THE
GIFT
With
Cate
Blanchett,
Giovanni
Ribisi,
Keanu
Reeves,
Greg
Kinnear,
Hilary
Swank
Directed
by
Sam
Raimi
Good
to
know
that
Raimi
(creator
of
the
marvelous
Evil
Dead
trilogy)
hasn’t
lost
his
touch,
what
with
lengthy
weepy
baseball
love
stories
like
For
Love
Of
The
Game
&
all.
Billy
Bob
Thornton
as
one
of
the
co-writers
creates
a
backwater
white
trash
Southern
atmosphere
as
backdrop
with
its
humid
presence
a
striking
one.
Blanchett,
with
a
well-simulated
accent,
convincingly
portrays
the
role
of
a
widow
(with
three
sons)
who
has
a
clairvoyant
gift,
doing
readings
for
people
in
their
quiet
town.
One
client
is
a
troubled
young
man
(wonderfully
played
by
Ribisi)
and
an
abused
wife
(by
Oscar
winner
Hilary
Swank).
The
redneck
husband
(Reeves)
finds
out
and
starts
to
threaten
her.
Things
get
eerie
when
our
“fortune
teller”
gets
premonitions
and
one
of
her
boys’
teacher’s
fiance
turns
up
missing.
Murder
and
dark
secrets
ooze
out
of
the
swamp
as
she
“sees”
where
the
body
might
be
found.
So,
you
can
expect
the
killer
not
to
leave
her
be.
Some
red
herrings
and
cheap
shock
tactics
are
sparsely,
but
well
executed
throughout
the
film
while
its
incorporation
of
suspense-,
dramatic-,
thriller-,
horror-
as
well
as
who-dunnit
elements
on
top
of
the
moderate
to
fine
performances
blend
well,
regardless
of
some
predictable
results.
4
/
C
-
PB
1
2
3
4
5
6
A
-
B
-
C