Sunday, June 1, 2014

The Gift (2000)

Annie is the single mother of three children and survives on a meager check from social security due to the accident which killed her husband the year before.  She supplements her income by doing psychic readings.  Some of the rednecks in town refer to her as a witch, and law enforcement scoff at her talents, but she has loyal customers who value her readings.

When Jessica, the daughter of a country club member and fiance of the high school principal, disappears, Annie is called on for help after the Sheriff reaches a dead end in the investigation.  The Sheriff doesn't believe in her gift, but goes along with it due to the desperation of her rich father.

When Annie starts having visions of Jessica, she contacts the Sheriff with more detailed information from her dreams, which leads to threats and harassment for Annie after a local man is charged with murder.

I wasn't sure how this got in my queue until I started watching it  and realized that Sam Raimi was the director. I like murder mysteries, but this wouldn't normally be something I'd choose to watch based on the big budget cast.  Surprisingly Keanu Reeves does a great job as a wife beating redneck, and is sufficiently scary when he's threatening Annie and her kids. Although the twist regarding the identity of the murderer was easy to see coming, it was a good movie overall.  I find Katie Holmes annoying, but it worked in the movies favor since her character was so  unlikable anyway.

No comments: