The Gift’s greatest virtue is the same thing that keeps it from being a great film. The signature mystery at the center of the film keeps you off balance for the majority of the running time, but when it’s finally revealed, it’s a bit of a letdown. That doesn’t mean the movie is a complete misfire.

Writer/director/star Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut casts him the creepy Gordo, a man who shows up in the lives of a couple, Simon(Jason Bateman) and Robyn(Rebecca Hall), and sets off firecrackers when his past connection with Simon produces a few awkward encounters. To Simon, an ambitious businessman who doesn’t have a problem stepping on people for success, Gordo is a bug that can’t be squashed fast enough. To his wife, of course, the outsider is a fragile man who needs a friend. The juice is what happened between Gordo and Simon way back then that made this connection reappear? That drives the film and while the navigation here isn’t bad, the end result is questionable. (more…)