Godsend (2004)

A Major Disappointment

A different way of telling a story

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The movie is an incoherent mess. The movie actually has no ending. The kid is whako and the parents leave it at that. None of the visions make any sense or is explained in a way that doesn't make you laugh. The father's head is cracked open and recovers without even a band-aid.As suggested in other movies: The kid should have killed the doctor, the father who doesn't even seem to have a concussion should have started having visions from getting whacked in the head, the mother should have been committed to an institution (hopefully with an accompanying nude scene). The kid then gets cured at some point by re-engineering his genes. He is now living serenely with the father who now calls himself "Zach". The picture ends with a freeze frame of his eyes lighting up like Michael Jackson at the end of thriller. Good night.

Paul (Greg Kinnear) and Jessie Duncan (Rebecca Romijn) are married celebrating their son Adam (Cameron Bright)'s 8th birthday. Adam is killed hit by a truck. Jessie's old professor Dr. Richard Wells (Robert De Niro) of The Godsend Institute offers to clone their son. After the new Adam reaches eight, he starts having nightmarish visions of another boy named Zachary.Even if I buy the premise, this thriller has no tension. The start is so low energy. The movie may as well start later in the story or compress the introduction more. It turns into some sort of ghost story but the investigation isn't that compelling. This is a second-tier horror movie without any thrills or frights. The solid actors are left with nothing good.

Funny how De Niro plays a supporting part similar to the one he played in "angel heart" (1987) .He used to play the Devil,now he plays a scientist genius who suggest the distraught parents who just lost their beloved son he clone him.That does not make a big difference;in both movies,God's plans are given a rough ride.The subject could have been a godsend but the screenplay does not rise to the occasion,particularly in the hackneyed final the average viewer has already seen a hundred times or more (probably to secure a "Godsend 2" should the movie be a success).But God did not planned it that way,perhaps wisely.Snatches of "the sixth sense" do not help.

My Take: Boring rehash that wastes its cast and its audience as well. From a title like "Godsend" or "The Omen" or "The Exorcist", one can't have an idea that the film being presented is a religion-based horror flick. Sadly I say, this isn't. "Godsend" is a science-fiction story about resurrection. The film opens with the birthday celebration of young Adam (Cameron Bright), the son of couple Paul (Greg Kinnear)and Jessie (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) Duncan. The film continues a few days later when Adam becomes victim of a car accident. While Paul and Jessie grieve the death of their son, scientist Richard Wells (Robert DeNiro) approaches them with a message of hope, their son can be brought back to life. After a couple of experiments, they have brought Adam back to life. Pretty soon, this 'new' Adam begins to have nightmares, terrifying revelations of a boy named Zachary (who looks like him) and a burning school. Of course, these are just nightmares, or a trick of the imagination, but can it be real? Oooohhh... The better question is can director Nick Hamm overcome the growing tedium of the script? How many more plot twists and revelations are they gonna keep throwing at us before we all say in unison that we don't get it? Can Robert DeNiro salvage his career in such a career-derailing role? Do I have to tell you where all this is going? Rating: 0 out of 5.