The Gift

The only witness to the crime was not even there

THE GIFT (18)

D: Sam Raimi

Paramount/Redbus/Alphaville/Lakeshore (Sean Daniel, Ted Tenenbaum, Gregory Goodman & Robert Tapert)

USA 🇺🇸 2000

110 mins

Mystery/Thriller

W: Billy Bob Thornton & Tom Epperson

DP: Jamie Anderson

Ed: Arthur Coburn & Bob Murawski

Mus: Christopher Young

Cate Blanchett (Annie Wilson), Giovanni Ribisi (Buddy Cole), Keanu Reeves (Donnie Barksdale), Katie Holmes (Jessica King), Greg Kinnear (Wayne Collins), Hilary Swank (Valerie Barksdale)

Deep South mystery starring Cate Blanchett as a widow with psychic abilities who holds the key to a murder investigation, but the local folks cause mischief.

Blanchett's performance lend credibility to this otherwise ridiculous hokum which throws in far too many characters simply for the hell of it. Katie Holmes, as the victim, tries to shed her wholesome image by shedding her clothes, but is woefully miscast for the role, with a diabolical Southern Belle accent.

It's also quite ironic that, for a film about a main character with the gift of clairvoyance, the majority of an audience can anticipate what will happen long before she does.

5/10