jackelgrey Review of The Gift

The Gift (2000)

Ugh, lower your expectations...Raimi/Thorton layed an egg

[2/10 · 23 January 2001]

***Some spoiler info*** This is a prime example of how a decent cast of popular "known" actors, screenwriter, and directors involved, you can get just about anything shot. Where do I start? First off, there are some who will forever hate "Fargo" because of the way it depicts Midwesterners. I am not one of these people, but if I were from the South, I would be offended. The entire town seems to be filled with incompetent inbreds, violent half-wits, and outright idiots! The law enforcement is filled with caricatures of the deep south; dumb and ornery. The characters stumble around for a good 3rd of the movie before anything resembling a story presents itself. There are so many gaping holes in the script, I don't have the room to begin (the entire courtroom scene is horribly thought out. No defence attorney in his right mind would make wise cracks about the murder victim, much less, what jury would LAUGH at such wisecracks??!!) the acting is average at best, and the direction is plodding and confusing. Greg Kinear can't decide if he's supposed to have a southern accent, Keanu Reeves should just stick with Matrix sequels for the rest of his life, he pulls off one of the least intimidating tough guys I've ever seen. Hilary Swank is a talented actress, what did she see in this role? All the characters were underwritten, stereotypical dolts who deserved the misery they were in. I couldn't root for any of them. What's the deal with the crazy fiddler guy by the swamp?! I had to restrain laughter. Any "eerieness" that was attempted during the main character's "vison" sequences was wasted by the greater stupidity of the whole story. The main character was just too dumb to be concerned about. What's with the "wacko that saves the day"??!! My god, once the true killer's identity was revealed, was anyone surprised by this?! Even the "creepy" violin interlude music between scenes got repetitive and grating on my nerves..Yuck. This was a stinker. Avoid at all costs..