The Gift (2000)

It’s not often that you have a high quality ghost movie that has so much talent involved. Directed by Sam Raimi, written by Billy Bob Thorton, and staring Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Greg Kinnear, Hillary Swank, Katie Holmes, and Keanu Reeves, “The Gift” was perhaps the best ghost movie from the early 2000s. Set in the Deep South, it has lovely swamp landscapes, townsfolk with old money and those who are nearly dirt poor, and good Christians who think that fortune telling and psychics are the product of the Devil. The script was inspired by Billy Bob Thorton’s own mother’s rumored psychic talents.

Annie Wilson is a widowed mother of three young boys who makes a living reading cards (a form of fortune telling) for her neighbors. Most people in town like her but her favorite admirer is Buddy Cole, a troubled mechanic. One person who hates her and makes it well known is Donnie Barksdale, an abusive husband whose wife sneaks out to seek advice from Annie. When Jessica King, a young woman from a very effluent family, goes missing, the police turn to Annie for help. She has visions of a swamp and it turns out to be on Donnie’s property; he’s arrested and charged with murder when Jessica’s body is pulled from the water. Jessica’s ex-fiancée turns to Annie for comfort, but she is still bothered by visions and dreams that lead her to suspect that perhaps Donnie wasn’t the killer after all.

Favorite moment – I think the most intense scene in the movie is the showdown between Buddy and Donnie. Donnie was harassing one of Annie’s young sons when Buddy comes to intervene. When Donnie tells him to get lost because it’s none of his business, Buddy makes it his business by taking a crowbar and hitting Donnie’s truck. When Donnie pulls a gun on Buddy, Buddy presses it against his own forehead and starts daring Donnie to pull the trigger.