The Gift (2000) 8/10

Starring : Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank
Director : Sam Raimi
Running Time : 112 mins

Local clairvoyant and fortune reader Annie Wilson (Blanchett) is called upon to help when man-hungry local resident Jessica King (Holmes) goes missing. When she has a nightmare seeing Jessica’s body wrapped in chains, she tells the police that she is dead and in a pond somewhere in town. The body is discovered on the land of wife-beater Donnie Barksdale (Reeves) whose wife Valerie (Swank) is one of Annie’s clients, and he is tried for the murder, but in spite of Barksdale’s history, Annie suspects that he isn’t the real killer.

This is an interesting dramatic crime thriller that uses the supernatural to further the action with minimal interference to the underlying plot of a murder mystery. Granted, the identity of the killer is pretty obvious, as are the reasons behind the murder, but there are some great performances (especially from Ribisis) and, as usual, Raimi lends his own unique brand of direction without going too over the top.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Ice Storm