THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
Triple threat Joel Edgerton ups chills factor, makes slyly surprising thriller
THE GIFT Rating:
Starring: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton Directed by: Joel Edgerton
Running time: 108 minutes
There’s a reason vanity projects get a bad rap. If one already-famous person had to act as producer, director, screenwriter and star, maybe it’s because everyone else in the industry could see how bad the project was. Unfortunate examples include Ryan Gosling’s Lost River, Andy Garcia’s The Lost City (though he didn’t write it), and anything directed by Madonna.
But exceptions prove the rule. Stanley Tucci’s 1996 writing/ directing/producing debut Big Night, was a wonderful story, clearly close to his heart and none the worse for it. So, too, The Gift, with all the credit going to Australia’s Joel Edgerton, whom you may remember as Ramses in Ridley Scott’s Exodus, or, going back a bit further, Charlie Price in the film Kinky Boots.
In The Gift, he plays Gordon “Gordo” Mosley, a socially graceless middle-aged man who used to go to school with Simon Callem (Jason Bateman). Have you ever met a big, friendly, nosy, inappropriately sniffy dog that decides it likes you a lot? Gordo is the human equivalent.
When the two men meet in a department store — Simon is shopping with his wife, Robyn (Rebecca Hall) — there is awkwardness all around as Simon is forced to make small talk.
“That guy is odd,” he says when they finally get away from him, and although Robyn is willing to give Gordo the benefit of the doubt, she (and we), agree with that analysis.
Later, Gordo leaves them the present of a bottle of wine on the doorstep of their new house — but how did he figure out their address? Then, even more bizarrely, if not quite creepily, he stocks their property’s pond with goldfish. But how long until stocking becomes stalking?
Simon is clearly freaked out by Gordo’s attentions, although he doesn’t help matters with his standoffish nature, the effect of which is to make Gordo try harder. Nor do his impressions of “Gordo the weirdo” from high school endear him to Robyn, or to the audience.
It’s here that Edgerton’s casting choices (can we also just assume he did the casting?), come to the fore. Hall has been in horror (The Awakening), and thriller (Transcendence), territory before, and knows how to play the full spectrum from nervous to panicked. And Bateman is ideal. He’s mostly known for comic roles, but he’s played enough shady characters — the creepy dad in Juno; the spelling-bee spoiler in Bad Words — that you’re never quite sure whether he’s on the level.
The film seems equally unreadable, especially since the premise could potentially go in so many directions. Tweak the humour just a little and you’ve got You, Me & Dupree. Play up the scare factor and you’re in full-on horror mode.
It’s worth mentioning at this point that you probably shouldn’t watch the trailer before taking in The Gift. In fact, you might want to consider swearing off trailers completely; although good luck if you’re reading this online. Recent ads for Southpaw, Jurassic World and (especially), Terminator Genisys, have revealed some major plot twists, and this is another one.
The gift of knowledge proves no such thing here.
Better to go in unaware and let Edgerton take you where he will. It’s no great spoiler to reveal that Robyn miscarried a while back and that she and Simon are trying for another pregnancy. But she has other issues — as do the other characters — that are hinted at in the early going and only gradually revealed.
Finding them out in the fullness of time can change the way you view the entire story. And isn’t that what the best thrillers do? The greatest chills come, not from a loud or unexpected noise, but rather when the film shows you something you’ve already seen and slyly insinuates: Something is different now; do you see what it is?
The Gift is Edgerton’s first feature credit as director, though he’s also done some writing, most notably on the 2014 film, The Rover. Whether he intends to remain a multi-hyphenate or go back to full-time acting remains to be seen — he next appears in Black Mass with Johnny Depp — but I’d be happy if he didn’t quit any of his day jobs.