"The Gift" is
a fairly typical suspense thriller made not so
typical by the performances of lead Cate
Blanchett as Annie Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi as
Buddy Cole and Keanu Reeves (Really!) as Donnie
Barksdale.
Australian born Blanchett is simply wonderful
here as a Southern woman struggling to get by
after the tragic death of her husband...she
supplements her income by doing readings for
townsfolk. Blanchett inhabits the character of
Wilson...her pain, her frustration, her fear and
conviction. Her scenes with Ribisi are achingly
beautiful...and her scenes with Reeves, as an
abusing spouse who begins threatening Blanchett
when he realizes that Blanchett is urging his
wife to leave him, are suspenseful, frightening
and powerful.
Hilary Swank does a nice job as the abused wife,
but it is Reeves...with his beard and moustache,
who completely stuns here as he clearly relishes
the opportunity to go against his type in
casting. Reeves is frightening and dark in this
role.
Ribisi, on other hand, has most of the film's
truly powerful scenes...as an adult clearly
struggling to overcome his childhood, Ribisi's
performance is haunting and convincing. His
scene confronting Reeves is almost cosmically
wonderful.
In other roles, Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes,
Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons and Michael Jeter
all do a nice job and are great compliments to
the cast. An additional, smaller, performance by
Gary Cole is also a shiner here...Cole, who I'm
used to seeing in comedic roles shines as a
lawyer here.
The film is directed by Sam Raimi...and a lot of
the wonderful qualities he adds to most of his
films are present here. You have suspense,
action but with a tremendous humanity. These
characters are characters you care about...you
feel them...like or dislike...approve or
disapprove.
The film is also scripted by Billy Bob Thornton
and Tom Epperson. While I'd consider the script
the weaker link here, there's still something
positive. The characters, while not surrounded
by a solid plot...nonetheless, are well
developed and intriguing. You can even watch for
a cameo by noted score composer and former Oingo
Boingo frontman Danny Elfman.
"The Gift" is not a must-see film, but it is a
film worth watching. The individual performances
are powerful, convincing and bring out
outstanding performances by Blanchett, Ribisi
and Reeves.
©
Written by Richard Propes
TC Candler's Comment
N/A
Jacob
Hall's Comment
N/A
