Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written by: Billy Bob Thornton & Tom Epperson
Starring: Cate Blanchett (Annabelle 'Annie' Wilson), Giovanni Ribisi (Buddy Cole), Keanu Reeves (Donnie Barksdale), Katie Holmes (Jessica King), Greg Kinnear (Wayne Collins), Hilary Swank (Valerie Barksdale), Michael Jeter (Gerald Weems), Kim Dickens (Linda), Gary Cole (David Duncan), Rosemary Harris (Annie's Granny)
(Rated R for violence, language, and sexuality/nudity.)
Before SpiderMan 2 and SpiderMan, Sam Raimi was better known for his horror films The Evil Dead (1 & 2) and Army of Darkness. He toyed with the comic book characteristics in the film Darkman, starring Liam Neeson. And he toyed with the Western genre in The Quick and the Dead. But I think it was his exceptional film A Simple Plan, starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridgette Fonda that gave Raimi name-recognition in the genre of drama.
Raimi's following film, The Gift is a marriage between his successes in horror and drama. It's a very fine who-dunnit murder thriller set in the deep bayou!
And the script, written by the very talented Billy Bob Thornton (who won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for his 1996 critically acclaimed film Sling Blade, which also is set in the deep south) echoes in my mind three great storytellers: William Faulkner, John Grisham, and Stephen King. Each one of these had a way of layering their stories with sub-plots and highly intriguing characters that we can sink our interest in. (Tom Epperson co-wrote the film.) Consider the storyline:
When a high-profile young woman (who is engaged to the handsome and very eligible principal of the school) goes missing, her father and police turn to the local psychic in hopes of finding her. The local psychic, Anabelle, masterfully played by Cate Blanchett, has her own struggles. She's still mourning the death of her husband. She's struggling to care for her three young boys, both in a physical and mental capacity. And she has to deal with all of the unique effects of doing psychic readings for people--she's threatened by an angry and abusive husband for trying to break up his marriage; she befriends a young man who has serious mental problems because of being abused when he was a child; and she continually battles the "she's a witch" mindset of the townspeople. Anabelle accepts to help. It's a decision that nearly costs her her life.
The photography in the film is likewise rich and comes off as symbolic, like a natural representation of There are some incredible moments in this film. One imparticular is when Annabelle is hanging laundry in her backyard when her grandma (who has passed on) comes walking out of the swampy forest carrying a basket of parmisians to tell her that a storm is coming.
The acting is superb, including Keanu Reeves impressive performance as the abusive husband. The Gift was a genuine surprise and very memorable. It's one of the better films of 2000.
