Should Joel Edgerton ever want to walk away from acting (we hope he never does), he would have a prolific career as a writer/director, from what we’ve seen with his auteur debut The Gift.
Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall star as Simon and Robyn, a young married couple who move back to Southern California from Chicago after he gets a high-powered job in the tech industry. After purchasing their dream home, they run into an old high school acquaintance of Simon’s named Gordo (Edgerton) and thus begins our journey into madness, mayhem and psychological torment that is nothing short of a suburban nightmare.
The Gift is a study in the power of the mind and how even the suggestion of something can ruin someone’s life, cause them serious physical harm at the hands of others and be a sin that is unforgivable for decades and even forever.
Simon and Robyn welcome Gordo into their home for a dinner and Gordo even helps them set up a koi pond and their home theater. But, there is something about their guest who keeps showing up unannounced and bringing gifts that bothers Simon. Robyn thinks he’s innocent and just a little lacking in social skills.
Simon thinks he needs to have a talk and let him know that there is just no room in their lives for this new friend. Gordo takes it somewhat well, and even leaves one last gift with a note talking about “letting bygones be bygones.” Simon claims to have no idea what that means, but when Robyn digs deeper, she discovers something about her husband’s past that is downright alarming. It appears that the past has shown up in the present and the revenge is just commencing.
As a screenwriter, Edgerton has crafted a steady and sure pot-boiler with The Gift. It hits all the right thriller notes and proves to be explosive on so many levels. It takes roads unexpected and proves to be one of the most surprisingly effective films of the summer. Edgerton is clearly inspired by some of the great LA noir stories of the past and yet The Gift could not be more original as it stands all on its own.
Edgerton, the director, gives his audience just enough spook along the way to have us on the edge of our seat — always wondering when the shoe is going to drop. And then, wondering when it will drop again. He also gets the most out of the cinematic married couple that will surely be the heart of what is discussed by viewers after the credits roll. Bateman and Hall play off each other with strokes of brilliance that go back and forth between coy, mysterious, purposeful and emotional power punches. Bateman, in particular, we will never quite look at the same again and that is a very good thing.
Then, there’s Edgerton the actor. He inhabits Gordo with all the elements of characters you think we have seen before, but within moments of his first big monologue, a realization happens. This guy could be as gentle as a puppy or as ferocious as a pit bull trained to torment.
There is also the element of surprise in the plot that propels our story into dangerous territory. Is Gordo simply a well-wisher welcoming an old friend back in town? Does Simon have every right to think this guy could be unhinged? Or is the eternal optimist, Robyn, too naïve in her belief that Gordo is harmless. And frankly, is she trusting the wrong man?
Grade: A-