I first saw the trailer for this, walking down the street, the other day, and I thought,"Oh, fun! Another nutso horror movie!" Except, when I dug deeper, I found this could be much more. Remember, I haven't seen the film yet. It opens a week from today.
"The Gift" has already been compared to "Fatal Attraction," and "Single White Female." But I think the issues here dig deeper than those films. This seems to be a high school revenge story--and you know how much we ALL love those, darlings! And those who have been with me on here awhile know I have dealt with some of my own issues, regarding that, on here!
Not that we all don't have our fantasies. And regrets. But most of us are not irrational; even I, whose reality is often not that of other people's, have never been compelled to cross these lines.
From what I have seen (trailers, of course) the story seems to go something like this.--Jason Bateman plays a guy named Simon, a real corporate type, who has it all, a wife named Robyn, played by Rebecca Hall, and from whose viewpoint most of the story is told, and an old high school acquaintance of Simon's named Gordon, played by the writer-director, Joel Edgerton. His directorial debut has been compared to that of Ben Affleck's with "Gone, Baby Gone," so....oh, my God!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apparently, back in their high school days, Gordon was not popular. People wrote "Gordo The Weirdo" on his locker. The film was originally to be titled "Weirdo." But I don't think that is enough to trigger high school revenge. While no one ever posted or wrote things on my locker--maybe I was luckier than I thought!!!!!--I don't think that is enough to trigger high school revenge. Something happened between Simon and Gordon back then, and the online populace, including ME, is ablaze trying to find out what. I have heard charges of homophobia, a video rumor, so I wonder if this is somehow going to tie in with the Tyler Clement tragedy? Or did Simon rape Gordon's sister (if, indeed he had one)???? Now, those are things someone could be seen retaliating for, decades later.
The secret of what Simon did to Gordon is being kept tighter than Price-Waterhouse keep the Oscar results!!!!!!!!!! But, I am telling you, I am rooting for Gordo already, because I would cheer on anyone who evens out past misdeeds. The scuttlebutt is the publicity implies that the audience will be rooting for Gordo, because Simon IS such a scum! But, then, so was Michael Douglas in "Fatal Attraction."
Obviously, "The Gift"--bad title--one suggestion has been "Bygones Be Bygones," which I think is better--presses all my buttons. Now, I am going to show you the strangest of all the trailers--if I can find it! The trailer starts off like a documentary, with black and white imagery, citing perpetrators who have taken revenge on high school classmates and teachers, over the years. It threw me at first; I thought all the victims were Gordon's; now I get the point that these were other cases, and that the idea of the bullied taking revenge, even decades later, is not so far fetched--especially now.
As for "The Gift," I guess we will all have to wait till August seventh! I probably will not be seeing it till the next day, but I am sure this will be a hot topic on here!
August may not be so dull, after all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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