*Some possible spoilers*
I'd heard mixed reviews of this, but being a Sam Raimi fan (well, Evil Dead II+III and A Simple Plan..) I was intrigued enough to go along on a view of the trailer. The story is good, although almost too plain to be gobsmacking. Blanchett is fantastic as Annie Wilson, the widowed Psychic whose dreams give her (often horrific) insights into the future. In fact the shining highlight of this movie is the way Raimi allows us to glimpse into Annie's mind, whilst she is trying to come to terms with the visions that present themselves to her. Annie is wonderfully balanced, kind and level headed and selfless.
When a pillar of the community's sluttish daughter, Jessica King (played by Katie Holmes) goes missing, Annie is visited by the Police as a last resort. She leads them via a dream she has the night after they visit to where her corpse lies in a pond..soon it seems justice has been done, but Annie, via another dream, is convinced that this is not the case. The finale is frantic, but in my view, there was only ever one person who was logically the real killer.. That was the main disappointment. Despite an American Beauty style "oh no..it's too obvious..let's quickly implicate everyone just before the killer's identity is revealed" sequence, there is only momentary doubt with regard to the identity of the guilty party.
However, fantastic performances from most of the cast and good (especially the longer the film goes on) direction mean The Gift is an entertaining movie with a few jump out of your seat moments, but probably not one to watch more than once.
Overall, 7/10.
I'd heard mixed reviews of this, but being a Sam Raimi fan (well, Evil Dead II+III and A Simple Plan..) I was intrigued enough to go along on a view of the trailer. The story is good, although almost too plain to be gobsmacking. Blanchett is fantastic as Annie Wilson, the widowed Psychic whose dreams give her (often horrific) insights into the future. In fact the shining highlight of this movie is the way Raimi allows us to glimpse into Annie's mind, whilst she is trying to come to terms with the visions that present themselves to her. Annie is wonderfully balanced, kind and level headed and selfless.
When a pillar of the community's sluttish daughter, Jessica King (played by Katie Holmes) goes missing, Annie is visited by the Police as a last resort. She leads them via a dream she has the night after they visit to where her corpse lies in a pond..soon it seems justice has been done, but Annie, via another dream, is convinced that this is not the case. The finale is frantic, but in my view, there was only ever one person who was logically the real killer.. That was the main disappointment. Despite an American Beauty style "oh no..it's too obvious..let's quickly implicate everyone just before the killer's identity is revealed" sequence, there is only momentary doubt with regard to the identity of the guilty party.
However, fantastic performances from most of the cast and good (especially the longer the film goes on) direction mean The Gift is an entertaining movie with a few jump out of your seat moments, but probably not one to watch more than once.
Overall, 7/10.