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The Gift
Mystery/Thriller, 2015
1 hour, 48 minutes
Written & directed by Joel Edgerton
Produced by Blumhouse Productions
Rated R for "language"
Starring
Rebecca Hall
Jason Bateman
Joel Edgerton
"What does bygones be bygones mean?"
Every once in a while, I'll watch a movie trailer that I really don't like. Everyone can admit that movies that look bad are easy to dismiss, regardless of surrounding controversy.
And then there's The Gift, which looked like a cheaply made psychological thriller that devolves into a slasher flick with a half-baked cast, written and directed by its lead actor who has never written or directed anything in his life. Well, I guess you can't judge a movie by its poster. Turns out The Gift is an incredibly smart and tense thriller with a perfect cast and great writing and directing by Joel Edgerton. In fact, it's probably the best directorial debut by an actor since Ben Affleck did Gone Baby Gone.
A young couple, Robyn (Rebecca Hall) and Simon (Jason Bateman), have just moved into their new home in Los Angeles. Simon's got a nice new job while Robyn is still running her business from afar while they are trying to have a child. By happenstance, the couple runs into Gordo (Joel Edgerton), an old high school acquaintance of Simon's. Gordo is a bit of an oddball, but he is friendly and means well... Or so it seems. Gordo has something to settle with Simon, and like the book says, "We might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."
I was so convinced Edgerton wrote a psychological thriller with a slasher of a final act, but that is so incredibly far from the case. Although the story is incredibly psychological in it's plot, it never makes the audience feel stupid. There isn't any screwing around with what's real and what isn't, which most psychological thrillers seem to desire nowadays. If anything, it's more of a mystery. The real protagonist of the film is Robyn, who is the only genuine and kindhearted person in the film. She wants to be friends with Gordo and finds his quirks to be charming. It's not like she falls in love with him or anything, but when she finds gifts on their doorstep, she is appreciative and wants to return the favor. Robyn may be off-put, but in the end, she realizes that everyone else around her treats Gordo like a freak. She quickly realizes that Simon is hiding something from her, some kind of ugly truth, and she begins to dig deeper into the mystery of what happened between Simon and Gordo.
But in the end, this is a thriller. The twists just keep on coming. Every character is a filthy liar, which brings into question the validity of almost every confrontation between the three lead characters. This is dragged on throughout the entire film, even after the credits roll. Even the answers to important questions have to be questioned, and as the layers of the storytelling onion are peeled back, Edgerton's sharp script keeps the audience constantly on their toes.
I was worried about the cast, but thank God Jason Bateman is really good at playing a scumbag. I initially thought, when I saw the trailers, that he was cast because he does bad indie movies sometimes and he's pretty cheap. Hell no! He seems to be playing a typical narcissistic Bateman character (see Michael Bluth in Arrested Development), but it digs far deeper. Edgerton cast himself pretty well, and even though I wasn't totally blown away with him like I was Bateman, it was clear he can write his own parts. He strikes a perfect tone of being odd, but not THAT weird, like that guy you get a sneaking suspicion that something might not be right with him, but you're not quite sure in what way. Rebecca Hall is... Well, she's just Rebecca Hall. For some reason, I'm never that impressed with her. I don't know why. She's like every other character she's played before, and even though this is the best movie she's probably been in, I can't say I was blown away by her unlike the rest of the cast.
The Gift is a finely crafted mystery thriller, and I'm stoked to see what Edgerton will come up with next. Hopefully something epic and thrilling, like he'll try and do what Affleck did with his directing career. This one is damn good. Real damn good. There's nothing better than being pleasantly surprised by a movie that looks like shit. It's already one of the best movies I've seen this year, so don't tell me that there's nothing out in theaters. The Gift is a movie that's just dying to be seen. And if you think the trailer gives too much away... you are dead wrong.
9/10
