(Yes, sir. Payback is going to be a bitch, yo!)
CAST: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton, Katie Aselton, Beau Knapp, Nash Edgerton, David Denman, Alison Tolman.
DIRECTOR: Joel Edgerton
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and very good reasons to be kind to outsiders - straight ahead...
IT'S LIKE THIS: The Callums have moved to Los Angeles where Simon (Jason Bateman) has taken a job at some company. While he gets settled in his new office, wife Robin (Rebecca Hall) sets up house in the gorgeous Hollywood Hills. Oh, and to make things even cozier, Simon and Robyn run into one of Simon's old classmates (Simon is originally from L.A., you see) who takes a shine to the couple and befriends them. He is Gordon "Gordo" Moseley (Joel Edgerton), and seems nice and pleasant, and helps welcome them into the neighborhood. In the case of Simon, welcome his back.... Awwwwwwwwwww.
In case you're starting to feel like this is some Fairy Tale Bullshit come to life, let me take the air out of them thar tires: before long, Simon starts to get creeped out by Gordo, whom Simon finally admits to calling "Gordo The Weirdo" in high school. Increasingly, Simon becomes unfriendly to Gordo, and tells Robyn that they should stop seeing him. Heck, if they'd all been Facebook friends, there would've surely been some serious un-friending going on.
Soon, it appears we're in UNLAWFUL ENTRY / FATAL ATTRACTION / THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE country - with a psycho outsider threatening the domestic bliss of a perfect couple. But is the couple really so perfect? And is the psycho outsider really such as a psycho? Hmmmmmmmm......
THE DUDE OR DUDETTE MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Not sure if anyone can save anyone else from the dark deeds on display here, but if we're talking about the most likable character, we'll have to go with Robyn - since she's the only one who is remotely sympathetic and shows kindness towards Gordo.
MOST INTENTIONALLY SCARY SCENE: That video playing... which is also a... gift. Ahem. I guess Karma is a bitch, isn't it, Smug Simon? Who's laughing and smiling now?
MOST UNINTENTIONALLY SCARY SCENE: Simon putting the moves on Robyn while waiting in Gordo's living room. Bleeeeech.
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: What secret is the Smug Simon hiding. What did he do to Gordo back in high school that screwed up Gordo so much? And what is Gordo planning? Is it really revenge - or is he simply trying to teach Simon a Gordo a valuable lesson in humility and not believing your own press? Like "He who laughs last, laughs loudest." Ahem.
FINAL ANALYSIS: In our past review for THE BOY NEXT DOOR (review # 602), we discussed the return of the "Fill-In-The-Blank from Hell" Movie. Essentially, this is a movie in which a seemingly benign person is befriended by an innocent person, couple, or family - only for the person to turn out to be very dangerous. This kind of movie came into favor with FATAL ATTRACTION in 1987, and heated up with THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE (1992), SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (1992), and UNLAWFUL ENTRY (1992). There were many lesser variations on this premise over the 90s, before re-surging somewhat in 2002 with ONE HOUR PHOTO, wherein Robin Williams subverted his image in a remarkable performance.
Then in 2009, the "Fill-In-The-Blank From Hell" Movie's stock rose again with the success of OBSESSED which, despite being a shameless clone of FATAL ATTRACTION, managed to rack up some solid grosses at the box office. Then NO GOOD DEED also struck gold in 2014 at cinemas (also, incidentally, starring Idris Elba) and now in 2015, we've seen the likes of THE BOY NEXT DOOR, THE PERFECT GUY, and now, THE GIFT. Clearly, this sub-genre of the Thriller Genre is making a return, for better or worse.
Fortunately, THE GIFT harkens back to ONE HOUR PHOTO by inserting some welcome complexity into the proceedings. Just as Robin Williams' layered, sympathetic performance in that film kept his Sy Parrish from being pigeonholed as a one-note baddie, so too does the script here keep Joel Edgerton's Gordo Moseley from easily being labeled a simple villain. It should be noted that in addition to starring and writing the screenplay, Edgerton also directed. It's an impressive triple threat that Edgerton pulls off strongly.
Another thing commendable about this film is how it also subverts its "hero" role. In a much lesser film, Jason Bateman's Simon Callum would have been portrayed as virtuous and upstanding. In THE GIFT, without giving too much anyway, Simon is decidedly not heroic despite his socially affable exterior- and it is arguable that some of the things that happen to him and Robyn late in the film are his doing. Speaking of Robyn, she's probably the least complex of the three main characters - but then again, she has to be since she is our "portal" character - our "eyes and ears" into the story. Rebecca Hall makes her a very sympathetic person, and Hall is best at playing Robyn's gradual realization that Gordo is not the simple weirdo her husband portrays him to be - and conversely Simon may actually not be the genial "Mr. Popularity" that he portrays himself to be, and is quite dishonorable.
If the film has both a strength and a weakness, it's the ending. Edgerton wisely refuses to go the expected third-act route for these kind of movies, wherein the "villain" finally wreaks unrestrained havoc on the "heroes" in their home. Instead, he writes a climax that is both original, disturbing, compelling, ambiguous, but also a little underwhelming. After a masterful build-up that seems to promise a devastating reveal, the denouement somehow feels a little off. This slight misstep keeps THE GIFT from rising to the level of a Very Good (**** or 8 out of 10) film.
Still, even with this quibble, THE GIFT is streets ahead of the usual "Fill-In-The-Blank From Hell" Movie, and is a very auspicious directing debut from its talented star, Joel Edgerton. Good job, sir...
