The Gift (2015)

Title: The Gift

Release Date: August 7th, 2015

Director: Joel Edgerton

Writer: Joel Edgerton

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

This is going to be a short one because, honestly, this movie left me with an overwhelming "eh" feeling. Not that everything was bad, or even that any of it was out-right terrible, but overall it was just sort of- there.

       Alright, casting was great. Off the bat, there was awesome chemistry between characters, and they had these really great side characters that didn't overpower but were memorable. I also loved seeing Jason Bateman bring comedy into thriller and play a character that was outside of his usual lovable guy next door type cast. 
          Cinematography was great. They had a great voyeuristic theme going on, paired with the location (a one-story 'mid-century' west coast home with huge plate glass windows, like, everywhere), made for some amazing POV shots and created a vulnerability that really heightened the tension within the plot.
           Writing and directing were pretty consistent, very naturalistic. I felt the whole movie was made a little scarier just because it had that "you totally know people like that" vibe. Also it was a one man show from Joel Edgerton, who wrote, directed and starred as the weirdo-Gordo/creepy guy. I'm just now realizing that he did it all and for some reason that is changing my attitude a little bit. 
            Still, even if it is impressive that he pulled a real "auteur" move, it comes off as a very safe movie. It was playing with some great themes and unique characters, and even touched on some ideas surrounding marital problems and suburban relations that recent film hasn't yet dived into, but the entire film was still very white bread-warm milk to me. Even these taboos they were getting into, like intense high-school bullying and prescription drug abuse, came off as safe to me. Also, some story and plot points were just extraneous and felt tacked on. I would've like to have seen more time put into specific ideas of story lines instead of just immediately branching off into another random detail, then subsequently dropping that one as well. I felt like a lot was untied when I left, but I didn't car enough about any character to really give a shit.
           It was good, watchable, had decent character development, beautiful shots, and featured some story saving plot twists(the only thing that kept my a little bit wine drunk mind awake). It has a unique, formula bending story and is definitively worth a watch, but I don't know if it deserves the hype it's getting(rotten tomatoes=93%). If you love domestic squabbles and 'skeleton in the closet' story lines, give it a watch. 

(possible spoilers) 
Feminist's corner: Great development of Hall's character, as the designer/occasional pill abusing woman, grieving for the miscarried child. She is a dynamic and thought out character with her own goals and was able to exist as a actual person while also serving as a tool to tell more about the two males in the story. Cool!