Movie Review: Godsend

Godsend

Those who read my movie reviews with any regularity know that I love a good horror movie. What do I define as a "good" horror movie? First of all, I have to be scared. And predictable or silly scripts don't scare me. Secondly, I don't want to see blood and gore unless that's an important part of the plot (consider, for example, Dawn of the Dead which would have been ineffective at best without its graphic violence). And finally, I appreciate anything that puts a different twist on a plot I may have seen before. Despite the fact Godsend isn't faring terribly well with most critics, it fit my horror movie criteria and I enjoyed spending a very creepy couple of hours at the movies.

Paul and Jessie Duncan (Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) are happily married and successful city dwellers. He is a teacher with a true mandate to teach; she is a gifted photographer on the rise. And to cap the couple's ideal life, they have an eight year-old son, Adam (Cameron Bright), whom they adore. But on the day after his eighth birthday, tragedy strikes when Adam is suddenly and violently killed. Unable to overcome their deep grief, Paul and Jessie are first leery and then afraid to hope when Dr. Richard Wells (Robert DeNiro) tells them they can have their son back. He explains to the Duncans that he's perfected a cloning technique that will allow him to use one of their son's cells to clone an identical child for them. Of course, the Duncans can never tell anyone what they've done...

The Duncans relocate to a small town to be near Dr. Wells' Godsend Infertility Clinic, and go through with the procedure. Once the child is born, they again dedicate themselves to raising their beloved son who they also name Adam. This time, however, the child has an "Uncle Richard" who monitors his progress and becomes a close friend of the family as the years pass. But on the occasion of Adam's eighth birthday, the Duncans realize that something has changed. As their suspicions deepen, they want only to hold onto the happiness they've found again. If, that is, their son will let them.

Greg Kinnear, as most movie-goers know, is a very capable actor. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is actually surprisingly good in this movie (although that's not to say she doesn't still need a few more acting lessons). Robert DeNiro is good, of course, but could have been much more effective if he hadn't been quite so controlled. Cameron Bright is probably the best of the cast in his role as Adam. The kid is eight, and as the second Adam, he'll scare you as much as he scares his parents! The story, while fairly simplistic, is told well. And I adored a technique used by the director wherein the sound from one scene continues and overlaps even as the visual moves to another scene. There are some real jump-in-your-seat startles, but even more frightening are dream sequences that are filmed in such a way you can almost feel Adam's confusion at the same time you share his terror.

If you enjoy being scared, you'll like Godsend. You won't have bad dreams yourself because the plot is thin enough to move past once you're out of the dark theatre. But if you suspend reality while the film rolls (something that I do so as to enjoy the full effect of any film), you'll think back on your time in the dark and shudder. Like I said: good horror movie!

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Godsend is rated PG-13, primarily for "violence, including frightening images." Because much of the movie deals with the death of a child, I don't consider Godsend acceptable fare for younger children under any circumstances. But those age 12 and up should be just fine, and older horror fans will enjoy - if nothing else - checking out some of the slick techniques used to jolt the audience.