The Gift (2000)

Directed by Sam Raimi. Starring Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, Gary Cole, Michael Jeter, Katie Holmes, J. K. Simmons, Kim Dickens, Chelcie Ross. [R]

Small-town Georgia widow Blanchett does fortune-teller “readings” for a few locals—much to the chagrin or outright hostility of certain other locals—and gets embroiled in a murder mystery following the disappearance of the local sexpot (Holmes). Director Raimi continues down the more conventional filmmaking path with this Southern Gothic-tinged mystery-thriller (although some of Blanchett’s visions have a little of his flair for amped-up melodrama), landing on an atmospheric and unassertive brand of character-driven storytelling that dances around plot holes as big as backyard ponds. Manages to be engrossing all the same thanks in large part to a few key performances (Blanchett, in particular) and some examples of against-type casting that actually work—Reeves as an abusive redneck, Holmes as a sultry tramp, etc. What doesn’t work, however, is the supernatural twist ending revelation that doesn’t fit cleanly into the underwritten root of Blanchett’s clairvoyance. Screenplay penned by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson, which was inspired by Thornton’s mother’s rumored psychic powers. Rosemary Harris, who’d play Aunt May in Raimi’s next film (Spider-Man), has a small role.

68/100