The Gift

    I See . . . A Psychic Potboiler

    Grade:  C

            Rarely has so much acting talent been squandered on such a tawdry, sensationalistic tale as in The Gift.  This horror thriller stars the unconventional Australian beauty Cate Blanchett as Annie Wilson, a preternaturally endowed young widow living in a languid, incestuous Southern backwater who makes ends meet with “donations” received for psychic card readings.  To the mistrustful local citizenry, she’s a witch in the guise of a fortuneteller, but she really can see the future.  And it’s not a pretty sight. 

Little wonder, considering the creepazoid crew that are her friends and neighbors.  In addition to Blanchett (who was Best Actress-nominated for her commanding turn in Elizabeth, and who was also admirable in The Talented Mr. Ripley and Pushing Tin), The Gift also features Keanu Reeves as Donnie Barksdale, a hateful, menacing redneck; Hilary Swank (last year’s Best Actress winner for Boys Don’t Cry) as as Valerie, Donnie’s mullet-haired, abused, dependent wife; Katie Holmes (Go, Wonder Boys) as Jessica King, an amoral, hot-to-trot vixen with a crooked smile; Greg Kinnear (Loser, As Good As It Gets) as Wayne Collins, Jessica’s doormat fiancee; and Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan, Boiler Room, Gone in 60 Seconds) as Buddy Cole, a slow-witted, tormented, sexually abused mechanic. 

             The sleaze factor sets in quickly and hangs on the movie like the crepuscular mists that shroud the town, as Annie’s visions foreshadow Jessica’s murder and the solution thereof, which places Annie herself in harm’s way.  Annie is a tortured island of sanity in the town, where everyone is out to destroy her, either through fear or just plain stupidity.  With her slinky, feline appeal, Blanchett carries her role admirably, and Ribisi, one of our most talented young actors, brings hollow-eyed intensity to his deeply disturbed character. 

 But the plot relies on stock shtick from the horror director's kit bag for impetus.  Dead bodies float in trees; leaky faucets drip blood; flowers wilt and blacken when touched.  An innocent defendant is convicted based entirely on testimony of clairvoyant visions.  (I've heard of hearsay, but sheesh.)  The movie’s ending dredges up a supernatural twist that has no relation to what has gone before.  The Gift brings to mind a certain horror thriller from last fall, but what lies beneath here is even purer hokum. 

            Now 22, Katie Holmes marks a transition here from youthful ingenue to a more womanly character.  In a flashback of the events leading to her demise, the trampy Jessica sheds her blouse during a heated argument (as it seems she was itching to do from the outset), displaying well-rounded gifts of her own never glimpsed at Dawson’s Creek.  Bravissimo!

Directed by Sam Raimi (For Love of the Game, A Simple Plan).  Written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson.  Running time 1 hour 50 minutes.  Rated R.