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Godsend
Release Date: April 30,
2004
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Director: Nick Hamm
Screenwriter: Mark Bomback
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos,
Cameron Bright, Jenny Levine, Deborah Odell, Janet Bailey
Genre: Horror, Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for violence including frightening images, a scene of
sexuality and some thematic material)
Official Website: Godsendthemovie.com
Plot Summary: In the tradition of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The
Others," this taut and gripping thriller tells the story of devoted parents
who are willing to do anything to resurrect their beloved son who was tragically
killed in a freak accident. "Godsend" stars Academy Award winner
Robert De Niro, Academy-Award nominee Greg Kinnear, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos.
The film is directed by Nick Hamm, best known for his success with the highly
stylized British film "The Hole". Following
the death of their eight year old son on his birthday, Jessie (Romijn-Stamos)
and Paul (Kinnear) are befriended by a doctor on the forefront of genetic
research (DeNiro) at the height of their mourning. He leads the couple in a
desperate attempt to reverse the rules of nature and clone their son. The
experiment is successful and under Richard's watchful eye, Adam grows into a
healthy and happy young boy, until his 8th birthday. As time goes by, the
Duncan's gradually start to see small, subtle differences between the new Adam
and the Adam they lost. At the time of the new Adam's eighth birthday, the
changes in character are more pronounced. Adam grows distant and fearful as a
palpable sense of menace settles within the young boy. This Adam begins to
suffer from night terrors and frightening flashbacks as a sinister personality
begins to emerge. Paul and Jessie cannot escape the fact that this Adam is
different. Terror settles on the couple as they try to come to terms with just
what they have done, or what has been done to them.
Review By Blake French
 - Take a
pot shot but be warned.
What terrifies you more than anything? Do cemeteries give you
the chills? Does isolation haunt your thoughts and dreams? Do you break into
cold sweats when you look outside the window of a high-rise building? Or maybe
you have nightmares about big, hairy spiders crawling all over your face (I sure
as hell do)?
While different people suffer from different phobias and
fears, if you’re a parent, you probably dread nothing more than something
terrible happening to your child (probably even more than big, hairy spiders).
Since movies that scare you tend to make a profit, it’s not difficult to
understand why so many horror movies use "every parent’s worst
nightmare" as a premise.
Case in point: Godsend.
Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos play Paul and Jessie
Duncan, the loving parents of Adam Duncan (Cameron Bright). As the movie opens,
Adam is celebrating his eighth birthday. After the party, Jessie and Paul tuck
their son into bed. Adam’s parents love him very much, so much that it comes
at no surprise when, the very next day, someone loses control of their
automobile and plows directly into poor Adam, killing him instantly.
A quick note from Horror Moves 101: if a parent-child
relationship is as adorable and lovey-dovey as the one in Godsend then,
sure as God made little green apples, something horrible will happen to one of
the family members in the very immediate future. Since nobody wants to see bad
things happen to little kids, most of the time, the kid is the victim.
Although Adam is as dead as the spider in my basement that I
drenched with Raid, he can still live to see another day. Dr. Richard Wells
(Robert De Niro), a creepy fertility scientist, approaches Jessie and Paul with
the proposition of cloning Adam. After extensive research at his Godsend
medical institute, he has discovered an effective—albeit illegal—way of
cloning human beings. After pondering the idea, the Duncans decide to proceed
with the procedure.
Chaos ensues.
To avoid spoiling secrets and answering too many questions, I
will avoid further plot details; though, I discuss the enigma that questions
themselves are much more engaging than the actual answers. It’s like Who
Wants to be A Millionaire, where the process the contestants undergo
to select an answer builds suspense thick enough to pour over Belgian waffles,
but the answers themselves are trivial facts and have little impact on the
audience. In the end, despite a rather intriguing second act, Godsend just
doesn’t say anything interesting or original.
In the acting department, 11-year-old Cameron Bright delivers
a decent performance, making clear the difference between the original Adam and
the cloned Adam. Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and Robert De Niro do what
they can with their characters, but even they fall victim to the film’s
obvious inanities. For example: none of the adults appear to age over the course
of 16 years—no winkles, no grays—and Romijn-Stamos could pose for Playboy
even after giving birth to two children. The most intruding mystery in the movie
isn’t Doctor Wells’ motives or the behavior of cloned Adam, but Jessie’s
dieting secrets.
According to various Internet sources, European director Nick
Hamm (who makes his American filmmaking debut with Godsend) filmed seven
endings to the film (Yes, you read that correctly—seven.). You’d think with
such a selection of endings Hamm would pick something halfway decent, but he
doesn’t. Instead of getting his elbows dirty, he chooses the "safe"
ending. Unfortunately, the easy solution isn’t usually the best, and thus Godsend
ends on its lowest note, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. |
