Gift, The (2015) (2015) [Blu-ray]
Mystery | Thriller

A young married couple's lives are thrown into a harrowing tailspin when an acquaintance from the husband's past brings mysterious gifts and a horrifying secret to light after more than 20 years.

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? Written by STX Entertainment

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, November 5, 2015 -- Some people have long memories and deeply wounded souls. Some people have short memories and a blackened heart. In Writer/Director Joel Edgerton's debut feature The Gift, a dark past, an increasingly murky present, and a seemingly bright future all come into question when the bully and the bullied are reunited, when that wounded soul meets with the blackened heart that ruined it. The film takes an interesting look at where people go in life, why they've arrived there, and what set their direction. The film doesn't necessarily explore new ground, but it does introduce a few nice twists on old standby dynamics. It's an eerily dark, believably thrilling, well paced, and confident film, a film that explores two extremes and reinforces the old adage that says "the more things change, the more they stay the same"...or does it?

Simon and Robyn Callum (Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall) are moving back to Simon's old hometown where he's just secured a fancy new job. The house they find isn't everything they wanted, but they decide they can make it work. While they're out and about buying a few new items to go inside of it, Simon is approached by a man who claims to know him. Turns out they're old classmates. The man is Gordon "Gordo" Mosley (Edgerton), and despite Simon's reluctance, Gordo latches on to the young couple, showering them with gifts and making a point to show up around the house, usually when Simon isn't home. Robyn likes him well enough, but Simon grows tired of the company and severs ties with him. It turns out there's a deeper, darker history between the men, a history that, if not handled carefully in the present, could have grave consequences for the future.

A story of the bully vs. the bullied isn't exactly cinema breaking new ground, but Edgerton gives it a rawness that gets down to the deepest, darkest corners of human emotion. Where the film really works is in how simply it paints the characters while still presenting them in a light that's vague enough to keep the audience guessing and the story more fluidly dynamic and gray rather than predictably stale and black-and-white. The story evolves gradually and efficiently, slowly but surely painting its core picture and going back to retouch it with new details that don't alter the central idea but that do rearrange how the audience perceives it. Edgerton misses on a few of the surprises -- several moments that come back into play in the third act aren't at all surprising -- but what he does well is changing the rules and redefining what's happening and why while still only lifting the veil gradually, and not always uniformly, and not always fully. The movie works not because of its themes but because of the skill with which they are explored and the ever-evolving playing field on which the story unfolds.

Yet even as the central themes are relatively basic, Edgerton's sly manipulation and somewhat open-ended approach are a major asset. The film doesn't unravel every little detail -- particularly on Gordo's side -- which only enhances the sense of unease that builds throughout the movie. Edgerton's performance as the troubled Gordo reflects that. He's brilliant in the part, vulnerable on one hand but darkly manipulative on the other. The dichotomy can approach Jekyll and Hyde levels of ambiguity, but then again so too can Bateman's Simon. The difference comes in how fully the movie unravels them, exploring why they are who they are through the prism of their past and present actions alike. Both performances are fantastic, each necessarily approaching their characters in different ways but slyly finding a lot of similarities, too. But this is Rebecca Hall's movie. Her performance as the movie's true caught-in-the-middle victim is believably evolved throughout the movie and seems even more impressive in light of where she is when it ends.

The Gift is a smart, perfectly paced Thriller with a dark edge that explores humanity at its most wounded and vengeful on one side, its most non remorseful on another, and on the third, at the confluence of both, a victim of circumstance, secrets, and deceit. The movie doesn't break any new ground, but it's expertly assembled and nails the rhythmic undercurrents that make it work so well. Universal's Blu-ray release of The Gift features passable video and good audio. A few supplements, including a commentary track and deleted scenes, are included. Highly recommended, largely on the strength of the film.

[CSW] -2.7- The Gift is a well written, tense, cautionary tale of how what you say can effect how a person may end up in life. The performances in this picture are great. Jason Bateman (Simon) did a wonderful job displaying that he isn't just a comedian, but that he can do dramatic characters as well. Rebecca Hall (Robyn) and Joel Edgerton (Gordo) are just as excellent as Simon's delivery and they do a great job of giving humanity to their characters. The script is among the best of 2015. The first half comes off as predictable and recycled, but once Simon has his secret revealed the movie instantly began to surprise me. The Gift manages to wrap layers upon layers into the narrative that few would ever expect. The directing weaves a blanket of suspense throughout the movie. You never really know if the main characters were being watched by Gordo or not and it leads to a lot of tense scenes. The theme of the movie was handled expertly and the ending leaves you with a lot to think about, both with the characters and the message. The movie is a bit slow in the first half to build tension and characters, but once the second half comes along the movie shines brilliantly. Overall, the film is good and it leaves you with a lot to think about.
[V3.5-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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