Sam Raimi’s often overlooked thriller gets the Blu-ray treatment from the Australian label Imprint and time has been kind to it.
Annie (Cate Blanchett) is a widowed mother-of-three who uses her ‘gift’ of ESP to guide the locals of her small southern town. Some are not impressed, particularly Donnie (Keanu Reeves), who takes exception that his beaten wife Valerie (Hilary Swank) has been seeing her. When her son gets in trouble at school, she meets the head, Wayne (Greg Kinnear), who has a lovely fiancé Jessica (Katie Holmes). When Jessica goes missing, Wayne comes to Annie to help find her.
Raimi crafts a steamy Southern Gothic melodrama with some added supernatural elements from a script by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson. There’s a very human drama at the heart of the film, and every performance is outstanding. Particular kudos must go to Keanu Reeves, who plays the bad bastard perfectly. Modern effects aside, The Gift could have come from the fifties as it hits all the right beats of the films of that time. The twists may be easy to spot, but that’s not detrimental when the ride is so enjoyable.
Imprint’s Blu-ray presents the film well, certainly an upgrade from the DVD. A number of new extras have been added: a commentary, which is interesting but non-essential, and an interview with the composer Christopher Young. The other special features are all contemporary archive EPK-type pieces. Informative but fluff. It’s a great film to rediscover though.
