THE GIFT
Year: 2000
USA: Paramount Classics
UK: Redbus
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Greg Kinnear, Gary Cole, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, David Brannen, Katie Holmes, Kipp Chambers, Courtney Aliffi, Kim Dickens, Sam Edens, Danny Elfman, Stuart Greer, Clay James, Michael Jeter, Rebecca Koon, Alex Lee, Hunter McGilvray, Janell McLeod, Elizabeth Omilami, Lynnsee Provence, Ed Redick, Chelcie Ross, J K Simmons,
Director: Sam Raimi
Country: USA
USA: 110 mins
UK: 111 mins
USA Rated: R for violence, language, and sexuality/nudity
UK Certificate: 15 contains coarse language and some strong horror and violence
USA Release Date: 19 January 2001
USA Release Date: 20 December 2000 (Limited Release - Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 2 March 2001
Synopsis
In the tiny town of Brixton, Georgia where nothing is private, a woman with supernatural clairvoyance, a young beautiful socialite who has mysteriously disappeared, and an assortment of colorful characters all collide. A haunting psychological thriller, THE GIFT is ultimately a profound celebration of the human spirit.
From a back room in her small Georgia home, Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchette) uses her telepathic talents to perform psychic readings for neighbors. A widow with three young children to support, Annie bears the cumbersome burden of carrying the town's problems on her shoulders while struggling with her own. She continues to bear the guilt over the accidental death of her beloved husband.
Annie's advice has a particularly profound effect on tormented car mechanic Buddy Cole (Giovanni Ribisi), with whom Annie has developed a relationship akin to a mother and son; and Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank), who seeks Annie's insight about her philandering husband, Donnie (Keanu Reeves).
Though Annie does her best to make her three boys Mike (Lynnsee Provence), Miller (Hunter McGilvray) and Ben (David Brannen) her priority, the needs of her desperate clients often prevail. When Valerie Barksdale's problems with her husband escalate, however, Annie finds herself in real danger. Annie advises distraught, blackeyed Valerie to leave her husband. Over the next few days, Annie becomes the target of threats and disturbing vandalism.
Soon after, Annie and her friend Linda (Kim Dickens) go out for a night on the town at the country club dance and run into Wayne Collins (Greg Kinnear), the principal at Annie's son's school, and his fiancee Jessica King (Katie Holmes). At the dance, Wayne and Annie connect through mutual compassion, but before any real sparks fly, sexy Jessica has already extinguished them. Annie accidently witnesses Jessica having an affair with District Attorney David Duncan (Gary Cole) in a back room of the private country club.
When the wealthy, beautiful, and sexually promiscuous Jessica King (Katie Holmes) is found missing, her bound and ravaged body begins to haunt Annie through her visions. When the authorities are short on leads, they reluctantly turn to Annie for clues. Now, even Annie has to confront the darkest depths of her gift and enter a world beyond her worst nightmares.
In an eerie small town where few people can be trusted and corruption infects every institution like a creeping vine, Annie must not only uncover Jessica's killer, but stop him before she becomes the next victim.
The film, directed by the acclaimed Sam Raimi, is a skillful balance of mystery, horror, and touching family drama. It includes a distinguished cast of Oscar nominees Cate Blanchett and Greg Kinnear, and Oscar winner Hilary Swank, THE MATRIX star Keanu Reeves, and rising young actors Giovanni Ribisi and Katie Holmes. The film is written by Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson.