Rating: 
Summary: The Gift
Review: I love this film. It is mystical, dramatic and totally enthralling. Cate Blanchett gives a performance that I cannot tire of. I can watch this film again and again. Every player in it does a superb job. Once you start watching this masterpiece you won't be able to stop.
Rating: 
Summary: Mix of Suspense and Horror
Review: Not a lot of people I know I have seen this movie, which is a shame because it was pretty good. Set in Brixton, Georgia, th movie follows the character, Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett). Annie is a widowed psychic, who is raising 3 boys by herself. When a youn woman, Jessica King (Katie Holmes), is discovered to be missing, Annie is the only one who can help the police find her. I would reccomend that anyone who likes mystery or suspense thrillers should go see this.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling, but not thrilling....
Review: Cate Blanchett is a chameleon actress. She has played queens, yuppies, harlots, and gamblers, and she takes another stretch in THE GIFT. She plays a psychic named Annie, tormented by visions of a local girl's death and by the death of her husband, who she was not able to save. Her performance is the driving force behind this movie, which, without her, would have been somewhat mediocre.Director Sam Raimi does a good job at creating a Hitchcockian suspense, and there are several opportunities in the movie for goosebumps to form on the back of your neck, but there are few true thrills. The movie works much like THE OTHERS and THE SIXTH SENSE by employing several tricks, like a subtle twist at the end or the use of color to denote mood and tone. The movie becomes a little hokey sometimes, especially when Hilary Swank is on the screen. Her performance, while still good, was my least favorite. The only scene where she truly delivers is when her husband, played to the hilt by Keanu Reeves, discovers her at Annie's house getting a reading. Her face truly conveys the character's fear and "Oh no, here we go again" quality. Giovanni Ribisi is effective as a mentally retarded boy who frighteningly confronts his father about his childhood abuse, but he also seems to just be playing an unstable version of his character in THE OTHER SISTER. Other smaller characters, played by Gary Cole, Katie Holmes, and Rosemary Harris, are also effective. Greg Kinnear is also good, but he seems a little out of joint, a little slippery when wet. The movie delivers atmosphere and mood in maximum proportions, complete with all the eccentricities of a small Southern town, and apart from its slight wanderings into redneck territory, it entertains and keeps you guessing until the very end, well, almost until the very end.
Rating:
Summary: Very spooky and moody southern gothic film
Review: Cate Blanchett is truly and enigma to me. I've seen her in films where I couldn't stand her. I seen her in films where I was nuts about her. The result: I think she's a top notch actor who really "becomes" her characters and its them that I like or dislike. That said, her performance in The Gift is spot on! This is a spooky film about a psychic living in a small rural town in the South, who happens to get mixed up in a murder. I don't remember this film hitting the big screen - I'm sorry I didn't see it there. With acting credits that include: Keanu Reeves (never creepier); Greg Kinnear; J.K. Simmons; Giovanni Ribisi (odd as ever); and Hillary Swank, this film is not lacking in the performances. Cate Blanchett is a poor widowed mother of three cute boys, who just happens to truly have "the gift" of second sight. She keeps herself just ahead of the bill collectors by doing "tarot readings" for residents of her small town (it is an interesting point to note that the cards she uses are NOT tarot cards - thus adding the element that she really must be a true psychic). She "sees" the girlfriend of her eldest son's principal dead, but dismisses it. Later when the girl is missing and later found dead, she gets caught up in the investigation. There are those who do not believe in her and others who fear her powers. Not satisfied with the single plot line there are two other interesting and poignant plotlines woven into this film. This film had a distinctly "silver screen" feel to it. It was really quite good, but not in the way modern films are - on a higher level of films from the classic era. If that is a concern for you, rest assured that there is gratuitous nudity, four letter words, and a few creepy scenes that you wouldn't find in an old black and white film. Critics didn't really like this film - and I truly believe it was because it really tells a story - it has a good script - and those are things modern critics do not like - they want a script made up of nothing more than four letter words strung together, lots of nudity, and a pointless script. This film is none of those things - it is a really good film. Check it out, I think you will be very pleased.
Rating: 
Summary: Sixth Sense meets Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Review: The Gift is set in Savannah, like Midnight in the Garden, and contains similar hints of supernatural elements, such as ghosts and voodoo. There's also the psychic powers and visions of the "gifted" protagonist, like Sixth Sense. It's not as strong as either of those two films, but you'll still find it entertaining if you like supernatural thrillers set in the South. However, does anyone actually do "readings" with an ESP card deck? Was this intentional, or just a lack of attention to detail? I guess Raimi wanted to stress the pseudo-scientific psychic element, but a tarot deck would have made more sense. ESP decks were designed to scientifically test psychic ability, whereas tarot cards were actually designed for divination. The cards may just be a focal point for a true psychic, but a true psychic doesn't even need cards, as illustrated in "Eve's Bayou", another good, recent, Southern-based drama with a supernatural element, though with an all-black cast.
Rating:
Summary: Oh My GOSH!
Review: Three words: Katie Holmes Naked. Thats the only reason you need to buy this DVD. You'll never see her again as she's written off doing nudity from now on, so get it while you can!
Rating:
Summary: GIFTED ensemble and great script in Southern mystery
Review: Easily an under-rated film of 2001, The Gift subtly builds up its climax through intriguing subplots that delves deep into the gothic and suspense in the Deep South. Director Sam Raimi currently undertaking the new Spiderman motion picture release and helming past works like Army of Darkness does an incredible job of using the dark treacherous elements from the nature to enhance the mystery. No less credible is the ensemble of seasoned cast where Cate Blanchett is overlooked for her elegant and evocative performance as a psychic who is enlisted to help solve the murder of the promiscuous Katie Holmes by his distressed fiance portrayed by Greg Kinnear. Keanu Reeves gives a devilish performance as an unscrupulous wife-abuser and racist; Hilary Swank as his suffering yet clueless wife and Giovanni Ribsini as a schizophrenic friend of the local psychic. The script written by Billy Bob Thornton (A Silple Plan and Sling Blade) continues his observation with human foibles and violence. The quirky and flawed characters usually turn out to show surprising nuances as in Buddy (Ribsini). The mystery may not have a cunning epilogue but the suspense is beautifully controlled to render some genuine thrills and chills. However it is Blanchett who holds the movie with her perfectly pitched acting and she makes THE GIFT a real gem with her luminous performance.
Rating:
Summary: All-star cast in an average film
Review: Just going over the names in this film makes one think a blockbuster is in the works. Not the case. Ultimately, The Gift is a pretty average film with a few startling moments. The cast does save this one from being a complete bomb. Giovanni Ribisi, in particular, gives a great performance as the troubled Buddy. The Gift is ultimately forgettable. The Sixth Sense is the film you should watch if you want to see what The Gift wanted to be.
Rating:
Summary: good movie!
Review: this is just great, cate blanchet is the best!
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly forgettable, and mediocre. Here's why.....
Review: Hollywood has taught us time and again (though they never seem to learn the lesson) that no amount of big name actors can save a sinking ship. And sadly, what we have here is a reiteration of that fact. Kudos to Cate Blanchet for her relatively good performance of a relatively weak character, and even Keanu Reeves is to be credited for his loathsome portrayal of a not so likeable racist redneck (Just one more reason to hate him I suppose.) Though the bench is deep with talent, in the end it is poor writing that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory (if I may deign to use that tired fraise). They try to dazzle us with plot twists; despite that the plot is so thin and emaciated, one might not even notice it was there at all. There are so many sub-plots eluded to, that there is no time to explore any of them, and the kind of subtlety employed to suggest these segue's was either badly edited, or more likely bungled. There also seems to be a lot of dead useless space in this film. Not the kind that clever directors use to try to build some kind of dynamic tension, just dead useless space. I guess the final nail in this coffin was the superfluous use of white trash, and white trash motifs. A lot of dead horse flogging in this film when there really didn't need to be, and it's saving grace I suppose is the fact that you won't see Wesley Snipes getting "set up" in it (probably because he's not in it). Those of you who have heard that Katie Holmes gets in the buff, well, it's really not worth it, and you will be left with a profound understanding of how Wesley Snipes feels every time he gets "set up".
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