The Gift

Annie Wilson (Blanchett) lives in a cabin out in the boondocks glumly reading other people's futures. Given that her regulars include nutsy mechanic Buddy (Ribisi) and perpetually black-eyed Valerie (Swank), tact is probably the most demanding aspect of her job. Still, when she bumps into school principal Wayne Collins (Kinnear) and his hot-to-trot fiancée Jessica (Holmes), she can't quite hide the apocalyptic visions which flood her senses. When Jessica disappears, it's Annie who holds the key to the crime. Blanchett gives it all she's got, but there's a fundamental flaw here: if your beleaguered heroine has second sight, how come everybody in the entire audience is streets ahead of her? This is one of those murder mysteries where the red herring is so scarlet only a Texan would convict, while the guilty party simpers soulfully trying to look unobtrusive. Director Raimi, meanwhile, treats the trashy material with sluggish solemnity and only wakes up in the dream sequences.