The Ultimate Gift
The Ultimate Gift *1/2
Directed by Michael O. Sajbel
Written by Cheryl McKay based on the book by Jim Stovall
Starring:
Drew Fuller as Jason Stevens
James Garner as Red Stevens
Ali Hillis as Alexia
Abigail Breslin as Emily
Lee Meriwether as Miss Hastings
Brian Dennehy as Gus
Bill Cobbs as Ted Hamilton
114 Minutes(Rated PG for thematic elements, some violence and language.)
--------------------------------
"The Ultimate Gift" was distributed by Fox Faith, a new branch of Fox which deals with mainly religious or Christian family films. I have the feeling that if they didn't come along than 'The Ultimate Gift" would be resorted to Lifetime limbo. It isn't memorable, touching, uplifting, but it sure does think that it is, and it goes overboard into trying the make the audience think it is. I kind of hated the way this movie treated its audience, dumbing its characters down to turn them into emotional wrecks for the sake of having the audience tear up. This mockery of a family film has no right to be on the big screen, and should stick to the made for TV world that it seems to have been made for.
"The Ultimate Gift" begins with a man that nobody would ever really want to be around-Drew Fuller. Drew likes to think with his wallet and not with his heart(so you could guess how he changes by the end), and when his grandfather dies he just wants to know how much money he'll get. Him and his grandfather did not get along, so he figures that it isn't much. However he is surprised to learn that his grandfather gave him the best inheritance of them all. Drew has to go through a series of twelve tests, and at the end of each test he is expected to learn some kind of important value-the value of family, friendship, education, etc. This all leads up to a gift of some kind(of dollar amount) which Drew will hopefully do with something valuable based on what he has learned. The tests involve simple stuff-get a friend, give a certain amount of money for someone who needs it, etc. Along the way Drew manages to make friends with young cancer patient Emily(played by fresh off her Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin(and if she wants another one she needs to stay away from flicks like these)), makes a girlfriend Emily's mother, Alexia, and finds out the secret of his father's past, while also almost getting killed in the process. Drew realizes that the ultimate gift of all isn't money, but what he learns on the quest for it.
Some may say that I don't have a heart for not liking "The Ultimate Gift" but the only reason I didn't like it is because I have a brain. These aren't characters but caricatures, not sparing any movie cliche-the money man who finds a heart at the end, cancer patients, single mothers, boy/grandfather relationship, death. There's even an extended(and rather pointless) sequence in the middle where Drew visits a third world country and gets kidnapped by international terrorists before having to make a daring escape. If that isn't shoving the message into the viewers face enough, the viewer must be just stupid. In any case, that entire segment seemed tacked on, and it made me check the time far too often. Jason Stevens is far too sappy as Drew delivering his lines as if he's reading them off the paper. Ali Hillis is kind of cute, and plays her role with tears in her eyes the entire time. For some reason she doesn't seem upset enough even though her daughter his dying-which leads to young Breslin, who was brilliant in "Little Miss Sunshine," not showing any of that brilliance here. Perhaps it was films beforehand, I don't know, or maybe her role in "Sunshine" was just a one time deal. And that leads to vets like James Garner and Brian Dennehy. Dennehy is somewhat decent, but he doesn't talk much, and James Garner(who shot his scenes in one day-must've been the easiest check in the world) manages to provide some of the little heart the entire thing had. I enjoyed his scenes the most, which were basically on videotape. I'm sure the only people he met were Bill Cobbs, the director, and maybe a cameraman. His scenes probably took less time to shoot than this film was to watch, and I envy Garner. "The Ultimate Gift" is an exercise in futility, and perhaps will only interest you if you've only seen four movies in your lifetime. A sad excuse for "Faith," Fox needs to do better.
Directed by Michael O. Sajbel
Written by Cheryl McKay based on the book by Jim Stovall
Starring:
Drew Fuller as Jason Stevens
James Garner as Red Stevens
Ali Hillis as Alexia
Abigail Breslin as Emily
Lee Meriwether as Miss Hastings
Brian Dennehy as Gus
Bill Cobbs as Ted Hamilton
114 Minutes(Rated PG for thematic elements, some violence and language.)
--------------------------------
"The Ultimate Gift" was distributed by Fox Faith, a new branch of Fox which deals with mainly religious or Christian family films. I have the feeling that if they didn't come along than 'The Ultimate Gift" would be resorted to Lifetime limbo. It isn't memorable, touching, uplifting, but it sure does think that it is, and it goes overboard into trying the make the audience think it is. I kind of hated the way this movie treated its audience, dumbing its characters down to turn them into emotional wrecks for the sake of having the audience tear up. This mockery of a family film has no right to be on the big screen, and should stick to the made for TV world that it seems to have been made for.
"The Ultimate Gift" begins with a man that nobody would ever really want to be around-Drew Fuller. Drew likes to think with his wallet and not with his heart(so you could guess how he changes by the end), and when his grandfather dies he just wants to know how much money he'll get. Him and his grandfather did not get along, so he figures that it isn't much. However he is surprised to learn that his grandfather gave him the best inheritance of them all. Drew has to go through a series of twelve tests, and at the end of each test he is expected to learn some kind of important value-the value of family, friendship, education, etc. This all leads up to a gift of some kind(of dollar amount) which Drew will hopefully do with something valuable based on what he has learned. The tests involve simple stuff-get a friend, give a certain amount of money for someone who needs it, etc. Along the way Drew manages to make friends with young cancer patient Emily(played by fresh off her Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin(and if she wants another one she needs to stay away from flicks like these)), makes a girlfriend Emily's mother, Alexia, and finds out the secret of his father's past, while also almost getting killed in the process. Drew realizes that the ultimate gift of all isn't money, but what he learns on the quest for it.
Some may say that I don't have a heart for not liking "The Ultimate Gift" but the only reason I didn't like it is because I have a brain. These aren't characters but caricatures, not sparing any movie cliche-the money man who finds a heart at the end, cancer patients, single mothers, boy/grandfather relationship, death. There's even an extended(and rather pointless) sequence in the middle where Drew visits a third world country and gets kidnapped by international terrorists before having to make a daring escape. If that isn't shoving the message into the viewers face enough, the viewer must be just stupid. In any case, that entire segment seemed tacked on, and it made me check the time far too often. Jason Stevens is far too sappy as Drew delivering his lines as if he's reading them off the paper. Ali Hillis is kind of cute, and plays her role with tears in her eyes the entire time. For some reason she doesn't seem upset enough even though her daughter his dying-which leads to young Breslin, who was brilliant in "Little Miss Sunshine," not showing any of that brilliance here. Perhaps it was films beforehand, I don't know, or maybe her role in "Sunshine" was just a one time deal. And that leads to vets like James Garner and Brian Dennehy. Dennehy is somewhat decent, but he doesn't talk much, and James Garner(who shot his scenes in one day-must've been the easiest check in the world) manages to provide some of the little heart the entire thing had. I enjoyed his scenes the most, which were basically on videotape. I'm sure the only people he met were Bill Cobbs, the director, and maybe a cameraman. His scenes probably took less time to shoot than this film was to watch, and I envy Garner. "The Ultimate Gift" is an exercise in futility, and perhaps will only interest you if you've only seen four movies in your lifetime. A sad excuse for "Faith," Fox needs to do better.
posted by Eric at
11:17 PM
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