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chapter11 [ 7.5 ]
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Creepy backwoods chiller pits a psychic Cate Blanchett against the murderer of slutty debutante Katie Holmes. Director Sam Raimi's previous feature, "A Simple Plan," beats this one by a mile, but that's a hard movie to follow up, and "The Gift" gives it a solid try. Blanchett's quiet performance is the standout in a wonderful cast including Giovanni Ribisi as a disturbed mama's-boy who murmurs about a "blue diamond" (the scene where we discover the significance of this "blue diamond" is nothing short of disturbing), Hilary Swank as a battered wife, Michael Jeter in a near-cameo as a ruthless, smart-aleck lawyer, and Keanu Reeves as a scruffy, temperamental redneck, who delivers the film's most surprising performance. (He's startlingly good, and almost makes you dispel all those bad things you thought about him when you saw "The Watcher." Almost.) As far as Sam Raimi films go, "The Gift settles comfortably between the ultra-gory slapstick of the "Evil Dead" films ("The Gift" is, similarly, about the supernatural, but shows about 150% more restraint than those low-budget classics) and the beautiful, morally complex "A Simple Plan." Chilling and admirably low-key.
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Stitch [ 8.0 ]
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Smart, cunning little thriller that boasts a couple of very strong performances from Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves. Cate is always good and this is one of the best Keanu performances I've seen. He plays it against type as a redneck, wife-beater that may or may not have committed a heinous murder. Well written by Billy Bob Thornton and tightly directed by Sam Raimi. Very suspenseful and scary without being gory or going for the cheap thrill (ie. a cat jumping out of the shadows, etc...) Solid movie making. Worth a trip to the theater.
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crreig [ 5.0 ]
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The Gift is a bore and, despite strong performances by Cate Blanchett and Greg Kinnear, falls on its face. The direction was fine, I suppose, but given the setting I expected much more of Sam Raimi. The mood was under-developed and, importantly, Annie's visions felt unconvinicing. Giovanni Robisi's character seemed like a parody of the well-meaning simpleton; this is the fault of both the writing and his acting. If, like many of my friends, you are excited by the prospect of Katie Holmes topless, I recommend downloading some stills online. It's not worth your time otherwise.
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| Weighted Rating | : 6.1 |
| No. Ratings | : 12 | |
| No. Reviews | : 4 | |
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