Jason Bateman is best known for playing one type of role, that of
the douchebag. Sure, more often than not he's kind of a lovable douchebag, and
he's honed that kind of character to a fine point. Even in a harmless movie
like This
is Where I Leave You where his
character is pretty nice, he's still totally punchable. But what if everybody
around him didn't "love" that guy Bateman so often plays; what if
that guy's smarmy attitude and cutting insults really hurt people? That's what
Joel Edgerton is looking to explore in his gripping and utterly fascinating
thriller, The Gift.
Edgerton's film is a suspenseful masterpiece, and the amazing
thing is how it evolves subtly throughout. What begins in the shape of a home
invasion piece sheds its skin to become something much greater; a creepy and
unforgettable examination of class, marital pressure, and how the past forever
impacts one's future. The film stakes its territory out from the beginning as
well-off married couple Simon (Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) peruse the
swanky new home they're about to purchase. Quite literally living in a glass
house separated from the rabble beneath them, they appear to be a happy, but
maybe not perfectly so. He's a bit smug and demanding, she's
non-confrontational perhaps because of something in her past. He's a great
talker, able to use words to disarming effect. It's served him well throughout
his career and helped land a great job in L.A. All is well, until they
encounter the "socially awkward" Gordo (Edgerton) during a routine
shopping trip. Gordo and Simon knew one another in school, and they exchange
the kind of clumsy pleasantries old acquaintances often do. When Simon casually
invites Gordo to call him some time, he opens a door that he'll wish had never
been cracked to begin with. Gordo quickly takes advantage of the offer, showing
up at the house frequently, often when Robyn is home alone. He turns up at
gatherings he wasn't invited to; he invites them to his house for dinner under
false pretenses. But strangest of all are the numerous gifts he leaves on their
doorstep; perfectly wrapped and always with a meaningful message attached. They
seem harmless, and Gordo isn't really doing anything. Robyn doesn't mind it but
Simon takes offense and demands he leave them alone.
Without giving too much away from such a taut, rewarding
potboiler, Edgerton skillfully re-positions the motivations of everyone we
thought we knew. There are dark secrets to be revealed and past wrongs
demanding to be set right, but who is the one in need of justice? Edgerton
constantly moves the ground beneath our feet, keeping us off-balance. As
strange things begin occurring around the home, a revelation from Robyn's past
throws everything she's experiencing into question. Gordo, while not overtly
threatening, is just creepy enough to merit concern he's some kind of undercover
serial killer. And Simon, who can seem like the perfect husband one minute, can
be a callous jerk the next. While there are the makings of a typical
"stalker" movie, Edgerton doesn't settle for common tropes of the
genre, instead digging deeper into what makes these characters tick. Through
skillful use of lighting and ambient noise he creates enough tension that
audiences may literally jump out of their seats with shock. It certainly
happened at the screening I attended during one memorable scene. The screenplay
is trimmed down and sharp until the unnecessarily heavy-handed finale that
tries so hard for a big "twist" that everything gets telegraphed from
a mile away. 
It's strange to see Edgerton, who looked like an all-pro
linebacker in The Great Gatsby and Warrior,
curl himself up into the cowering Gordo. He moves and stutters with believable
timidity, giving an accomplished performance that matches his confident
direction. Bateman knows this character all too well; he fits into it easily
and takes to its darker contours like a pro. Hall is typically sensitive and
reserved in her portrayal, but it fits with Robyn's passive nature. Edgerton is
most deserving of recognition, though. His debut feature shows a ton of
promise. The real gift of The
Gift is how it tingles our
spines and plays with our expectations. While Edgerton clearly owes a lot to
the works of Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Haneke, he's not content to merely
pay homage to them, but to live up to their high standard.
Rating: 4 out of 5
