The Gift
Since "For Love of the Game," Sam Raimi has established himself as a plodding by-the-numbers director. I'm not sure how he got from the frenetic and fun "Evil Dead 2" to this sad state, but there you have it.
Cate Blanchett plays a Southerner who has "a gift"
she can look at cards and see, and sometimes, she can see without the cards. That established, Raimi gives us "Murder in a Small Town", with Blanchett's gift at the center. The problem lies in the fact that Blanchett comes along with her gift, and as written, she is senseless. She courts danger, she puts the lives of her children in jeopardy, and she flaunts her ability to uncover a murderer before every conceivable suspect. And the killer is evident early on.
On the upside, as the sultry sleaze of this Southern town, Katie Holmes The Real Gift is naked.
