Releasing a suspense thriller in August didn’t seem to bode well for The Gift, which looked as if it could be a Fatal Attraction or Single White Female type of film that might get chewed up against the likes of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fantastic Four, or the upcoming Straight Outta Compton and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
But the old rules for the movie release date calendar no longer apply. Things surely changed before last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but August isn’t the summer dumping ground that it used to be. And there’s certainly something to be said for the strategy of offering alternative programming such as a thriller geared toward adult audiences against the blockbuster fare still in theaters.
With a strong cast featuring Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall, along with Joel Edgerton (Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty), who wrote the film and makes his directorial debut, The Gift has the appearance of something that should be taken seriously enough versus the popcorn action movies typically populating cinemas at this time of year. But based on the trailers, this also looked as if it could be a bad slasher flick dressed up as a grown-up thriller.
Fortunately, Edgerton — who seems to be one of those actors on the verge of stardom, whom Hollywood tends to push in bigger roles, yet hasn’t quite caught on with audiences — seems to have smartly realized that creating good material for himself to act in and developing himself as a director could lead to a stronger, more diversified career that isn’t totally dependent on becoming the next great dramatic actor, action star or superhero.
If you saw 2008’s The Square — a thriller about a couple having an affair who decide to steal money from her gangster husband and run off together, only to have the scheme go horribly wrong — you know that Edgerton was already capable of writing a gripping film that didn’t teeter into melodrama or outlandish circumstances.
But as an independent release out of Australia with no stars and a first-time feature director (Joel’s brother, Nash Edgerton), The Square was likely never going to find a large audience. It’s certainly worth seeking out if you’re interested, yet might ultimately be more notable for Edgerton establishing himself as a writer and in a supporting role.
With Bateman and Hall, Edgerton has the benefit of some recognizable faces headlining his first effort as a director. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s given himself a meaty role that shows he’s capable of playing someone more complicated and vulnerable than he previously has for American audiences.
Simon (Bateman) and Robyn (Hall) are a young couple who just moved from Chicago back to his native California to start a new job, one with the promise of quick upward mobility. They buy the type of modern house featuring lots of floor-to-ceiling windows with spectacular views that seems like it would be great to live in, yet probably doesn’t allow for much privacy.
Early on, the couple bumps into Gordo (Edgerton), a former high school classmate of Simon’s who seems eager to get reacqainted despite the fact that they weren’t close friends before. Right away, that creates tension in the story that never lets up.
Is Gordo just overly enthusiastic in wanting to welcome a familiar face back to the area and is enough of a social oddball that he doesn’t quite see where the line between friendly and creepy exists? Is Simon someone who really isn’t interested in revisiting the past or indulging in nostalgia, despite moving back to his hometown, but is kind of a prick in wanting to maintain some distance and draw a line?
And what about Robyn? Is she more welcoming of some kindness in an unfamiliar area where she left her friends and career behind, and is trying to rebuild that structure? (As a fan of the Fargo TV show, I was very happy to see Allison Tolman, who played Deputy Molly Solverson, cast as one of the neighbors Robyn eventually becomes friendly with.) Does she have some social difficulties of her own, knows her husband can be kind of a jerk (which is why Bateman is such good casting) and thus relates to someone a bit too aggressive in his overtures, yet seems to mean well?
But if this was simply a movie about social graces and facing the past, maybe this would be more of an indie comedy or a Woody Allen type of film that probably wouldn’t get a wide release in August. (Especially with an actual Allen film now in theaters.)
As The Gift‘s marketing makes clear, there’s nothing funny going on here. Something more psychological and sinister lurks underneath, as Gordo isn’t simply an oddball (or “Weirdo,” as he was nicknamed in high school and reminded of later on). He seems to have an agenda with Simon regarding some unresolved issues that he needs to work out. But as we all know, just because we might have matters to address doesn’t mean that people or circumstances will cooperate as needed. Forcing the issue can lead to misunderstandings and difficulties, and finding resolution can become an outright fantasy.
Where The Gift takes an intriguing twist is that Simon is no innocent in this equation. Gordo actually has very good reasons to want to confront the past, and you can see how it might be healthy for him to do so and move on. But as the movie progresses, it becomes clearer that it’s a little more complicated than Simon maybe just being a bully who picked on Gordo when they were kids. He may have actually done something that adversely affected Gordo’s life and been responsible for the person he’s become. For Robyn, that leads to perhaps what is truly troubling in our everyday lives: Realizing that someone you thought you knew might actually be an entirely different person.
Based on the trailer, along with some of the story and character points mentioned above, you might think you know what kind of movie The Gift is. I certainly thought I had this one pegged before seeing it, and kept hoping as I was watching that it didn’t turn into something we’ve all seen before.
Fortunately, it doesn’t. The Gift never devolves into outright violence or a ridiculously trumped-up finale that becomes far more physical and dangerous than what we might encounter in reality. That’s what makes the movie such a pleasant surprise. Edgerton has written and directed a far smarter film than that, and including himself, has three excellent actors to make the material shine.
