A gifted cast but is that all? (The Gift (DVD))

Member Name: Calexico

Product:	The Gift (DVD)
Date:	28/03/02 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Spot on Casting , Good material detail and character development, Blanchett herself deserves a plus

Disadvantages: Not much of a story - predictable, Should've reconsidered casting Holmes... but then again it worked for the Dawson fans.

Sam Raimi's 'The Gift' has taken a fair amount of slagging off which i can understand as it is fairly controversial and if there is no interest in the 'supernatural' then this one is definitely not for you, although having said that, there may be some hope kept alive only by the amazing cast who really act (something many new faces on our screens these days, are unfamiliar with) to their full potential, really bringing the characters alive.

I am biased as i am interested in Wicca and Supernatural subjects, and although it was fictional, i found 'The Gift' an intriguing watch.

Set in the small town of Brixton, Georgia, 'The Gift' tells a story of a woman with a gift. Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) is a beautiful, widowed mother of three, blessed with physic abilities to help others. She is a loving character and she respects her surroundings, helping the people she cares for whenever she can. She understands people and often her friends turn to her to talk to, sharing their troubles which, added to the already difficuly position of an insomniac attempting to raise three children, living on social services after the tragic death of her husband at a work incident the year before, results in the appearance of her frail character.

She is very strong willed and is a very loyal character but she is deeply troubled by her friend - Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank) and her volatile, abusive husband. She stands by her friend and strongly dislikes Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves who actually makes a suprisingly convincing psycho redneck) but she is sensible and tries to keep herself to herself. Of course this provokes Donnie more and she constantly has trouble from him but she learns to live life with him in it, contenting herself with earning the bare minimum by doing 'readings' for the townsfolk (including Valerie despite a forbidding husband).

Annie's gift is to see certain things in her readi
ngs of the cards, sometimes in her dreams she is haunted by more extreme visions which she cannot control.
When Jessica King (Katie Holmes - Suprisingly unconvincing) - the rich *coughslutahem* daughter of Kenneth King goes missing, Annie finds herself unwillingly caught up in the incident when her 'gift' forces her to speak up about her gifts, to a lot of cynical listeners.

Of course you think about it. Some rich girl goes missing, who you all know's been sleeping with virtually everyone in the town. Then the town 'witch' who's convinced she's got some psyhic power, says she knows where the body is. Oh look it's there! and it's in the land owned by the butch lad giving her trouble. Hmm... yes! So as expected she meets a lot of conflict, not to mention her very troubled young friend - Buddy Cole (Giovanni Ribisi) who is the stereotypical, deeply wounded in his childhood, shaky boy with a slightly 'off' mental state.

Ok the characters are overly stereotypical, the story is predictable but again, the beautiful casting really does this movie justice. A movie like this can't expect much credibility, maybe the little for the big names chucked in, but the cast is mainly the only appeal.
Blanchett put up a (almost expected) talented and beautiful performance as the burdened Annie, and comes across perfectly - image, character, accent, the whole lot.
Ribisi's also looks and fits the part of Buddy and i have to say, this is the best performance from him that i've seen (hmm... comes close to Phoebe's pyromaniac brother but nah i think this takes the top)
Swank - so i'm not her biggest fan but she was a good match for her part and didn't let down the rest of the cast.
Holmes topless? Come one that's gotta attract at least half the male population.
I didn't expect much of her and didn't get much but hey, it's lil joey from dawson's creek!
Reeves
- before watching the film, i was trying to work up an image of keanu, 70s surfer from Bill and Ted as a violent 'pyscho redneck' but as i said before - a very convincing, suprisingly good performance from him.

So i'm rambled and bambled and haven't really gone anywhere. In a nutshell, Blanchett, Ribisi, Holmes or any of the major cast, fans, maybe people interested in the alternative side of the supernatural and wicca may find this an interesting watch. If you aren't interested in any of the above and are just looking for an entertaining laugh, try Armagedon - place your bids on whether King Jaw/Affleck will get squashed by the big rock (or the lil one).

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