THE GIFT (2000) ** You have to give 'em credit: they lined up a fine director and cast. Problem is that, while the premise is promising, the story is a pale reminder of something else until it entirely falls apart (against the best efforts of Cate Blanchett) during what are supposed to be the climactic scenes. I have to admit, however, that I was surprised by the surprise ending. Can't imagine that too many other people will be, though, which...well, that's an indictment of myself, more than the film, isn't it? It should look good on resumé, though-we're talkin' versatility. I mean, Cate Blanchett-you know, the one who was so great as the British monarch in Elizabeth, as a Deep South fortune teller who apparently can't even afford Tarot cards. Or knows better, maybe. And that disgusting redneck bigot-surely that can't be little Keanu Reeves from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure! It's not just that we have actors doing things that they don't usually do, they're doing them very well. Blanchett is convincing as a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks in each of her many varied interactions. Keanu has every nuance of a folksy, self-righteous, misogynistic, hypocritical, none too smart evangelical...you're not supposed to, but I felt sorry for the guy. Katie Holmes is just as convincing, and lights up the screen, as the vivacious society nymphomaniac. She unquestionably has the ambition and attributes to grace the wall space of a million teenage boys' bedrooms, but she spends most of her time onscreen looking pale, bloated, disfigured and dead ("Yes, but that's hardly acting," quoth an overweight, matronly critic). Nice performances around the periphery by Giovanni Ribisi (crazy mechanic), J. K. Simmons (constipated cop), and Greg Kinnear (emasculated nice guy) are just icing on the cake; Sam Raimi builds the suspense sequences slowly but so surely that they get you even though you see 'em coming. Just goes to show how important a plot can be. This line-up shoulda been a contender.