The Gift (Joel Edgerton)

JP Liz V1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3IiZU9JBuE

Joel Edgerton's directorial debut which he wrote and stars in with Rebecca Hall and Jason Bateman (in a rare serious role) looks to be out here this weekend and seems to be getting good reviews so far, as a fan Edgerton looking forward to this dark thriller even if the plot has been done before similarly

razorblunt

Looks good, I don't think the trailer has given much away either which makes a change.
Will definitely check it out.

pinksoir

Looks pretty sweet, a good cast and a sort of "History of Violence" type premise. Should be enjoyable.

DareGod

Looking forward to this.

Saw this tonight.

Didn't know anything about it(bar checking the score) but since F4 seems to be scoring poorly we said we'd give it a look.

Was hard to predict how it was going to pan out, found myself altering my predictions constantly.

One of the better films I've watched this year, was original enough. Didn't feel like a rehash of anything.

NachoBusiness

I really liked it, loved the tension created.

Real crowd pleaser it seemed (if the crowd I seen it with last night is anything to go by at least).

Couple of things..

Bateman was really good throughout, exceptional to be fair, BUT I think he could have been more convincing in the scene where we saw Simon lose it for the first time and kick Gordo. For me Bateman held back here as you can see him pulling the kicks and not giving it what I feel he should have, and could have. It was the only scene where he just didn't convince me, and therefore, I'm sorry to say that I didn't buy that he was giving Gordo a hiding and it tool me right out of the film, which is a shame because it was such a pivotal point in the film/ If we really needed a scene to be believable for the film to work, then this scene was it.. but, we didn't as otherwise it's a great film despite that and so they got away with it being somewhat half arsed.

Secondly: the ending was good but as this is not pre the mid '80s, it loses a lot as we know it's going to very easy for Simon to find out if he is the child's father or not and yes, I know that he will still have that torment before he knows for sure, and may not be, but it still loses a lot as what we really want is Gordo to have the same or similar effect on Simon's life, as he has had on his. A brief period of him being unsure about how far Gordo went really leaves the audience unsatisfied with regards to revenge. For me, a much better ending would have been Simon seeing Gordo raping Robin and pretty much leaving no doubt that he was the father. As it is, I really don't think it was something Gordo would have in him to do and so for me the ending wasn't nearly as good as the film deserved it to be.

Somewhat nitpicking there, as I do think it's still a great little thriller.

El Diablo Blanco

Enjoyed this a lot. Fair play to Joel Edgerton not only for writing and directing, but for a mesmerising performance as Gordo. Bateman and Hall were superb, too. As said previously, very hard to predict where it was going. One of the better films I’ve seen this year, definitely.

Arghus

Surprised this movie hasn't picked up more traction here. It's doing decent business and the reviews have been largely ecstatic. I have to concur with those who have written their pieces so far: it's a very entertaining thriller.

The film's biggest asset is its sheer unpredictability. I thought I had it pegged once or twice, maybe even three times, but it still left me in that glorious position of not knowing what was coming around the corner, until just after the corner. It negotiates with some success through several different moods - terror, black-comedy, dread and -most of all-suffocating tension.

The script is quite clever- full of little expository details. The audience is thrust into the lives of the central couple and encouraged to largely read between the lines; about their past and about where they find themselves now. Is the yuppie dream - personified by Jason Batemans character - really as shallow and horrible as it seems? Or is Gordo an honest to God legitimate threat? The script is well put together in how it gently holds our hand - encouraging us to see ourselves as head-detectives, busy working on the case - and then pulls the rug out from under us. The cast helps brings this to fruition too - Rebecca Hall has an empathetic fragility to her, which helps to see her as part genuine victim and also perhaps less than reliable witness. Joel Edgerton's Gordo is pleasantly inscrutable - part dangerous, part lonely and pathetic. Jason Bateman was, for me, the best. He's really wasted in a lot of the stuff he appears in. He has a lot of barely suppressed malevolence that he could make more use of, it comes to the fore here at just the right times, in just the right doses.

I suppose I do have a few criticisms. Firstly - jump scares. There aren't many, but they add nothing to the experience. I feel The Gift is a film that could benefit from a second viewing; which may show up different aspects in the story or unnoticed details. Unfortunately, it would be also be bound to show up the useless JUMP moments for what they really are- dead air. Secondly - the biggest flaw, which some people will definitely have a problem with, is in the transition of the film from a female centered initial half, towards a borderline misogynist dude dominated conclusion. That aspect of the film made me slightly uncomfortable, and I'm not sure if it was the type of uncomfortable it was going for.

That said; I can't disregard the film. Some of it makes me queasy, but I do appreciate that it's commendably nasty, refreshingly horrible, even. It's a superior genre film with classy acting and just enough suggestion of depth- with it's themes of the past holding sway over your future, whether people can really change, and the atonement of guilt - to make it stand out, and a pronounced nasty streak to help it linger longer than most in your mind.

NachoBusiness

Arghus wrote: »

I suppose I do have a few criticisms. Firstly - jump scares. There aren't many, but they add nothing to the experience. I feel The Gift is a film that could benefit from a second viewing; which may show up different aspects in the story or unnoticed details. Unfortunately, it would be also be bound to show up the useless JUMP moments for what they really are- dead air.

Couldn't disagree more.

I was at this again this evening (family member wanted to see it) and the 'jump scares' were the very scenes that they were talking about in the car on the way home and the audience (at both screenings I attended) clearly loved them also. It's tense film and there is really only three scares (two of which are pretty much back to back). I think if the film didn't have them, it would lose a lot tbf. It's a thriller at the end of the day..

Also, you've got to remember that at this point the audience still thinks Gordo could be a killer and so the shower scence scare and dog bark are really the films highest rollarcoaster moments. Two or three of those in a two hour film is very economical and again, I feel it ads so much to the film. Without them for me, the film would have been a touch flat.

Secondly - the biggest flaw, which some people will definitely have a problem with, is in the transition of the film from a female centered initial half, towards a borderline misogynist dude dominated conclusion. That aspect of the film made me slightly uncomfortable, and I'm not sure if it was the type of uncomfortable it was going for.

What? I don't get you here..

Are you talking about Gordo or Simon?

candy-gal1

Loved this

Havent seen anything quite as tense and making you think/wonder in quite a while, would go see again!

Arghus

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Couldn't disagree more.

I was at this again this evening (family member wanted to see it) and the 'jump scares' were the very scenes that they were talking about in the car on the way home and the audience (at both screenings I attended) clearly loved them also. It's tense film and there is really only three scares (two of which are pretty much back to back). I think if the film didn't have them, it would lose a lot tbf. It's a thriller at the end of the day..

Also, you've got to remember that at this point the audience still thinks Gordo could be a killer and so the shower scence scare and dog bark are really the films highest rollarcoaster moments. Two or three of those in a two hour film is very economical and again, I feel it ads so much to the film. Without them for me, the film would have been a touch flat.

What? I don't get you here..

Are you talking about Gordo or Simon?

What I mean is-

The first part of the film has the wife as the central protaganist. We really see everything from her point of view, she's in every scene. We don't get a scene without her until quite far into the story. One of the main driving forces of the narrative is her attempting to discover the truth of past events, which the two men already know. She's the audience surrogate.

But the denouement of the story involves the husband finally understanding the breadth and depravity of Gordos revenge. It focuses more on the anguish he feels and it becomes more about the battle between the two male characters. The female goes from being someone with autonomy in driving the story forward, to someone to whom things happen to, someone who was unknowningly objectified and abused and who will probably be kept in the dark about it.

.

NachoBusiness

Arghus wrote: »

What I mean is-

But the denouement of the story involves the husband finally understanding the breadth and depravity of Gordos revenge. It focuses more on the anguish he feels and it becomes more about the battle between the two male characters.

But I don't get why you'd suggest Simon was a misogynist to the point where it was uncomfortable viewing. To me the guy was a narcissist and was pretty much an egalitarian when it came to who he used and abused and who's feelings he was willing to manipulate in order to get what he wanted. He certainly treated men just as badly, if not considerably worse, than he treated women. I felt anyway.

The female goes from being someone with autonomy in driving the story forward to someone to whom things happen to, someone who was unknowningly objectified and abused and who will probably be kept in the dark about it.

Well, for me Robyn still was very a player in the second half as she was in the first. She went to Simon's sister for information, tracked down one of his school mates, confronted Simon, accuses him of being a bully, suggests he apologize to Gordo and ultimately ends the relationship down to his lying and bullying of her and others. Not sure how they could be seen as the actions of a woman with no autonomy.

As for the ending, I critiqued that myself earlier and so I agree that it could have been, and should have been, better (especially given that we now have easy access to DNA tests from a hair or saliva sample, thereby making it quite easy for Simon to find out who was the child's true father). Had the film been set in the 50s or before, then it would have been a much more powerful ending but again I do feel I am nitpicking as I really liked the film.

Few things I got from a second viewing..

Firstly I got a sense that it was being suggesting that Gordo was a paedophile and that bullying is what caused that. Obviously it is revealed that Gordo attempted to kidnap a child but shortly after that reveal there are a few lines inferring that the things we say about people that damage them in ways we hadn't intended.

Secondly, the timeline seems a little odd on second viewing as Simon beats up Gordo, then we see many months go by, them at Christmas, pregnancy reveal and yet when we see Gordo at the hospital he still has bruises on his face.. six to seven months later? Not sure I get why?

Thirdly, we see him remove his sling at the end. Does this mean that he was faking the injuries to make Robyn think Gordo had beaten him up worse?

Loughc

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Thirdly, we see him remove his sling at the end. Does this mean that he was faking the injuries to make Robyn think Gordo had beaten him up worse?

Yes, what I took from that was he's playing up the whole helplessness and injuries to Robyn to make Simon look worse, further damaging their relationship.

Arghus

NachoBusiness wrote: »

But I don't get why you'd suggest Simon was a misogynist to the point where it was uncomfortable viewing. To me the guy was a narcissist and was pretty much an egalitarian when it came to who he used and abused and who's feelings he was willing to manipulate in order to get what he wanted. He certainly treated men just as badly, if not considerably worse, than he treated women. I felt anyway.

Well, for me Robyn still was very a player in the second half as she was in the first. She went to Simon's sister for information, tracked down one of his school mates, confronted Simon, accuses him of being a bully, suggests he apologize to Gordo and ultimately ends the relationship down to his lying and bullying of her and others. Not sure how they could be seen as the actions of a woman with no autonomy.

As for the ending, I critiqued that myself earlier and so I agree that it could have been, and should have been, better (especially given that we now have easy access to DNA tests from a hair or saliva sample, thereby making it quite easy for Simon to find out who was the child's true father). Had the film been set in the 50s or before, then it would have been a much more powerful ending but again I do feel I am nitpicking as I really liked the film.

I'm not referring to Simon himself with the phrase "borderline misogynist dude dominated conclusion" , I'm referring to the film itself. I don't think the film is outright misogynistic, I think it could be accused of it- it's borderline. The film places the wife very centrally in proceedings for most of it's duration- we're with her all the way as she unravels the truth and comes to new conclusions about her husband and about what she thought was their "happy" marriage. We discover things at the same pace she does and empathize with her, above the other two characters.

But at the films conclusion we know that the real horror is that she is an object or a vessel, in a sense, through which Gordo can make real the ultimate revenge on his tormentor. I don't think that Gordo actually had anything against her, in a way. He did assault her yes, but wasn't to cause her pain, so much as it was to hurt the other guy. She was almost secondary in how things went - she just was the best means to get revenge. I feel that her autonomy is shown to be only an illusion- she was able to do certain things off her own bat, but ultimately she was drugged, assaulted and impregnated and then is left completely in the dark about it- I would say that's a distinct lack of autonomy. Also I think a film that uses sexual assault on a defenseless woman as part of its final twist can easily stand accused of having some element of misogyny present.

I agree that Simon, as a character, was probably just a bullying asshole to women and men fairly equally. That said; I think it's implied that the world he's in does view women as arm-candy or baby factories, to a certain extent. They're shown to be kind of add ons to the successful men - to look good at dinner parties or to stay at home and mind the kids. Little throw away details show this up, like when one character says "she'll answer to anything" when introducing his wife, or how Robyn’s "career" is talked of with slight pitying condescension at the business party and none of the other women’s careers are mentioned at all. I do know that Simon may not be a textbook misogynist, but he does have a patronizing attitude to Claire - he talks to her like a parent talking to a bold child after he finds the pills and I think all he really wants is for her to stay home to raise the kids, never mind her own career. He views her as a sensitive creature that can't be pushed or shocked, for her own "protection". But she's actually quite resilient, he underestimates her. Perhaps if he'd been straight up from the start about the threat Gordo posed, then maybe she would have been wiser to the danger and better prepared

So much black text- uggh, my eyes! Whatever about that, at least we agree that it's a film worth seeing

NachoBusiness

Arghus wrote: »

But at the films conclusion we know that the real horror is that she is an object or a vessel, in a sense, through which Gordo can make real the ultimate revenge on his tormentor. I don't think that Gordo actually had anything against her, in a way. He did assault her yes, but wasn't to cause her pain, so much as it was to hurt the other guy. She was almost secondary in how things went - she just was the best means to get revenge.

But it wasn't just about revenge though, as Gordo says:

"Good people deserve good things."

He viewed giving her a child as a good thing as so he in no way saw her as just a "vessel" or secondary. Far from it.

I feel that her autonomy is shown to be only an illusion- she was able to do certain things off her own bat, but ultimately she was drugged, assaulted and impregnated and then is left completely in the dark about it- I would say that's a distinct lack of autonomy. Also I think a film that uses sexual assault on a defenseless woman as part of its final twist can easily stand accused of having some element of misogyny present.

And would you see the sexual assault of a defenseless man in the final twist of a film as being indicative of it having misandric undertones?

I don't think that just because a film has the elements you reference, that this should mean that the film was in some way misogynistic. It all really depends on how that violence is used and if it is glorified, laughed at or presented in a way which suggests it was acceptable for the character to behave in the way. I feel none of this occurred. This is where some rad fems went off into the ditch when they condemned American Psycho as being a misognistic film. Was somewhat surprising to the feminist director at the time. In short: the audience is not manipulated to see what Gordo did as being justified and so the claim is unwarranted, in my view. We understand Gordo's motivations for sure, but I don't think anything he does is ever excused or presented as being justifiable.

..he talks to her like a parent talking to a bold child after he finds the pills and I think all he really wants is for her to stay home to raise the kids, never mind her own career. He views her as a sensitive creature that can't be pushed or shocked, for her own "protection". But she's actually quite resilient, he underestimates her. Perhaps if he'd been straight up from the start about the threat Gordo posed, then maybe she would have been wiser to the danger and better prepared

.

But he's an narcissistic asshole to everyone, even people who don't know him..

... like the guy who was competition to his promotion. You can't isolate his narcissism to women and say that's indicative of misogny. Come on, he bullied everyone, that's the point.

Incidentally, the only violence in the film which is presented as being justified was against a man. As when Simon suggests that Robyn maybe has fantasies about her school mates one day lining up and apologizing to her, she feels that this insult justifies her slapping him across the face. He doesn't retaliate and in fact she loses the head when he says he wouldn't mind an apology for the assault. Doesn't this send somewhat of a misandric message? That is justifiable to slap a man if he dares insults a female?

/tongueincheek

So much black text- uggh, my eyes! Whatever about that, at least we agree that it's a film worth seeing

Something I suppose

TCDStudent1

I really enjoyed this. Thought it looked ok from the trailer but wasn't going to make an effort to see it. Wasn't doing anything this evening and nothing else on so went to it and I am very glad I did. Best film I have seen in quite a while.

Secondly: the ending was good but as this is not pre the mid '80s, it loses a lot as we know it's going to very easy for Simon to find out if he is the child's father or not and yes, I know that he will still have that torment before he knows for sure, and may not be, but it still loses a lot as what we really want is Gordo to have the same or similar effect on Simon's life, as he has had on his. A brief period of him being unsure about how far Gordo went really leaves the audience unsatisfied with regards to revenge. For me, a much better ending would have been Simon seeing Gordo raping Robin and pretty much leaving no doubt that he was the father. As it is, I really don't think it was something Gordo would have in him to do and so for me the ending wasn't nearly as good as the film deserved it to be. [/COLOR]

Wouldn't be too sure about that. We really discovered very little about him so I
don't think it's possible to say that it wasn't in him.

LuckyLloyd

I think the feminist criticism attempted above is misplaced and pointless tbh.

Cracking thriller, smartest film within the genre I've seen in a while. You could nitpick over the impact of the finale within a modern context, but I think it was a powerful way to conclude the movie within the context of the film's created past. The most impressive aspect of the film was its discipline. Tension and menace rises throughout and so often it would climax in a ridiculous "action packed" finale but The Gift provides a much more troubling conclusion.

Echoes of Williams in One Hour Photo in Edgerton's performance. Very impressive piece of work from him. Go see it!

Looper007

Loved this film so much, it's one of films that sneak up on without any hype behind it. Joel Edgerton did a great job and gave us a great edge of the seat thriller that has cult hit written all over it.

One of the funniest moments I had in a cinema ever happened during this film the scene

When Rebecca Hall is having a shower and she imagines someone is the bathroom and she wipes away the steam and Joel Edgerton is standing there (its a bad dream), some guy let out the biggest scream I ever heard "JESUS CHRIST NO!!!!", I think most of the crowd at the screening got a bigger fright from that.

.

I thought Jason Bateman gave his best performance to date as the guy with a past

I got to be honest are we not supposed to feel bad for him cause I was over the moon when the plan went down, he deserved all he got he was a bully even into his adult years especially what he did to Edgerton's character and Danny guy who's life he nearly ruins just so he could get a promotion. He shows no remorse and for me is the biggest Villain of the film, that's what makes this film special. He has to live with knowing if the kid he has is his, his wife has left him and his career is up in flames

. Rebecca Hall was great (did she remind anyone else of Olivia Williams from the Sixth Sense and Rushmore, I thought it was Williams for a large part of the film).

Edgerton is talent to watch behind the camera. He had a hand in the script for The Rover and wrote a great Aussie film called The Square a few years back. He knocked it out of the park with his first foray behind the camera as director.

maximoose

Really, really enjoyed this. One of the best thrillers of recent years IMO.

Acting was great/solid all round, including Jason Bateman who I generally detest.

The dog at the window, even though I was anticipating it, was the first legitimate "jump" I've had in the cinema in ages!

tunguska

Went to see this tonight and I'm really surprised, it's actually a great film. I honestly thought it was another stalker movie, thst type you'd see on after match of the day on a Saturday night. But Joel edgerton has done a brilliant job, not just as writer/director but his performance is also top stuff too. Jason Bateman puts in career best also. Cinema was packed aswell tonight which is great to see a film like this doing so well.

Ipso

Bump.
I can't believe this has only two pages. This was a great movie, if possible go into it knowing nothing about it.
Edgerton is definitely one to keep an eye on in future.

Nerdlingr

Ipso wrote: »

Bump.
I can't believe this has only two pages. This was a great movie, if possible go into it knowing nothing about it.
Edgerton is definitely one to keep an eye on in future.

If you haven't seen it I'd recommend 'Animal Kingdom' as well. He's excellent in that too. He's one of the few actors that I now look out for his films, they're usually not a let down.