The Gift (2015) –
Hands up if you’ve heard of this film? I suspect not many people are aware of
this, Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut in which Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall
(two favorites around these parts) play Simon & Robyn Callem, a married
couple who relocate to California, where they meet Gordon (Edgerton), an old
acquaintance of Simon’s. Husband and wife have varying perceptions of Gordon,
disagreeing over whether he’s a lonely friend or a creepy stalker, which
unearths latent tensions in the Callem household. That’s a pretty guarded plot
summary, because one of the great delights of The Gift is its unpredictability. This movie takes so many bizarre
turns and veers into more than a few strange directions that it’d really be
criminal to divulge too much in advance. Suffice it to say that Edgerton – who
pulls triple duty on acting, directing, and writing – has put together
something quite compelling and unsettlingly unique. As ever, Bateman brings his
expert comedic timing to bear, but he gets to display here more than most
places I’ve seen him (excepting, perhaps, This
Is Where I Leave You) how deft he can be with more serious acting roles.
Hall is sufficiently unsettled as Bateman’s beleaguered spouse, while Edgerton
walks the line between genuine and disturbing in a way that recalls classic
flicks like Fatal Attraction or more
recently Enduring Love. I’m surprised
that this flew under the radar, considering its critical reception and its star
power and its overall success as a thriller.That does it for this week’s edition of “Monday at the Movies.” We’ll see you next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment