The Ultimate Gift

The path The Ultimate Gift has taken to the big screen is pretty interesting, but it has resulted in an inexplicable end product. Let's see. The film is based on a Christian-themed novel by Jim Stovall, which I haven't heard of, but Wikipedia says it was a bestseller, so apparently it's popular. Thanks to its plot "” a story about a spoiled young man receiving a series of "gifts" from his late grandfather instead of an inheritance, so that he may learn life lessons "” it was privately funded by a company called the Stanford Financial Group. They funded it in order to use it as a marketing tool for their wealth management services. Then, it was picked up for distribution by Twentieth Century Fox's new specialty division Fox Faith, used to tap into the niche market of Christian audiences.

I would just ignore the history and review the movie on its own terms, but knowing this stuff enhances my understanding of the film. Besides, the sorry truth is, it's much more interesting than the film itself. Essentially, it's a made-for-TV after-school special masquerading as a theatrical movie. And despite its impressive cast that includes James Garner, Brian Dennehy, and recent Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin, it reeks of amateurishness.

Case in point: five minutes into the movie, I noticed the boom mike drop conspicuously into the frame. Oh no, I thought. I'm in for a long trip.

To be fair, the movie gets better as it goes along and does a decent job of pulling you into the story. The main character "” the spoiled young man who learns the life lessons "” is played by Drew Fuller, whose biggest previous claim to fame was a recurring appearance on Charmed, but his performance is decent and certainly not embarrassing. Abigail Breslin retains the same charm we saw from her in Little Miss Sunshine. Supporting actors Dennehy, Garner as the late grandfather, and Bill Cobbs are all old pros who exude charm.

And yet the movie is so emotionally manipulative. Usually I don't like to describe a movie that way. After all, aren't the best movies the ones that manipulate your emotions the best? I suppose what I mean in this case is that its manipulative in a false way; you're quite aware throughout the many heart-wrenching scenes that the filmmakers are trying to make you cry.

The plot, which I summed up above, can't really be expanded on any further. It's way too random. First we think it'll be the story of the rich kid who goes down South to learn the value of hard work. Then it turns into the story of a guy who meets a single mother and her terminally ill daughter. Then it

turns into one man's search for what happened to his father. Then it turns into an action movie about an escape from the captivity of South American drug lords. (I'm dead serious.) And on, and on, and on.

The religious themes of the movie are pretty understated, although there's the occasional really awkward socially conservative speech ("Keeping my baby was the best decision of my life," we're told at one point, in literally an almost direct-address to the camera). And for a supposedly Christian movie, I did notice a bizarre anti-homeless-people sentiment.

What do I make of this movie? What is it even trying to be about? (Answer: about seventeen different things.) Is it an ad for the Stanford Financial Group masquerading as a movie? An attempt by Fox to lock down the Christian audiences that went to The Passion? A simple independent feel-good movie?

When it comes down to it, I fear my snarky-critic instincts and wealth of ammunition are making me attack this movie more than I should be. It's a total niche movie; if you're in the niche (people who like wholesome family movies and don't notice bad production values), chances are you'll like the movie, and there's nothing wrong with that"¦right? I guess so. But there's a much better wholesome tearjerker family movie in theaters now (with better, more honest values than this movie): Bridge to Terabithia. Go see that instead.

Movie Grade: C

Synopsis:

When his wealthy grandfather dies, trust fund baby Jason Stevens anticipates a big inheritance. Instead, his grandfather has devised a crash course on life: twelve gifts designed to challenge Jason in improbable ways, sending him on a journey of self-discovery and forcing him to determine what is most important in life: money or happiness.