"The Ultimate Gift" (2006)

"The Ultimate Gift" Movie Poster

Thanks to Kyle again for another great movie recommendation (and providing the DVD!)

I've been attracted to faith-inspired films in the last several years, particularly "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof." Knowing that there were probably going to subtle faith-related messages throughout this movie made it more intriguing.

The movie was inspired by the best-selling novel by Jim Stovall of the same name.

The tagline for the movie was "Life is how you live it...not how you spend it."

It was rated PG by the MPAA for thematic elements, some violence and language.

It won the 2006 Heartland Film Festival's Crystal Heart Award. It also received the Dove Foundation's seal of approval.

The movie received mostly mediocre ratings. Many critics did not dispute the sentimental value, but it was too sweet for them. Box office sales reflected ratings, as it opened to $1.2 million and many theaters pulled it from distribution. DVD sales grossed $9.55 million.

The trailer, included in the DVD, starts with a drumbeat. A man's voice calls, "Jason?" as a man turns around from a 10th floor elevator.

"How do you know my name?"

A black man from inside a conference room says, "It's my business to know everyone named in your grandfather's will."

As scenes of a cemetery are shown and then back to the conference room, Jason says, "I know what he left me. Nothing."

The same man says, "Walk away and you'll never know, will ya?"

The trailer goes through what appears to be family arguments about the inheritance, with Jason only caring about the money he will receive.

Then, he meets a woman and what appears to be her daughter in a park. As they walk away, Jason stops them with "Hey!"

"I need a friend."

"Explain yourself!" The little girl demands.

Jason shrugs and says, "It's complicated."

As they sit down and talk, the little girl looks at him and asks, "You have a bet with a dead guy? Cool."

As the movie starts, a elderly man is sitting in what appears to be a law library, preparing for either an interview or a broadcast. Then, a phone rings against a black screen. A woman answers the phone, says a few words, and hangs up. She walks into a portion of an office, where a black man in a suit and bow tie is sitting, looking solemn and depressed. "He's gone, sir." They exchange a few words about "business interests" and other things before the woman turns to walk away.

We find out that the man in the opening shot is named Eric Stevens, but you can call him Red (Academy Award nominee James Garner). We find out that the black man, Hamilton (Bill Cobbs), is a lawyer, and we hear a phone conversation between them, with Red proposing a few "business ideas, some that are still in the dream stage..."

Red and Hamilton started out as business partners and ended up as friends. As Hamilton sits down with members of Red's family to divvy up the will, his eldest child Bill was named owner of Red's oil and gas company. However, since Bill showed zero interest in the company while Red was alive, he didn't think it would change after his death. So Red left the company under the board's control, leaving Bill, his family and lawyers shocked and humiliated.

One by one, members of Red's family are left speechless and angry as they are confused about what a 10,000 acre cow farm is worth, how much they get, or that their estate will remain under the trustees.

As Jason Stevens (Drew Fuller) sits outside the boardroom, he is the last to enter, even though one of his family members holds the elevator door open. When he sits down, he sees a box in front of Hamilton and asks what's in it. "Your inheritance," Hamilton replies.

They sit down and Jason watches a DVD made by Red. He starts talking about gifts, and wanting to give Jason a series of gifts, which, will hopefully, result in "the ultimate gift." But, there's a catch: If Jason fails in any way, he loses everything.

Along the way, Jason learns 12 different gifts. He meets and becomes friends with people not only in the United States, but out of the country as well. He meets and begins to develop a special bond with Texas cattle rancher Gus (Brian Dennehy ), mother Alexia (Ali Hillis) and her young daughter Emily (Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin), among many others that Jason crosses paths with.

He endures many trials and struggles, but ultimately, like the title, receives the ultimate gift.

Like many critics, I enjoyed the sentimentality of the movie, but it was sweet enough to give me a sugar headache. The concept of the 12 gifts was a novel coming-of-age idea, but Jason's character was a little too conceited at the beginning for me to truly believe that he evolves so much throughout the period of 12 months.

However, the movie did evoke several emotions. Breslin in particular provided much of of the humor, though Fuller provided some quips as well. I cried several times, so if you watch it, be prepared for several tear-jerker moments.

Overall, I probably wouldn't watch this movie a second time, but it is a sweet, sentimental movie to watch when you want to be reminded of how precious life is and how you can learn things in the most unexpected ways.

As always, I appreciate any feedback, comments, and movie suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"100 Girls" (2000)

"100 Girls" Movie Poster

This movie recommendation came from my friend Amber. We were browsing the entertainment section at our local Wal-Mart just after New Year's. We walked along the movies aisle, and Amber stopped suddenly. She gasped and pointed to a DVD that was selling for $5. "OMG, I love this movie, and I didn't even realize Wal-Mart was selling it!" she exclaimed in the empty aisle at 10:30 p.m. I gave her $5 to buy it, and she continued to talk about how good it was.

"This guy, he's kinda dumb, but you know, that's how most college guys are...haha," she said. "But anyway, he gets stuck in an elevator with this mystery girl during a blackout, and then he has no idea what happened to her. He goes in search of her, meeting 100 women along the way. I love it!"

So almost four months have gone by, and I haven't seen it yet. Well, until now, anyway.

I found both the trailer and the full movie available FOR FREE on YouTube, since it wasn't available at the Longwood library.

The trailer begins with the side of a college dorm, with young women, some very scantily-clad, hanging out of the windows, as a male voice reads, "I love women. 100 girls, and one of them is my true love," as the scene shifts from woman to woman to woman. The male voice continues: "My forever soul mate, my kinesthetic destiny. The problem is, I don't know who she is," as a young college student is standing outside.

Then someone walks into an elevator with a laundry basket with the same guy standing idly. "My back was to her when the blackout hit." The scene changes to all the lights shorting out. "We never knew each others' names," he says as the young students kiss in the dark elevator.

"In the morning, she was gone." As the elevator door opens into sunshine, the young guy wakes up and is stunned to see that he is still in the elevator.

"You lose your virginity and you don't even know who it was with?" The guy's dumbfounded roommate asks him, as the main student has a stupid grin on his face, wondering who the mystery girl could be.

"Stop trying to find me," one silhouetted girl says.

"What?" The college guy says as his face turns to complete shock and confusion.

The guy's voice over reads, "I had one last chance. She was out there somewhere, watching me. I had to find her."

"100 Girls" was rated R and released on September 22, 2000, with a running time of 94 minutes.

As Amber described, Matthew (Jonathan Tucker) gets trapped in a elevator with a mystery girl when the power goes out in a women's dormitory, a.k.a. the "virgin vault." They have sex in the dark. In the morning, when Matthew wakes up, the woman is gone, leaving him with a just a pair of panties.

Determined to find the matching bra to those panties, Matthew embarks on a quest to find it, and the girl they belong to.

Along the way, Matthew becomes the dorm's work-study maintenance man, has various encounters with his roommate Rod (James DeBello), and tries to help as many of the women as he can, in search of the mystery girl. Emmanuelle Chriqui stars as Patty, who Matthew helps out in dealing with her abusive boyfriend, Crick (Johnny Green).

There are several notable names in "100 Girls." Katherine Heigl of "Grey's Anatomy" and "27 Dresses" fame plays Arlene. Larissa Oleynik from Nickelodeon's "The Secret World of Alex Mack" plays Wendy, a closeted lesbian who Matthew tries to help out in finding a mate. Jamie Pressly plays Cynthia. And, as a minor character, Eric Szmanda from "CSI:Crime Scene Investigation" plays Sam.

Overall, the acting was decent. The strongest actors in this movie were Johnathan Tucker, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Larisa Oleynik, and Jamie Pressly. Katherine Heigl and Eric Szmanda were decent, but not great.

Given the trailer, Tucker came off to me initially as being flighty and very aloof, since he is embarking on this quest to find one mystery woman out of 100 girls. However, Tucker plays Matthew very well and shows his true character throughout the movie as being kind, sincere and not all about finding the one girl, but helping all of them in some way.

James DeBello, who plays Rod, is very similar to Stephen Baldwin in many ways, especially with his dumb, stoner-like lines that are supposed to add humor, but really don't. It just makes him, both the actor and the character he plays, look stupid. The same goes for Johnny Green, who plays Crick, but Green's acting is less stupid and witless.

I would recommend watching this movie if you need a good laugh on a depressing day or night. I would watch it with a group of girls and guys alike; it is not strictly a chick flick or a man's movie. It is enjoyable for mostly everyone, the girls see the cute and funny guys, while the guys get to see and revel in lots of skin and fun activities involving women's bodies. But if you're squeamish around lots of nudity and sex, then I don't recommend it.

As always, I'll take any comments: feedback (positive or negative), and suggestions for movies!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Ghost World" (2001)

"Ghost World" Movie Poster

Thanks to Kyle again for another great movie recommendation. At the Longwood library, I have always passed over this movie in search of others. But I figured, since "Ghost World" has such a strong cult following, and it stars two up-and-coming actresses at the time, I should probably see it.

One of the first things that intrigued me was the cover of the DVD. Not to be stereotypical, but the two girls on the cover immediately struck me as outcasts, with their funky and mismatched clothes, odd shoes and one of the girl's close-cropped, blue-streaked hair. The tagline "Accentuate the negative" also got my attention. I knew that I would be in for an interesting time watching this movie.

"Ghost World" was rated R for strong language and some sexual content. It was made with a $7 million budget and runs for 111 minutes. It was released in the U.S. on July 20, 2001. Despite rave reviews, the movie only grossed $8.7 million.

Speaking of reviews, "Ghost World" fared very well with critics, despite its low number of box office receipts. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 92% percent rating, while Metacritic sports a score of 88. Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, writing, "I wanted to hug this movie. It takes such a risky journey and never steps wrong. It creates specific, original, believable, loveable characters, and meanders with them through their inconsolable days, never losing its sense of humor." Entertainment Weekly gave "Ghost World" an A-.

I didn't realize that "Ghost World" had originated as a graphic novel, which makes this movie even more interesting and intriguing.

The trailer can be both on the library's DVD and here on YouTube. The beginning automatically swept me in, with the upbeat music and the hilariousness of a bare-chested, very chiseled man swinging nunchucks outside a convenience store. "I can't believe we made it," one girl exclaims. One of the outcasts, in thick black-framed glasses and a very out-of-date dress, says sarcastically, "We graduated high school. How totally amazing."

"Ghost World. The Underground Comic Book Comes to Life," a voice-over reads as the same bare-chested, sunburnt man nunchucks the store manager's mop in the parking lot, as the outcasts and the teenaged store clerk (Brad Renfro) watch and laugh.

The movie stars a young Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson as best friends Enid and Rebecca, set in the summer after their high school graduation. Despite being social outcasts, Becky is more popular than Enid. Enid's diploma is awarded on the condition that she take a remedial art class, though she is a talented artist.

As the summer begins, the two girls meet a lonely man, Seymour (Steve Buscemi) through way of a personal ad. Playing a prank, Enid poses as the girl Seymour wants to make contact with. The girls have fun watching Seymour sit alone at a diner waiting for Enid to show up, but then Enid and Seymour become good friends.

Meanwhile, they continue to wreak havoc on others around them. Enid is frustrated with her art teacher Roberta's (Illeana Douglas) snide comments and discrimination against Enid, in favor of the other students. Enid, to get back at Roberta, asks Seymour to lend her a poster of an ugly caricatured black man, which Seymour's company used as a racist promotional art tool. When Enid presents it to the class, Roberta is so impressed she offers Enid a college scholarship.

Unfortunately, that is not all the havoc Enid and Becky cause or the trouble they get into. The entire summer is full of adventure and hilarity as these two social outcasts learn about themselves and the others around them.

Birch and Johansson are fabulous up-and-coming actresses, playing their parts almost seamlessly. It's like they transported themselves back to their own high school days and played the characters Enid and Becky as if they were those exact social outcasts in high school. (Hopefully this makes sense, readers!)

Buscemi is the perfect actor to play Seymour. He and Enid together are basically the epitome of loneliness, and his comedic outbursts just add to the humor of the characters and movie.

Overall, though I was skeptical at first, I really enjoyed this movie. It makes me interested in other lesser-known movies about social outcasts in high school, so if you have any suggestions or recommendations, please let me know!

As always, please leave comments, especially feedback and any movie suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)