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Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchette) supplements her meager allowance from government welfare with
donations she receives as a psychic. This widow with three kids who reads cards puts faith in her dreams, trusts her visions, and relies on her instincts. She is sensible and
good, unwavering and fearless, and above all, treats her clients with understanding and compassion. Among her clients are Valerie (Hilary Swank) whose husband, Donnie (Keanu
Reeves) beats her, and Buddy (Giovanni Rivisi) who is scarred by a deep resentment against his father. Annie attends a country club dance where she makes a more-than-casual
conversation with the school principal (Greg Kinnear) who is engaged to the town's flirt Jessica King (Katie Holmes). A few days after, Jessica disappears and after a futile
search and investigation, the skeptic sheriff and Jessica's father appeal to Annie for "help". Annie's dream leads to a pond at Donnie's place where the dead body is found.
Donnie, who admitted having an affair with the victim, is convicted for the crime. But Annie's dreams persist which points to a different killer. Who is this killer whose
identity does not surface in her dreams and visions? How can she save Donnie from a lifetime Damnation?
The Gift is
a modem ghost story with a "Hitchcock touch". It uses exquisite cinematography that prepares the viewer for the fright and takes him into the heart of the action. The sounds
and silences enhance the eerie mood and build suspense. The color schemes succeed in creating tension and fear. The production design not only creates the ambience but also
expresses the background of the personalities that the actors portray. The film is blessed with an array of skilled actors where Cate Blanchette shines in her impressive
performance as a strong gifted woman. She may yet get that elusive award to which she was nominated in Elizabeth(1998).
When God created man, He generously made an outpouring of gifts and resources for him to use
in his journey on earth. Sometimes, man in his greed, uses his gifts to create a monstrosity for himself and for others. The Gift is a very fine story of a woman with
psychic powers who shares her unique gift with compassion to assuage pain or failure or brokenness or fear or anxiety—the same compassion that saved her life from the evil
one. "Each one, as a good manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God." (I Peter 4:10).
The film has very brief but strong violent scenes like the brutal beating of the wife, the
setting on fire of the tortured father, the mounting threat to the child (by Keanu) who was violently thwarted by the auto mechanic (Buddy). The ghostly scenes will be
frightening for younger viewers. CINEMA suggests that this film be seen by viewers 14 and above.
(Date reviewed: March 23, 2001)
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