Producer)Gary Lucchesi (Producer)Tom Rosenberg (Producer)Richard S. Wright (Producer)Grant Curtis (Producer)Sean Daniel (Executive Producer)Gregory Goodman (Executive Producer)Ted Tannebaum (Executive Producer)Robert Tapert (Executive Producer)
Screenplay: Billy Bob Thornton (Screenplay)Tom Epperson (Screenplay)
Music: Christopher Young (Original Music Composer)
Cinematography: Jamie Anderson (Director of Photography)

REVIEWS (1)

Marco Castellini
In a small town in the American province, Annie, a young widow with three small children to support, finds the money to live thanks to her "job" as a medium, reading the cards to her fellow citizens with her special extrasensory powers. When, suddenly, the tranquility of the country is broken by the disappearance of a girl, the local police decide to ask Annie for help to discover what happened to the young woman. Annie's perceptions are, however, rather confused and finding the true culprit will not be easy… After the shock caused to his fans for having seen him "busy" directing Kevin Conster in the cloying and sentimental "Love Game" Raimi ("The House", "Army of Darkness", "Darkman") finally returns to a genre more suited to his directing career by directing a supernatural-themed thriller. Starring a cast of great respect, with actors of the caliber of Cate Blanchett ("Elizabeth"), Giovanni Ribisi ("Gone in 60 Seconds"), Keanu Reeves ("Matrix"), Kathie Holmes ("Wonder Boys") and Hilary Swank ("Boys Don't Cry"), "The Gift" is a tense and intriguing giallo that, without needing to use scenes of particular violence or cruelty, nevertheless manages to create moments of suspense and tension (especially during Annie's "visions"), thanks above all to the support of a solid and inspired direction. It's a shame that the film is limited in its potential by some "over-the-top" sequences (especially those that take place in court) that weigh down and slow the pace without adding anything new to the plot, and by a rather banal ending. However, all in all, a positive "return" for one of the masters of the genre.
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Wuchak

Wuchak

7 /10

Whodunnit Southern Gothic with Cate Blanchett

In a town near coastal Georgia, a widow (Cate Blanchett) struggles to make ends meet with her three boys via her psychic abilities. When a young woman goes missing (Katie Holmes), the authorities ask her for assistance. Greg Kinnear, Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank, Giovanni Ribisi, Gary Cole and JK Simmons are all on hand.

“The Gift” (2001) meshes plot elements of “Resurrection” (1980) with the setting or tone of “Murder in Coweta County,” “The General’s Daughter” and a little “Cape Fear” (1991). You can’t beat the cast and the Southern town ambiance is great, plus the flawed characters are nicely fleshed-out.

There are no less than five possibilities of who the culprit is and, with 20 minutes to go, it becomes clear who it is. Regrettably, it’s just so cliched and contrived I rolled my eyes, not to mention it ‘steals’ the hope of the viewer. I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to give anything away.

Still, if you can roll with that banal element, it’s a quality drama with a worthy point. Both Cate and Holmes are fetching in a girl-next-door kind of way.

It runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot in the Savannah area (Guyton, Thunderbolt and Springfield).

GRADE: B-/B

Reviews provided by TMDB