The Gift

THE ONLY WITNESS TO THE CRIME WAS NOT EVEN THERE. Director Sam Raimi combined the spooky underpinnings of his early work with his newly proven talent for handling powerful drama in the supernatural thriller The Gift, coaxing nuanced performances from a star-studded cast to bring a gripping script by Billy Bob Thornton & Tom Epperson (One False Move) to life. In rural Georgia, recently widowed psychic Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) works as a tarot reader to support her young family. When she is introduced to her son's affable school principal (Greg Kinnear) and his socialite fiancée (Katie Holmes), Annie has a grisly premonition of things yet to come. After her violent vision comes true, all eyes turn to Annie, leaving her with no choice but to use her clairvoyant abilities to find the culprit herself. Could it be the abusive husband (Keanu Reeves) of one of Annie's regular clients (Hilary Swank)? Or the nervy mechanic (Giovanni Ribisi) whose yearning for friendship masks an uncontrollable rage? Or is another terrible secret hiding in plain sight? Made right before a certain web-slinger finally catapulted Raimi from the cult fringes onto Hollywood's A-list, The Gift is an under-appreciated but vital entry in his filmography that is ripe for reappraisal.