‘The Gift’ gives on several fronts
Print Edition
Nobody likes a bully. Especially a past victim with a long memory.
Figuring out who’s the bully and who’s the victim is part of the mystery in “The Gift,” a satisfying directorial debut from writer, producer and star Joel Edgerton. While it doesn’t break any new ground, the first feature from new studio STX Entertainment succeeds as the kind of unsettling psychological thriller that could inspire one to double-check the locks on the front door.
Simon (Jason Bateman) and wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall) just relocated from Chicago to a picture-perfect house in his hometown of Los Angeles, where he has a great new job and an impending promotion. Simon insists his wife not start working right away so they can focus on starting a family.
While out shopping, the couple bumps into Simon’s old high school classmate, Gordo (Edgerton). Shy and awkward, he re-introduces himself to Simon, who didn’t recognize him. They exchange pleasantries and innocuously part ways.
Suddenly, a bottle of wine appears on the couple’s doorstep, a gift from Gordo, though they hadn’t given him their address. Then he pops by unannounced, ostensibly to be helpful. More spontaneous gifts follow — he fills their pond with koi — along with a dinner invitation.
To Robyn, Gordo seems lonely. To Simon, he seems delusional. He remembers they called him Weirdo back in high school. When Simon insists they cut ties, Gordo responds with an ominous reference to their shared history, which inspires Robyn to examine what happened between them as teenagers.
Edgerton’s film plays as homage to the polished, stylized thrillers of the 1980s and ’90s, when things went bad for Yuppies.
The three leads make their performances look effortless, a credit to Edgerton’s direction. He’s eerily on point as a quiet lurker with a menacing side. Hall is commanding as a confident yet vulnerable wife, conflicted about the man she married. Bateman deliciously plays against type as a manipulative executive who will step on anyone to get ahead.
“The Gift” takes a leap at its conclusion that’s a little hard to believe, but it doesn’t undo the story’s main theme, which Gordo might creepily sum up as “what happens when you poison other people’s minds with ideas.”
Yeah, it might be a good idea to check the locks.
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