Cate Blanchett plays Annie Wilson, a southern widow with three sons who is just scraping by financially. She does psychic readings to supplement her Social Security benefits. Some of her visions are thrust upon her, rather than sought after. And some of them are gruesome. The gift is also a curse.Blanchett's ethereal beauty somehow never gets in the way of this story about the modest and retiring Annie. And neither does the accent she must effect. Her fine performance is the center of this drama that involves a battered wife (Katie Holmes) and her threatening husband (Keanu Reeves). The rest of the cast, including Giovanni Ribisi, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Michael Jeter and J.K. Simmons, is formidable.The plot evolves into a murder mystery, then a trial drama, until the final act reveals the truth about an unfortunate night.Most of the characters in this film are dysfunctional or damaged. The story is co-written by Billy Bob Thornton, who certainly knows his way around southern Gothic, redneck drama. With such well-developed characters and setting, this is a film that could support a number of sequels.

I absolutely loved this movie. The acting was on point and the story line was imaginative. The movie started out a bit slower than usual, but I was guessing that the filmmaker really wanted to give you a back story to each of the introduced characters. There are characters that you love, and then there is Reeves character that you hate almost from his introduction. But, if you think about this character, there is one in every town and city all across the world. The abusive type that bullies everyone in his path. You cheer when something bad happens to him, but then kinda rethink your decision about 10 minutes later. In the story line, you think one character is a certain way, then they reveal a whole new side of them that you were not expecting. The film has plenty of action and drama. I did really relate with the character that plays the mechanic. I have had similar things happen to me in my life that he did, and it was painful to watch, but it really resonated with me. This movie is a definite watch.

A woman with extrasensory perception is asked to help find a young woman who has disappeared. The Gift is not one of Sam Raimi's all time best movies but it's still a very entertaining one with a very talented cast such as Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, J.K. Simmons and Rosemary Harris and i gotta say it was pretty good what he did with some actors here especially Harris and Simmons since he cast them again in 3 more movies later on as Aunt May and Jonah Jameson in The Spider-Man Trilogy. It does have some small issues like some over the top sequences or even scenes with certain characters but as far as acting, direction and script goes the film does deliver a lot!!

This movie might be in my top-ten not to see comfortable in my bed, on a rainy afternoon. Usually, I like to see hard action movies on the great screen of a theater, and psychological drama movies alone, at home, advertising the family not to disturb. Well, in fact "The Gift" works both ways, and I feel the need to give all my credits and respect to the writers, the director, the whole actors team. Cate Blanchett was amazing from the first scene up to the end. Her performance has been awesome, as the neurotic single mother of three, her gift necessarily to make a living, yet social controversial. At some point, one could see her eyes's injected like after crying a lot, is this possible to be "a special effect", I wonder: yes, but ingenious. Keanu Reeves, one of the most controversial stars of all times, has constructed here an unbelievable role of a rude, brutal, huge, abusing husband versus the kiddo "knock, knock" looks as Neo, a year before. My respects here. The feelings of being unsecured, trapped transcends and catches the viewers. (This is what I have felt). The whole atmosphere was genial realized, like in a black and white old movie, but the end where in the cemetery, one can feels peace and mild autumn colors. While by 3/4 section movie you can guess that Donnie is not the killer and you keep for yourself the "disappointing" relationship with the movie, the switch on scene when Buddie Cole coming back to the rescue,the policeman saying that he was dead was also a great or ingenious ideas. Well, I have just said that the movie connects with the auditorium. That is very rare. Tremendous feeling. I have rated this movie 10 from 10, I do not feel the need to take a star or two. My only fancy question raises like that: why Keannu Reeves has felt right to perform two "bad guy" roles after the huge success in the Matrix, knowing there will be another Matrix -es? I mean "The Watcher" and this "The Gift". Has this superstar felt the need to indulge himself loosing fans... cause the bad guys's characters could dangerously decline a "Speed" or a "Matrix" career of the usually's Keannu Reeves positively heroes. The Warchovschy Bros have not counted this one?