In the now defunct era of video rental stores, a friend of mine had this rule of thumb: ''Never rent a comedy if the cover background is white. It's going to rip off an already mediocre comedy.'' After putting my friend's rule to the test, I found out it was usually accurate. Same thing could be said about the DVD covers with several faces floating on a dark cover. They're usually cheap, John Grisham-inspired judiciary thrillers. Stupid (yet accurate) rules of thumb may explain why I ignored THE GIFT for 13 long, freakin' years. Its bland and uninspired packaging is in no way a reflection of this beautiful southern gothic tale. Don't let father time win against this hidden gem. It is good enough to deserve immortality.
THE GIFT is centered around Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), a widow with three boys who earns a living offering psychic readings to a small clientele. What she does leaves no one indifferent in the small southern town where she lives. Part of the population are afraid of her, part of the population are hooked to her readings like they would be to a drug. When young Jessica King (Katie Holmes) disappears one night, her father soon turns to Annie for help. She can't seem to help at first, but as soon as she's home alone, visions of what happen to Jessica start tormenting her. Following the leads of Annie's visions, the police eventually find the body in the private pond of the violent husband (Keannu Reeves) of one of Annie's troublesome clients (Hilary Swank). The logical end of Annie's issues with the aforementioned Barksdales is only the beginning of her nightmare.
What makes THE GIFT so special is that it is, first and foremost, a tremendously well-written story. Co-screenwriters Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson introduce their list of potential culprits before the crime is even committed and give Annie such a difficult, tormented life, that makes the actual killing of Jessica King a bonus layer on an already deep and complicated story. Their cast of morally ambiguous men is absolutely stellar. Giovanni Ribsi in particular (a personal favorite of mine), is nothing short of breathtaking as the mentally fragile mechanic Buddy Cole. Surprisingly enough, Keannu Reeves ain't half-bad as the wild, wife-beating redneck. The part itself probably is the most stereotyped part in THE GIFT, yet Reeves has a way of storming in and out of the frame, you don't have time to concentrate on details.
The talented Mr. Ribsi is a showstopper in THE GIFT.
While THE GIFT flirts with perfection at times (it has one or two occurrences of what I call ''perfect scenes''), it has noticeable flaws. The trial scenes are absolutely ridiculous. Seriously, they are borderline funny. The whole defense argument is based on the fact that Annie is not a reliable person and therefore....well...and therefore nothing. Reliable or not, they found a dead woman in Donnie Barksdale's pond and whether it came from a psychic or an anonymous hotline tip is irrelevant, because you know...there was a dead woman in Donnie Barksdale's pond. So there is this lonng, painful scene where the defense lawyer (Michael Jeter) is bullying Annie and on top of being useless, that scene fucked with my suspension of disbelief. That's saying a lot, considering the nature of the movie.
There is nothing quite like southern gothic fiction, when it's done right. The overwhelming sense of place, the lingering supernatural, the intimate settings, strong characters. THE GIFT is a powerful, yet classic southern gothic tale about the weakness of men's hearts and the pitfalls of desire. The unlikely team of Sam Raimi and Billy Bob Thornton have transcended the expectations of Hollywood business with this one and created a true piece of art. THE GIFT is a lot more than just a movie about a crime-solving psychic. It is, first and foremost, an amazing story that forever deserves its small place in the heart of crime fiction fans. Now that it's on Netflix, you have no reason not to watch it.