August 28, 2020: From the Atlantis archives! The Crime Club discusses The Gift!

A few little somethings from the Atlantis archives.  Episode 5.06: “The Shrine”

Getting ready to shoot.

Waiting to roll.

Gateriders.

David and Rachel – all smiles.

Getting into positions.

Writer-Executive Producer Brad Wright overseeing the action.

Alright!  The Crime Club reconvenes to discuss The Gift!

A couple moves to a new city where the husband runs into an old high school acquaintance.  It’s an innocuous run-in, but when Gordo shows up at the new house bearing gifts, things take a turn…for the weird.

Well, this movie was a pleasant surprise.  Enough unexpected twists and turns to keep this seen-it-all writer on his toes throughout.  Throw in some wonderfully suspenseful scenes and a Holy Shit turn at film’s end and you get one of the better Crime Club selections to date.  Jason Bateman is great as the frustrated hubby whose world begins to fall apart as secrets become exposed.  Rebecca Hall is equally terrific as his sympathetic wife.  But it’s Joel Edgerton who steals the show in his portrayal of the socially awkward Gordo.

Love the way the movie subverts expectations and challenges us to question our presumptions of innocence and guilt, culprit and victim.  It also serves as an effective and chilling cautionary tale about how the past can always come back to haunt.

Anyone else watch it?  What did you think?

Three days from now (Monday, August 31st) the Crime Club will reconvene to discuss the South Korean A Bittersweet Life, ranked #3 in Empire’s list of The 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You’ve Never Seen…Probably.

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