The Gift is a 2000 American supernatural thriller film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson and based on the alleged psychic experiences of Thornton's mother.
The film centers on Annie (Cate Blanchett) becoming involved in a murder case as a result of acquiring keen knowledge about the crime through her extrasensory perception. Other major characters are played by Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, and Greg Kinnear.
Video The Gift (2000 film)
Plot
In the town of Brixton, Georgia, widow Annie Wilson is the resident fortune-teller who possesses extrasensory perception. Jessica King (Holmes), the fiancée of local school teacher Wayne Collins (Kinnear) disappears.
Annie eventually receives a vision revealing that Jessica has been killed and her corpse thrown into a pond. She informs local sheriff Pearl Johnson (J.K. Simmons) of her vision and with this information, and despite his skepticism, Johnson searches a pond at the estate of Donnie Barksdale (Reeves), the violent husband of one of Annie's clients named Valerie (Swank). He had previously threatened Annie and her kids for Annie advising his wife to leave him. Valerie permits the search while Donnie is absent from their residence, but the latter returns while the search is proceeding. The police find Jessica's corpse in the pond and Donnie is arrested for her murder.
During his trial for Jessica's murder, it is revealed that Jessica and Barksdale had an affair. The case against Barksdale is strengthened when evidence supporting that Barksdale is the murderer is discovered; Annie also takes the stand and Donnie is eventually convicted and sent to prison.
Buddy Cole (Ribisi), an acquaintance of Annie's, harbors a hatred for his father. The former tries to explain to Annie why he hates his father but Annie is preoccupied and refuses to listen to the explanation of the vulgar, agitated Buddy. That evening, Buddy's mother calls Annie to come to their house as Buddy has snapped and has his father bound to a chair. Buddy sets his father on fire and it is then revealed that Buddy's father sexually abused him as a child. Buddy is eventually taken to a mental hospital.
Later, Annie receives another vision divulging that Donnie is innocent. She asks prosecutor David Duncan (Gary Cole) to reopen the case. After Duncan declines, Annie counters that if he does not do so she will reveal Duncan and Jessica's sexual activity which she witnessed. Duncan attempts to bribe Annie in exchange for her silence, but Annie refuses, only wanting justice for Barksdale.
Annie tells Collins that Barksdale is not responsible for Jessica's death and that Duncan will not reopen the investigation. At Collins suggestion he and Annie drive out to the pond that night where Annie learns from a vision that Collins is actually Jessica's murderer. Collins confesses to Annie that he was angry after he discovered that she was cheating on him. Collins attempts to kill Annie - striking her in the head with a flashlight - knowing that she will inform the police about killing his fiancée, but Buddy appears and knocks him out. Annie and Buddy lock the unconscious Collins in the trunk of Annie's car.
To stop her head wound from bleeding, Buddy returns to Annie a handkerchief that she had lent him earlier. The two drive to the police station with Collins stowed in the trunk. Annie tells Buddy that he will have to return to the mental hospital and he waits in the car while she enters the station to talk with Sheriff Johnson. When she returns to the car with the police to retrieve Collins from the trunk, Buddy has disappeared. When Annie explains to Johnson what happened at the pond, he informs her that Buddy could not have aided her as he had committed suicide at the mental hospital earlier that day. However, Annie still has the handkerchief that Buddy returned to her.
Maps The Gift (2000 film)
Cast
- Cate Blanchett as Annabelle "Annie" Wilson
- Giovanni Ribisi as Buddy Cole
- Keanu Reeves as Donnie Barksdale
- Katie Holmes as Jessica King
- Greg Kinnear as Wayne Collins
- Hilary Swank as Valerie Barksdale
- Michael Jeter as Gerald Weems
- Kim Dickens as Linda
- Gary Cole as David Duncan
- Rosemary Harris as Annie's grandmother
- J.K. Simmons as Sheriff Pearl Johnson
- Chelcie Ross as Kenneth King
- Danny Elfman as Tommy Lee Ballard
- Earl Maddox as Barksdale Courtroom Supporter
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating 57% based on 118 reviews, with an average score of 5.8 of 10. The site's consensus states "the A-list cast can't prevent the movie from becoming a by-the-numbers whodunit with an ending that's all but unsatisfactory."
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars.
Accolades
Box office
The film grossed $12,008,642 at the U.S. box office against a production budget of $10 million.
See also
- List of ghost films
References
External links
- The Gift on IMDb
- The Gift at AllMovie
- The Gift at Rotten Tomatoes
Source of article : Wikipedia
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