Writer: Joel Edgerton
Stars: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton
Storyline:
Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is
going just as planned until a chance encounter with an acquaintance from Simon's
high school sends their world into a harrowing tailspin. Simon doesn't
recognize Gordo at first, but after a series of uninvited encounters and
mysterious gifts prove troubling, a horrifying secret from the past is
uncovered after more than 20 years. As Robyn learns the unsettling truth about
what happened between Simon and Gordo, she starts to question: how well do we
really know the people closest to us, and are past bygones ever really bygones?
Details:
Official Sites: Official Facebook | Official Instagram | and
more
Country: Australia
| USA
Language: English
Release Date: 7 August 2015 (USA ) and more
Also Known As: Weirdo and more
Filming Locations: 15615
Castlewoods Drive , Sherman California , USA and more
User Reviews:
This film is recommended.
In brief: A neatly packaged psychological thriller.
GRADE: B
Before we review our feature presentations, let's take a
moment to discuss the sorry state of today's movie trailers. The simple job of
the film preview is to entice the moviegoer into returning, with cash in hand, to
see the finished product by showing short snippets of the future movie. But
nowadays, these coming attractions seem to come in two varieties, leaving
nothing to one's imagination. They do a disservice to their commodity, either
giving away too much plot, as in Southpaw, Max, Ricky and the Flash, or Woman
in Gold or totally misleading the audience into thinking it is seeing another
genre with its slight-of-hand like Mr. Holmes and our main event today, The
Gift, which comes off as a possibly violent psycho-slasher thriller when the
opposite is true. Instead, The Gift is a
nifty little mystery that keeps one guessing throughout the movie's twists and
turns and even holds up after viewing. It doesn't tie up all the loose ends in
one neat little package (pardon the pun), but it makes logical sense when
discussing the time frame and circumstances with your movie-going friends after-wards.
It is a rarity these days to enjoy an well thought-out adult suspense drama
since so many filmmakers tend to go for shock value and violence to cover-up
the flaws in their storytelling. The Gift is that atypical movie that respects
its own genre and doesn't go that easy route and one needs to admire such a
film.
The film starts off rather slowly as we met Robyn (Rebecca
Hall) and Simon (Jason Bateman), a well-to-do couple recently moved to Los Angeles . This used to
be Simon's hometown and it is here that he once again bumps into a high school
acquaintance named Gordo (Joel Edgerton). Both share a deep dark secret from
the past as they renew their strained relationship, which instills some concern
from his curious wife, especially when Gordo the Weirdo (his high school
nickname) bestows on them several gifts as his personal thank yous. His
behavior gives off a mixed message: Is he out for revenge and stalking this
couple or just a lonely social misfit looking for friendship?
The Gift is a taut psychological thriller that engages the
moviegoer and expects its audience to have a modicum of intelligence in
following the clues. Sometimes it does overstate the obvious and goes for cheap
scare tactics with startling sound effects or an inane dream sequence to cause
some screams along the way. But, on a whole, it respects its Hitchcock
tradition as a solid mystery should.
Mr. Edgerton did triple duty on this film. It is his feature
debut as a writer / director and he co-stars in his project. Glad to report, his
talent succeeds in all of these areas. His script is slightly convoluted but
efficiently written and his characters are well drawn. His direction is concise
and focused and he allows suspense to build through the character's actions. His
acting shows Gordo's vulnerability, sadness, and anger ever so subtly. He also
wisely chose to fill his other characters with Ms, Hall and Mr. Bateman playing
opposite him. Ms. Hall pulls you into her character's dilemma from the onset as
she begins to confront the lies and cover- ups. The actress is excellent in her
changing moods. But it is Jason Bateman who impresses with his acting range, taking
his good guy persona and adding some rough edges to his character as he plays
this game of intrigue. It is a fully accomplished portrait of a man trying to
control his present life but unable to do so because of past transgressions.
The Gift delivers the goods with all the trimmings. Even if
some omissions in the plot are never fully explained, the film remains a tense
and rewarding mystery thriller.
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