THE
GIFT DVD FEATURES
Region Reviewed: Region 2
Number of Discs: 1
Sound: Dolby Digital
5.1
Picture: 1.85:1
Anamorphic
Special
Features: Featurette,
Interviews with cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear,
Hilary Swank, Giovanni Ribisi and Director, Sam Raimi,
trailer, TV and radio spots and animated menus. |
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The
Gift Plot:
In a nutshell. Small town America, a girl goes missing, turns
up dead and the local law enforcement turn to a psychic widow
in the form of Cate Blanchett in order to solve the murder.
The
Gift Review:
Another supernatural thriller, another Sixth Sense rip off
right? Well, hmm sort of. The thing is The Gift is an all
right movie. It boasts an all star cast in which most, if
not all of its key actors give relatively good performances.
And yes, I include Keanu Reeves in that bracket too. The film
is a character driven piece, and without the aforementioned
good performances from its actors, well, I don't think The
Gift would have been half as entertaining. The story we've
all seen before. Think The Sixth Sense meets The Evil Dead
meets you're average whodunit film where you always guess
straight away...... whodunit!
The good things about the film? Well, as I said, all of the
actors are great, in particular Cate Blanchett who carries
most of the film herself. Most of the story is told through
her character. She's utterly convincing as Annie, the local
psychic, who helps the police to track down the person responsible
for the murder of a local girl. She shows an emotional side
to her character as she struggles with her inner demons, i.e..
Coping with the death of her husband, dealing with her sons
inability to progress at school because of the loss of his
father and indeed with her 'gift'. Supporting, well I loved
Giovanni Ribisi in the film. I loved Greg Kinnear, who again
delivers a great performance once again, but for me The Gift
will be remembered for displaying a different side to Keanu
Reeves's acting ability. Yes, he's really quite good as the
wife beating adulterer Donnie Barksdale and is himself really
quite scary in places. Hilary Swank, she the Oscar winner
from Boys Don't Cry, is also fantastic but boy, the clothes
she wears in this movie!
And so, the bad points. For me, well, it didn't really grab
my attention all that much and the film is very slow to get
things going. The murdered body is discovered literally an
hour in almost, and I felt that it spent too much time introducing
us the many characters featured in the film. I agree, for
this type of film it is necessary, but to be honest I was
bored right up until the point of the 'discovery'. Raimi,
usually a director whise movies I love to watch, is actually
quite boring in the way that he has handled this. His direction
is simply average. Where are all of those weird/ interesting
camera angles seen in such movies as The Evil Dead or more
recently The Quick & The Dead? Not here. A tad disappointing
since he was (for me) the major draw. Billy Bob Thornton and
Tom Epperson's script is quite witty in places. I love the
line where Blanchett's son in the film asks he was the word
'Fuck' means. She simply replies 'It's a bad word for something
that's good', or something like that. Made me chuckle. The
thing that let the story down was that it was so PREDICTABLE!
It tries to deliver the obligatory twist at the end, but,
in no uncertain terms did I find myself feeling as satisfied
as I did after watching The Sixth Sense or The Others for
the first time.
The Gift is merely an okay thriller. It's not all that scary,
sure there are a few jumpy bits during some sequences, but
that's it. It's boosted by the players' performances, and
as I said, each actor makes the most of the material. So don't
expect anything special.
The Gift Disc Review: Picture
quality on the disc is average with colours looking very washed
out in some scenes. The best thing about the disc is the Dolby
5.1 sound. Check out the sound of birds chirping through the
surrounds and front channels about half way in where Blanchett
is outside of her house speaking to her baby-sitter. Not a
bad soundtrack at all. Extras are minimal with the okayish
interviews with the main actors and director Raimi. The interview
and featurette both include similar material and reveal far
too much about the plot. So watch the film before you check
out the extras. There is also the theatrical trailer plus
TV spots, but surprise, surprise, no Raimi commentary. Average.
Overall Rating - MOVIE: 3/5
- DISC: 2/5
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