Review: The Gift (2015)

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Actor Joel Edgerton (whom I have had a crush on since Zero Dark Thirty) steps into the director’s chair with The Gift, also acting, and he also wrote the script. It’s terrific! Great psychological thriller, with excellent performances from Edgerton, Jason Bateman, and Rebecca Hall.

My review of The Gift is now up at Rogerebert.com.

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6 Responses to Review: The Gift (2015)

  1. I’m so glad you mentioned de Becker’s “Gift of Fear.” It’s the only book of non-fiction that ever changed my life.

    • sheila says:

      Jincy – wow, really? I know, it’s such an important book!!

      Unfortunately, I think of it all the time when I watch horrors/thrillers and want to slip a copy of the book to the girl before she gets on the elevator/in the car with the guy who gives off a weird vibe.

      • Yes, deBecker’s brilliant on the usefulness (the gift) of rational/instinctive fear and the danger and destructiveness of pointless fear. Those of us (well, me) who have been plagued with panic and anxiety over those things which are wildly unlikely and which, in any event, we can’t control anyway (I think of it as the Kay Strong syndrome) can benefit from his experience and straightforward advice. (I sound like a shill…) Anyway, glad you agree.

        • sheila says:

          // usefulness (the gift) of rational/instinctive fear and the danger and destructiveness of pointless fear. //

          Yes! I am so glad it helped you.

          The book gives you some sense of agency and control. One of the things I really liked about it was: trust your instincts (that guy seems weird – okay, go with that – no benefit of the doubt given when it comes to total strangers) and don’t be afraid to be rude. You don’t need to be polite if you feel something is “off.” So you offend someone by getting off the elevator or moving your seat on the bus to get away from a person who seems “off” to you. So what. It’s better than being attacked or sticking around to see how much worse it’s gonna get.

          That really set me free – because honestly I attract strange people who always get in my face. Since I was a kid. Maybe it happens to everyone.

  2. Jessie says:

    Hello, yes, I’d like to return a tag line please.

    Joel Edgerton is great! I enjoyed his smallish and almost plain role in Animal Kingdom a lot; his naturalism really emphasised wasted potential as a critical moral-emotional stake in the film.

    • sheila says:

      Jessie – I haven’t seen Animal Kingdom! But I have had a crush on him since Zero Dark Thirty. And I was really impressed with his script here – he can write!!

      and yeah, the tagline, Oy.

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