The Gift | |
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Theatrical film poster
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Directed by | Sam Raimi |
Produced by | Grant Curtis |
Written by |
Billy Bob Thornton Tom Epperson |
Starring |
Cate Blanchett Giovanni Ribisi Keanu Reeves Katie Holmes Greg Kinnear Hilary Swank |
Music by | Christopher Young |
Cinematography | Jamie Anderson |
Edited by | Bob Murawski |
Production
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Distributed by | Paramount Classics |
Release date
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Running time
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111 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $10 million |
Box office | $44.6 million |
The Gift is a 2000 American supernatural thriller film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson and based on the alleged psychic experiences of Thornton's mother.
The film centers on Annie (Cate Blanchett) becoming involved in a murder case as a result of acquiring keen knowledge about the crime through her extrasensory perception. Other major characters are played by Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, and Greg Kinnear.
In the town of Brixton, Georgia, widow Annie Wilson is the resident fortune-teller who possesses extrasensory perception. Jessica King (Holmes), the fiancée of local school principal Wayne Collins (Kinnear) disappears.
Annie eventually receives a vision revealing that Jessica has been killed and her corpse thrown into a pond. She informs local sheriff Pearl Johnson (J.K. Simmons) of her vision and with this information, and despite his skepticism, Johnson searches a pond at the estate of Donnie Barksdale (Reeves), the violent husband of one of Annie's clients named Valerie (Swank). He had previously threatened Annie and her kids for Annie advising his wife to leave him. Valerie permits the search while Donnie is absent from their residence, but the latter returns while the search is proceeding. The police find Jessica's corpse in the pond and Donnie is arrested for her murder.
During his trial for Jessica's murder, it is revealed that Jessica and Barksdale had an affair. The case against Barksdale is strengthened when evidence supporting that Barksdale is the murderer is discovered; Annie also takes the stand and Donnie is eventually convicted and sent to prison.
Buddy Cole (Ribisi), an acquaintance of Annie's, harbors a hatred for his father. The former tries to explain to Annie why he hates his father but Annie is preoccupied and refuses to listen to the explanation of the vulgar, agitated Buddy. That evening, Buddy's mother calls Annie to come to their house as Buddy has snapped and has his father bound to a chair. Buddy sets his father on fire and it is then revealed that Buddy's father sexually abused him as a child. Buddy is eventually taken to a mental hospital.