I've returned to the realm of movies I have actually seen before with the 2000 film, "The Gift," as I'd seen this one sometime in college.
As always, maximum spoilers ahead.
Unlike several of the last entries, "The Gift" is actually not terrible and a lot of that has to do with this amazing cast that includes:
Cate Blanchett (Two time Oscar winner as well as a number of other nominations and tons of other awards)
Greg Kinnear (Oscar and Emmy nominee)
Hillary Swank (Two Time Oscar winner)
Gary Cole (You might know him as Lumbergh from "Office Space" or I don't know, a thousand other things)
JK Simmons (Oscar Winner)
Giovanni Ribisi (Noted weirdo)
Katie Holmes (Notably topless in this movie)
And of course, our hero, Keanu Reeves
Unfortunately, all of the great performances only translate to a passable if not spectacular movie.
Cate Blanchett plays Annie, a fortune teller/psychic/person with general supernatural abilities, who lives in a small town in the south. We know it's a small town in the south because everyone (including Keanu, who I will get to momentarily) is sporting a range of southern accents, as well as multiple shots of the Confederate flag.
Annie's husband has died prior to the events of the movie, so she makes a living giving psychic readings to the locals, including Hillary Swank who happens to be sporting the single worst haircut in any movie I've seen so far.
 |
| Business up front, party in the rear |
Hillary Swank also happens to be married to Keanu Reeves as Donnie Barksdale. Donnie is not a huge fan of the supernatural, psychics or women in general, and is apparently known as the town wife-beater.
Okay, time to take a pause to talk specifically about Keanu Reeves in this one.
First of all, I've been really hard on the guy to this point for his accent work in a bunch of movies:
"The Devil's Advocate" - just a horrible accent that constantly goes in and out.
"Dracula" - an English accent that is...it's just really bad.
"Tune in Tomorrow" - a movie I'd never like to think about again, but also sporting a really shitty southern accent that changes scene to scene.
That said, in "The Gift," his backwoods redneck accent actually works. I don't know if he got a dialogue coach or if it was just being surrounded by a litany of other talented performers, but Keanu's accent in this one is actually good. Finally.
Second, Keanu Reeves, much like everyone else in this movie, is excellent. This is what particularly bothered me about the last movie I watched, "The Watcher." In that movie he was supposed to be a terrifying serial killer but as stated previously, was about as scary as Hello Kitty. Unlike that role, Keanu is legitimately scary in this movie as Donnie Barksdale. He stalks Cate Blanchett, threatens her kids, beats up THREE different women in about 20 minutes of screen time, drops a handful of racial slurs, and is genuinely scary.
 |
| You'd probably pull a gun on Giovanni Ribisi too |
As a viewer, we hate Donnie Barksdale. He is a bad dude and if not for his hatred of black people, might have been a great enforcer for his long-lost cousin in Baltimore. You know, this guy:
Anyway, a little more plot synopsis so you don't actually have to go watch this movie -
Greg Kinnear is the principal at Annie's kid's elementary school and he's engaged to Katie Holmes who is basically the town hussy. At a party one night at a country club (Cate Blanchett literally has no reason to be there so they write in a friend that dragged her along), Annie walks in on Katie Holmes having sex with Gary Cole in a coat closet and then goes off to have a nice conversation with Greg Kinnear about nothing important.
We later learn that that same night, Katie Holmes goes off and bangs Donnie Barksdale as well, and that's not even to mention the scenes of her overt flirtations with just about everyone at the party including, grossly, her own father. So yeah, she's not the most sympathetic of characters but she also doesn't deserve to die.
Which is exactly what happens next. Through a series of dreams and visions, Cate Blanchett eventually leads the cops to Donnie's property where Katie holmes is dredged up from the river.
There's a really shitty mini courtroom drama in the middle of the movie, where Keanu Reeves is on trial for her murder, but it's pretty obvious to anyone that's been paying any attention whatsoever that he's not the killer and that Greg Kinnear is.
There's also a subplot about Giovanni Ribisi and the sexual trauma he endured as a child, which is wrapped up when he kills his father in front of Annie by setting him on fire.
Eventually Cate Blanchett ends up at the murder scene with Greg Kinnear where "her gift" shows her exactly what happened that night and how he murdered Katie Holmes. But, in an extremely stupid twist, she is saved from being murdered herself by Giovanni Ribisi who we find out a few minutes later is in fact dead, meaning that she was saved by his ghost.
It's really fucking stupid.
That said, this movie is certainly passable, helped in large part to the really great performances by everyone involved. Giovanni Ribisi, who I do not generally like, is actually really good in this as the town's disturbed weirdo mechanic, and even some of the people with smaller roles like Katie Holmes and JK Simmons are also pretty good. Oh, and also there's this:
Greg Kinnear is the principal at Annie's kid's elementary school and he's engaged to Katie Holmes who is basically the town hussy. At a party one night at a country club (Cate Blanchett literally has no reason to be there so they write in a friend that dragged her along), Annie walks in on Katie Holmes having sex with Gary Cole in a coat closet and then goes off to have a nice conversation with Greg Kinnear about nothing important.
We later learn that that same night, Katie Holmes goes off and bangs Donnie Barksdale as well, and that's not even to mention the scenes of her overt flirtations with just about everyone at the party including, grossly, her own father. So yeah, she's not the most sympathetic of characters but she also doesn't deserve to die.
Which is exactly what happens next. Through a series of dreams and visions, Cate Blanchett eventually leads the cops to Donnie's property where Katie holmes is dredged up from the river.
There's a really shitty mini courtroom drama in the middle of the movie, where Keanu Reeves is on trial for her murder, but it's pretty obvious to anyone that's been paying any attention whatsoever that he's not the killer and that Greg Kinnear is.
There's also a subplot about Giovanni Ribisi and the sexual trauma he endured as a child, which is wrapped up when he kills his father in front of Annie by setting him on fire.
Eventually Cate Blanchett ends up at the murder scene with Greg Kinnear where "her gift" shows her exactly what happened that night and how he murdered Katie Holmes. But, in an extremely stupid twist, she is saved from being murdered herself by Giovanni Ribisi who we find out a few minutes later is in fact dead, meaning that she was saved by his ghost.
It's really fucking stupid.
That said, this movie is certainly passable, helped in large part to the really great performances by everyone involved. Giovanni Ribisi, who I do not generally like, is actually really good in this as the town's disturbed weirdo mechanic, and even some of the people with smaller roles like Katie Holmes and JK Simmons are also pretty good. Oh, and also there's this:
Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that this was directed by Sam Raimi, who, you know, actually makes pretty good movies.
Just a few side notes before wrapping this up:
*Out of absolutely nowhere, Chelcie Ross shows up in this movie. You're probably asking, who the hell is Chelcie Ross and what the fuck kind of name is Chelcie? Well, he's this guy!
In case you're not already aware, that's Colonel Oates from "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey."
*This movie featured an uncomfortable amount of violence against women, all of which is perpetrated by Keanu as Donnie Barksdale. Well, in addition of course to the murder of Katie Holmes. In about 20 minutes, Donnie beats up his wife, punches Cate Blanchett in the stomach (right in front of a bunch of cops no less) and punches Katie Holmes in the face in a flashback sequence. The movie was written by Billy Bob Thornton, so I can only hope he's no harboring some deep-seeded resentment towards women.
*The town this takes place in really hates psychics. Even after Annie's visions lead them directly to Katie Holmes' dead body, the chief of police (JK Simmons) is so ridiculously dismissive of her abilities. Like dude, she led you to a dead body at the bottom of a pond!
Box Office Information: $12 Million Domestic/$32 Million International for $44 Million Worldwide on a budget of $10 Million ($19 Million domestic inflation adjusted). I think I really don't understand how movies work, how did they snag all of these stars and film this thing for $10 Million? I guess due to the low budget it was a financial success, but $12 Million domestic is nothing to brag about. Released near the end of 2000, this was just the 132nd highest grossing movie of 2001.
Rotten Tomatoes: 57% Critics/55% Audience. I mean, this feels about right even though I liked it a little more than this.
IMDB: 6.6
My Movie Rating: 6.5/10. There's a lot to like about this, namely the outstanding performances by just about everyone involved, but the story is utterly predictable and I can't express how much I hated the part where Annie is saved by a ghost at the end.
Keanu Rating: 10/10. Seriously, he's as good in this movie as I remembered him being. It's incredible the night and day difference between this and "The Watcher," and I'd honestly like to see him as a villain in more movies, even though I don't think there are a lot of them left.
Up Next: Another romantic movie (I think) where he's reunited with his wife from "The Devil's Advocate," Charlize Theron. I can't say I'm excited about it!
Just a few side notes before wrapping this up:
*Out of absolutely nowhere, Chelcie Ross shows up in this movie. You're probably asking, who the hell is Chelcie Ross and what the fuck kind of name is Chelcie? Well, he's this guy!
In case you're not already aware, that's Colonel Oates from "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey."
*This movie featured an uncomfortable amount of violence against women, all of which is perpetrated by Keanu as Donnie Barksdale. Well, in addition of course to the murder of Katie Holmes. In about 20 minutes, Donnie beats up his wife, punches Cate Blanchett in the stomach (right in front of a bunch of cops no less) and punches Katie Holmes in the face in a flashback sequence. The movie was written by Billy Bob Thornton, so I can only hope he's no harboring some deep-seeded resentment towards women.
*The town this takes place in really hates psychics. Even after Annie's visions lead them directly to Katie Holmes' dead body, the chief of police (JK Simmons) is so ridiculously dismissive of her abilities. Like dude, she led you to a dead body at the bottom of a pond!
Box Office Information: $12 Million Domestic/$32 Million International for $44 Million Worldwide on a budget of $10 Million ($19 Million domestic inflation adjusted). I think I really don't understand how movies work, how did they snag all of these stars and film this thing for $10 Million? I guess due to the low budget it was a financial success, but $12 Million domestic is nothing to brag about. Released near the end of 2000, this was just the 132nd highest grossing movie of 2001.
Rotten Tomatoes: 57% Critics/55% Audience. I mean, this feels about right even though I liked it a little more than this.
IMDB: 6.6
My Movie Rating: 6.5/10. There's a lot to like about this, namely the outstanding performances by just about everyone involved, but the story is utterly predictable and I can't express how much I hated the part where Annie is saved by a ghost at the end.
Keanu Rating: 10/10. Seriously, he's as good in this movie as I remembered him being. It's incredible the night and day difference between this and "The Watcher," and I'd honestly like to see him as a villain in more movies, even though I don't think there are a lot of them left.
Up Next: Another romantic movie (I think) where he's reunited with his wife from "The Devil's Advocate," Charlize Theron. I can't say I'm excited about it!
No comments:
Post a Comment