The Gift (2000)

 

Sam Raimi's Georgia-set tale of murder laced with the paranormal is getting a 4K UHD and Blu-ray release from Arrow.

Recently widowed Annabelle (Cate Blanchett) supports her three sons by making a meagre living as a psychic. One of her clients is battered wife Valerie (Hilary Swank), who is married to Donnie (Keanu Reeves). When Jessica King (Katie Holmes) goes missing, Annabelle starts having visions that Jessica might have been murdered and her body submerged in a body of water. It's not long before the police, led by Pearl (J K Simmons) find Jessica's body in a pond on Donnie's property. It seems an open and shut case, but of course it isn't.

Utilising the same kind of swampland setting as we see at the beginning of Raimi's seminal THE EVIL DEAD, THE GIFT gives us a murder mystery in which the paranormal plays a part (based apparently on screenwriter Billy Bon Thornton;'s mother's psychic abilities) played by a top notch cast and executed by a director who had matured considerably since making his debut feature nearly 20 years previously. Everyone brings their A game but special mention in the acting stakes go to Keanu Reeves acting against type as the redneck accused of murder, and Katie Holmes as the archetype shanty tramp rich girl. The locations are captured beautifully by DP Jamie Anderson, and Christopher Young (a last minute replacement for Danny Elfman) provides a memorable score.

Extras include an isolated music and effects track and two commentary tracks, one by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, the other by Meagan Navarro. All three individuals are film writers and provide an enthusiastic walk through of the movie, and there are enough differences between the two commentaries to make both worth a listen.

There are new interviews with Chelcie Ross (who plays Jessica's father), editors Bob Murawski and Arthur Coburn (13 minutes) and composer Christopher Young (8 minutes). Archive material includes four promotional making of featurettes (26 minutes in al) which include some behind the scenes footage, and interviews with Raimi, Blanchett, Reeves and Giovanni Ribisi (15 minutes in all). There's also five minutes of footage from the world premiere, a music video and trailers.

Sam Raimi's THE GIFT is out on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 27th January 2025