THE GIFT

With Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank
Directed by Sam Raimi

Good to know that Raimi (creator of the marvelous Evil Dead trilogy) hasn’t lost his touch, what with lengthy weepy baseball love stories like For Love Of The Game & all. Billy Bob Thornton as one of the co-writers creates a backwater white trash Southern atmosphere as backdrop with its humid presence a striking one. Blanchett, with a well-simulated accent, convincingly portrays the role of a widow (with three sons) who has a clairvoyant gift, doing readings for people in their quiet town. One client is a troubled young man (wonderfully played by Ribisi) and an abused wife (by Oscar winner Hilary Swank). The redneck husband (Reeves) finds out and starts to threaten her. Things get eerie when our “fortune teller” gets premonitions and one of her boys’ teacher’s fiance turns up missing. Murder and dark secrets ooze out of the swamp as she “sees” where the body might be found. So, you can expect the killer not to leave her be. Some red herrings and cheap shock tactics are sparsely, but well executed throughout the film while its incorporation of suspense-, dramatic-, thriller-, horror- as well as who-dunnit elements on top of the moderate to fine performances blend well, regardless of some predictable results.

4 / C
- PB

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