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The Gift (2001)
Front Cover Actor
Cate Blanchett
Giovanni Ribisi
Keanu Reeves
Katie Holmes
Greg Kinnear
Hilary Swank
Michael Jeter
Kim Dickens
Gary Cole
Rosemary Harris
Movie Details
Genre Horror
Director Sam Raimi
Studio Paramount Pictures
Language English
Audience Rating R (Restricted)
Running Time 111 mins
Color Color
Plot
Take a pinch of psychic phenomenon, add a dash of Southern gothic, stir in a sharp cast of talented actors, and you'll come up with The Gift, director Sam Raimi's ingenious gumbo of a thriller. It doesn't hold together as well as Raimi's earlier A Simple Plan, but the two films are stylistically connected--The Gift was cowritten (with Tom Epperson) by A Simple Plan's costar, Billy Bob Thornton, who in turn draws from the Deep South milieu that informed his own Sling Blade and his earlier collaboration with Epperson, One False Move. A similar sense of mystery permeates The Gift, in which a small-town Georgia psychic (perfectly played by Cate Blanchett) is tormented by tragic loss and visions connected to the murder of a local vamp (Katie Holmes) whose schoolteacher fiance (Greg Kinnear) is a prime suspect.

Other suspects include a hot-tempered bully (Keanu Reeves) whose battered wife (Hilary Swank) is one of the psychic's regular clients, and a traumatized local (Giovanni Ribisi) who is tenuously stabilized by therapy and antidepressants. While this trio of potential killers keeps the mystery alive, the requisite red herrings don't add much to the film's low-level suspense. Instead, Raimi is far more effective in creating an atmosphere of anxious dread that wells up from each of these finely drawn characters, starting with the widow psychic's extended mourning for her lost husband, the agonized terror of a beaten wife, and the percolating anger of a cuckolded spouse. All of this makes The Gift a worthy showcase for its esteemed cast, even as its plot twists grow increasingly familiar. --Jeff Shannon

Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 54
Collection Status In Collection
Purchase Price $10.00
Condition Excellent
Links Amazon US
Product Details
Edition Widescreen DVD Collection
Format DVD
Region Region 1
Screen Ratio 1.85:1
097363289548
Release Date 17/7/2001
Subtitles Hard of hearing English
Packaging Keep Case
Standard Features Interactive Menus
Interviews
Scene Selection
Theatrical Trailers
Audio Tracks English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1
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