Annie has the gift. Some fear her others claim shes a witch. But now a murder has been committed and only she can solve it. On a twisted trail of open infidelity and jealous rage she sees visions that will haunt her and discovers a truth that will tear the town apart. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/24/2006 Starring: Cate Blanchett Keanu Reeves Run time: 111 minutes Rating: R Director: Sam Raimi
Take a pinch of psychic phenomenon, add a dash of Southern gothic, stir in a sharp cast of talented actors, and you'll come up with The Gift, director Sam Raimi's ingenious gumbo of a thriller. It doesn't hold together as well as Raimi's earlier A Simple Plan, but the two films are stylistically connected--The Gift was cowritten (with Tom Epperson) by A Simple Plan's costar, Billy Bob Thornton, who in turn draws from the Deep South milieu that informed his own Sling Blade and his earlier collaboration with Epperson, One False Move. A similar sense of mystery permeates The Gift, in which a small-town Georgia psychic (perfectly played by Cate Blanchett) is tormented by tragic loss and visions connected to the murder of a local vamp (Katie Holmes) whose schoolteacher fiancé (Greg Kinnear) is a prime suspect.
Other suspects include a hot-tempered bully (Keanu Reeves) whose battered wife (Hilary Swank) is one of the psychic's regular clients, and a traumatized local (Giovanni Ribisi) who is tenuously stabilized by therapy and antidepressants. While this trio of potential killers keeps the mystery alive, the requisite red herrings don't add much to the film's low-level suspense. Instead, Raimi is far more effective in creating an atmosphere of anxious dread that wells up from each of these finely drawn characters, starting with the widow psychic's extended mourning for her lost husband, the agonized terror of a beaten wife, and the percolating anger of a cuckolded spouse. All of this makes The Gift a worthy showcase for its esteemed cast, even as its plot twists grow increasingly familiar. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Honest Film About A Southern Taboo:
This movie was made in Savannah, Ga. If you saw Midnight In The Garden, you are already aware of the 'other' presence there of magic, obeah and other supernatural events. Ribisi is just incredible in this film. I really like this guy enormously. He gives 1000 percent in every performance. Ms. Blanchett shines as the gal with the gift. While the story is very over the top, all of the people depicted are right on. I did get a few phone calls from back home (Savannah) asking me if I had anything to do with... more info
Visions And Portents...:
Small town psychic reader, Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy) finds herself caught up in the storm caused by the disappearance of a young woman (Katie Holmes), her impossibly nice fiancé (Greg Kinnear), a wife-beater and his victim (Keanu Reaves and Hilary Swank), and a mentally ill tow-truck driver (Giovanni Ribisi). Annie is the central figure, using her gift to help the police locate the missing girl. Unfortunately, nothing is as it seems, and everyone's a suspect!... more info
I thought The Gift was a excellent film!:
Sam Rami, better known for directing the "Evil Dead" and "Spiderman" series of films, did a gem of a movie several years ago with a cast that included two Oscar winners (Cate Blanchett and Hilary Swank) and Oscar-nominated Greg Kinnear. Keanu Reeves, in one of his better performances, is in it, along with Giovanni Ribisi, Katie Holmes and Michael Jeter. What an all-star cast! If that wasn't enough, Oscar winner, Billy Bob Thornton, and Tom Epperson wrote the script. What they created was something very... more info
Psychic + Murder:
A thoroughly enjoyable and suspenseful story with an outstanding cast of mighty fine actors, this movie is laced with a few twists and turns. It begins in the South, around the swamplands in Alabama, I believe. Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchette) is a widow with 3 boys to raise. Her husband died about a year ago. She gets a small Social Security check and supplements it with donations she receives for giving (psychic) card readings for the local people. Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank) is one of her fairly... more info
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