Sam Raimi avoids the camp of the "Evil Dead" trilogy to deliver some serious scares in "The Gift," a Southern-Gothic ESP thriller that stars Cate Blanchett in the role of Annie, a psychic living in a small town.
When local flake Jessica King (Katie Holmes) gets murdered, Annie's sixth sense acts up, leading the authorities to one man: resident wife-beater and town redneck Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves). Of course, Donnie's not the one who done it, and with her power under scrutiny, Annie must find the real killer before she, too, becomes a victim.
The strength of this movie is that it avoids the pitfalls of modern horror films. First of all, Annie isn't the usual ditzy, flaky, slutty heroine, who along with her group of dumb friends has a total IQ of 50. She behaves in an admirable and most of all, INTELLIGENT way.
It's probably not too hard to figure out who the real killer is, but there are fun -- if maybe typically "Southern-Gothic" -- characters to follow, including town headcase Buddy (Giovonni Ribisi), who -- with the help of Annie -- is trying to dredge up old memories that might hold the key to his fractured mind.
Donnie's beaten wife, Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank) puts Annie and her three boys in danger when she keeps showing up despite volatile Donnie's threats. Meanwhile, the victim's haggard fiance Wayne (Greg Kinnear) tries to carry on the best way he can.
Secondly, the jump-scares are pretty well-thought-out, not childish and predictable like in a lot of horror films. Call me crazy, but of all the scares scattered throughout the film -- the dripping blood, the waterlogged corpse, the surprise attack by the real killer, and the dream-sequence fiddler -- scared the f**k out of me.
Overall, "The Gift" is a fun thriller which occasionally hints at something more meaningful. The whole cast (including Keanu Reeves) performs admirably, and are backed by a solid script (co-written by Billy Bob Thornton) and Sam Raimi's directing. It is unfairly dismissed by audiences and deserves more attention than it gets.
Good review Sarah. It's a bit campy, but still fun in the way that it toys with what it wants you think, and what is true. Also, great to see Keanu acting like an unapologetic nut.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said about Keanu as an unapologetic nut. I couldn't agree more!
DeleteGood review, Sarah. This movie is actually one of my favorites. I really like all the performances, especially Keanu Reaves as bat-crap crazy Donnie Barksdale. I also love the Southern Gothic vibe, the quirkiness and craziness, and the spiritual overtones. When Billy Bob Thornton is on top of his game, as a screenwriter, he is outstanding.
ReplyDeleteDon't know how I missed this one, Cate Blanchett, Hilary Swank and Keanu Reeves are actors I'm a bit partial too ... thanks for the review, it's going on my watch list!
ReplyDeleteGreat review Sarah!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my Fav Keanu's movie and I think this is his best performance ever.
I like the story because it doesn't exagerate things like most sixth sense movie
I really liked Reeves in this film. I thought he was great and would love to see him tackle more roles like this one. Maybe his talents lie in playing bad guys? It's something that he doesn't often do.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this one in a long time! I do like Cate Blanchett.
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