'The Gift' leaves viewers in suspense

By Wilhelmina Mauritz

Daily Arts Writer

"The Gift" is very reminiscent of last summer's "What Lies Beneath." The whole aura of the movie is creepy. "The Gift" never lets you get too comfortable before giving you another jolt of scariness that sends chills down your back. Even the opening credits had a quick shock that made me jump in my seat.

The story follows Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), a widow and mother of three boys. Annie is a psychic, a power she received apparently from her grandmother, and makes her living giving people advice using her ability. Annie wears no crazy hats nor does she use a crystal ball to predict the future. She has a simple deck of cards, which she uses along with her natural gut instinct.

The majority of the town doesn't necessarily believe in what Annie does but they all like her just the same because she is a wonderful person. She is caring to everyone and always treats those around her, especially her clientele, warmly and with a great deal of respect.

For the most part her clients are town folk that come to her for advice about medical problems and other simple everyday things. Of course, these are not the people that are of interest in the movie. The people we see are those with major problems, like an abused wife (Hillary Swank), an abusive husband (played by Keanu Reeves), a mechanic with a serious mental disorder (Giovanni Ribisi) and a father with a murdered daughter but no killer.

The latter is the main mystery of " The Gift" which revolves around Jessica King (Katie Holmes), the rich daughter and philandering fiancé to a simple teacher (Greg Kinnear). A few days after she is reported missing, Annie is asked to help find Jessica. At this point Annie begins to see visions of Jessica's dead body while she is sleeping and suddenly she can't get the images out of her mind.

Annie gets these visions throughout the movie, and they are both scary and a bit confusing because at times you aren't quite sure whether what you are seeing is a vision or reality. This is supposed to add to the eerie factor of the movie but sometimes it was complicated.

There are also a variety of bizarre characters in "The Gift" that at times make the movie feel a little ridiculous. Giovanni Ribisi, for example goes way over the top with his dramatics in every scene he is in. The plot sometimes feels like it is trying to force suspects down your throat and yet you know that if "The Gift" wants to be a successful mystery all the way through, the killer will never be the most obvious candidate.

At a time when horror movies and other sorts of suspenseful films are everywhere and most of them are not at all scary "The Gift" is one that not only promises to be a great thriller, it delivers. At times the built up suspense was so much that I found myself preparing both physically and mentally for whatever was about to come next.

Courtesy of Dreamworks

Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) uses her psychic ability to induce vomiting in "The Gift."