My reviews are getting so late in the game, that getting a new one is practically the same thing as a “Gift” but I’ll try to soldier on even as most people have already seen this movie…
What Works: Written, directed, and starring Joel Edgerton “The Gift” is a a very well-crafted, sharper-than-you-think creepy “friend” thriller. We’ve seen 100 variations on the stalker theme before, but this one has more nuances to it then you might think. For one thing, we don’t know if the “friend” is really all that dangerous until the very end, and why does Jason Bateman’s hero seem so nervous around him. “The Gift” keeps you hanging on its performances for some tell-tell sign that Edgerton is a lunatic or exactly what Bateman’s character may have done to him all those years ago.
The moral murk of playing a shady guy looks great on Bateman—long underrated—and Edgerton (who I’ve never exactly been captivated by) has spooky dark eyes that make each scene feel more tense than it really is. Rebecca Hall is also a Hitchcockian beauty in what is really the true protagonist role of the film.
What Doesn’t: The direction and cinematography are so crisp and tense that they actually disguise the fact that not a lot really happens in the first two-thirds of “The Gift.” There are moments when Hall is just walking through her house that feel as intense as a heart attack, but that’s mostly through crafty music cues and editing more than anything actually happening. Still, only the most sour-hearted reviewer could see a horror film this mature and accomplished, and not recommend it.
What I Would Have Done Differently: I think the trailers give away a little too much of the plot, and it might have been nice if they’d left a few more things to our imagination. It’s a testament to how well-made this movie is that even though nothing that wasn’t in the trailers happens in the first half, we’re still on the edge of our seats.
This might be a great film to show high school kids, as it’s doubtful anyone will want to be a bully after watching this.