Suspenseful 'The Gift' offers some chills -- and more

By Joko E.H. Anwar

The Gift *** (Out of ****); Drama/Horror/Thriller, 111 minutes; Starring Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Hillary Swank, Greg Kinnear, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes.; Written By Billy Bob Thornton & Tom Epperson; Directed by Sam Raimi; A Paramount Classic release

JAKARTA (JP): Savvy direction, a clever script and powerful cast deliver the well-crafted thriller The Gift, proof that oft- used material can be transformed into a highly respectable piece of entertainment.

While films depicting mortals versus Satan have not worked too well lately (End of Days, Bless the Child, Lost Souls), films about another supernatural phenomenon -- people with extrasensory perception (ESP) -- continue to score well. Haley Joel-Osment saw dead people in The Sixth Sense. Dead people asked Kevin Bacon for help in A Stir of Echoes. Bruce Willis could sense people with bad intentions in Unbreakable.

In The Gift, Blanchett reads cards, dreams and sees things. It is a surprise then that the film remains gripping and suspenseful until the end since none of the terrain being covered is original -- she also does things Frank Black does in TV's Millennium or Ally Walker does in Profiler.

Yes, the film contains the usual elements that we have seen before in supernatural murder mysteries -- scary visions, plot twists, ghostly apparitions and a bad guy trying to kill the gifted person who will reveal his or her treachery.

But the film offers much more than cheap thrills and does not patronize its audience.

Blanchett plays a psychic widow, Annie Wilson. Having lost her husband in an accident a year before, Annie uses her gift to read cards for people and tell them their fortune. This manages to put food on the table for her and her three young sons.

The film does a good job of introducing its characters.

Among those in the Southern American backwater town who believe in her ability are the emotionally unstable Buddy Cole (Ribisi) and tortured housewife Valerie Barksdale (Swank).

While these people depend on her readings to make their everyday decisions, many dismiss the practice as mumbo-jumbo nonsense. Some even condemn her as a Satan worshiper, including Valerie's redneck husband Donnie (Reeves).

Donnie, who enjoys beating up his wife, blames Annie for his unstable marriage because she always urges Valerie to leave him.

Short-fused Donnie starts terrorizing Annie and threatening her children. Buddy, one of Annie's loyal defenders, is always there to back her up, although he has problems of his own.

Meanwhile, Annie starts having discussions with school principal Wayne Collins (Kinnear) about one of her son's problems at school.

Wayne is engaged to Jessica King (Holmes), daughter of the most prominent businessman in town, Kenneth King (Chelcie Ross).

Clean-cut Wayne admires Jessica because she is so full of life. Little does he know that his fiancee is having sex with nearly every man in town, including district attorney David Duncan (Gary Cole).

One day, Annie's deceased granny visits her, saying that there is a storm coming and she must trust her instinct. The next day, Jessica goes missing and Annie is asked to help locate her. After foul play is confirmed, everybody suddenly becomes a suspect.

It may seem like an easy guessing game as to whodunit, but the plot twists and turns are not what they seem.

The film is much better than What Lies Beneath, which has a similar premise. While the generic Hollywood ghost story directed by Robert Zemeckis only offered cheap thrills and shocks (not to mention a lousy ending), The Gift offers strong and memorable characterizations.

Talented Blanchett, who played Queen Elizabeth I in the powerful Elizabeth (1998), plays this unglamorous character as a kind-hearted family person. But it does not stop her from shining. The Australian is utterly believable as a woman from America's South and shows no problem at all with the required accent.

Swank, returning to the screen after her powerhouse, Academy Award winning performance in Boys Don't Cry, succeeds in playing her small but important role as a battered wife who admits to having some very "un-Christian" thoughts.

Ribisi's character is not your average troubled young man. He is suitably subtle, leaving the audience to wonder when he will explode again.

His character provides the film with more tension and color.

Dawson's Creek's Holmes gets to play a different role from her usual stereotype casting. She is even daring enough to appear nude in the film, although you will not see that in Indonesian theaters.

I must admit that I almost dropped my plans to see the film because of Reeves. The actor seems to have been saddled with roles in a string of mediocre movies lately (The Replacements, The Watcher).

However, a bulked-up Reeves is a big surprise here. He gives a great performance and is believably frightening as an abusive husband.

And when the audience is not being enthralled watching the talented cast, they will be jumping out of their seats with disturbing images which suddenly rip across the screen.

Those familiar with the filmmakers will be particularly intrigued to see this movie. Director Raimi, who is regarded as a film auteur by many (even the King of Anachronism), is well known for his inventive works.

He shook the world with his precocious debut, the gory, tongue-in-cheek horror movie Evil Dead which was then followed by two equally entertaining sequels.

He is also responsible for the TV series Hercules and Xena: The Warrior Princess which set a new standard for adventure series on television.

Offbeat actor/writer/director Thornton teams up with Tom Epperson on the script after the highly charged One False Move (1991).

The film's atmosphere is often similar to Thornton's winning directorial effort Sling Blade.

The solidly crafted script and Raimi's sure-handed direction make The Gift a real treat.