Review: The Gift
Friday, August 14, 2015 at 11:00PM
Jose here. In between making appearances in what seems to be every single movie being made, Joel Edgerton has been doing his homework and studying the creepy thrillers of Michael Haneke and Roman Polanski, since he emulates both auteurs’ styles in his directorial debut The Gift. The film stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as Simon and Robyn, a married couple who have just moved into their new home in Los Angeles when they run into Gordo (played by multitasker Edgerton who also wrote the screenplay), a former high school classmate of Simon’s who wishes to befriend them, but lacks the social skills to figure out that Simon isn’t interested in welcoming into his life.
We learn that back in high school, Gordon went by the nickname Weirdo and was the constant target of pranks made by Simon and his friends. Suggesting that we never really leave our high school roles behind, we see how Gordo turned into a self-loathing underachiever, while Simon became a successful executive who married the most beautiful girl in town - a former bookworm - and made a career for himself by bullying people in the corporate world. As strange things begin to happen in Simon and Robyn’s home, we are led to believe that maybe Gordon is seeking payback for the psychological torture he endured at Simon’s hands, and yet there is also a more perverse feeling of karmic retribution that at times makes us root for the sociopathic underdog. If he is a sociopath to begin with…
Edgerton’s film is filled with so many nuances that we are never truly sure of who is playing who. He manipulates the very same genre conventions he’s borrowing from, and instead of presenting Gordo as the perpetrator, he makes us wonder if by assuming the “odd dude” is the villain, we’re not becoming bullies ourselves. Combining elements from Gaslight, Funny Games, Repulsion and Caché, Edgerton weaves a stylish thriller that poses complex questions about human behavior without ever taking itself too seriously. There are scares galore, countless steamy shower scenes with damsels in distress, and more asshole-y behavior from Bateman’s character than you can imagine, and yet the movie feels fresh in its delivery. Like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle if Keyser Soze had been the babysitter, The Gift playfully evokes some of the most beloved contemporary thrillers, not all of which are great films, but most of which prove to become irresistible on repeat viewings. Who knew Edgerton had this in him?
Reader Comments (7)
This movie had me at Rebecca Hall, admire her so much as an actress. But reading your positive review and seeing it has scored a 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, makes me even more excited to see it.
With my luck, it'll probably be deemed too small or obscure for cinema distribution in my country ... and then I have to settle with seeing it on the small screen. But it all depends on how well the movie plays in the US and the rest of the world...
Absolutely agree with every word here. It was solid in every respect and really knew how to make its thrills derive from the character, rather than cheap tricks. The perfect late summer thriller.
Plus, <3 Rebecca Hall forever
Generally not a huge fan of Edgerton (why is he famous again?) but maybe I'll check it out.
The Haneke and Polanski comparisons came to mind while I was watching it as well and I was really onboard with the film up to a point. But then it all went to crap with what I still contend to be an extremely reprehensible and insensitive third act, it soured the entire experience for me. I've said this before and it's obvious that I'm in the minority when it comes to the film, but I just can't excuse it. Maybe I missed something, but I'm not willing to shell out more cash to see it again at this point.
So much to like about this film and you articulate them well. That ending, or how it relates to Hall specifically, makes me down on this one though.
I have never heard about this movie before, but I am going to give it a try. I'm a big fan of Haneke and Polanski, together with a bunch of other directors who focused on the psychological thriller / horror subgenre, such as Angst.
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