TOPIC: "The Ultimate Gift" Movie Producer Claims Moral Content Attacked to Suppress Film

Article by christiansunite.com

Veteran film producer Rick Eldridge was sure he had all the ingredients to cook up a successful box office hit. For his film "The Ultimate Gift," based on the a book of the same name that has sold nearly 4 million copies worldwide, he landed veteran Hollywood heavyweight James Garner and young sensation Abigail Breslin to star in a movie that sought to teach the value of a legacy of hard work and integrity in relation to an inheritance of cash.
The film tells the story of an elderly and wealthy man (played by Garner) who leaves behind a video will that requires his grandson to perform various character- building tasks before he can inherit his grandfather's wealth. Add in the likes of Golden Globe winner Brian Dennehy and screen veteran Bill Cobbs, and it's no wonder that The Washington Post (and many others) have noted that the film is "well-acted by a first rate cast." "The film aims to inspire a generation," observed The Arizona Republic.
But what Eldridge didn't count on was that his film would be given tough reviews by the critics because of what they perceived as being hidden religious and social messages."Reeking of self-righteousness and moral reprimand, Michael O. Sajbel's "Ultimate Gift" is a hairball of good- for-you filmmaking . . . . The movie's messages - pro- poverty, anti-abortion - are methodically hammered home," says New York Times reviewer Jeannette Catsoulis. "There's an anti-abortion message jammed into one scene with all the subtlety of an avalanche. Just in case you miss it, it's repeated in the credits too. Some gift, eh?," wrote Chicago Tribune critic Lou Carlozo.
These assessments have been a surprise to Eldridge. "The film's single mom says she was glad she had her child. Calling that an anti-abortion message is a stretch," he said. "And while the film certainly does inspire people to be giving and compassionate, what does that have to do with being 'pro-poverty'? It's hard to know how to respond to that kind of criticism, except to say that it clearly incites the wrong things." Mostly, it seems that there just isn't any violence, cursing or sex in this movie, so a host of critics are calling it "sappy" or moralistic and wondering why moviegoers would pay to see it.
These days in Hollywood, it seems that it is rare to see a family movie critically acclaimed. "The Ultimate Gift is a people's film, not a critic's film," said Eldridge. "And there is, increasingly, a big difference between those two things." Eldridge points to this week's independent exit poll results from CinemaScore, which showed that a remarkable 99% of all respondents rated the film in the "A/B" category."This 'little film with a big heart', as one critic called it, celebrates the great American values of thrift, integrity, honor and family," Eldridge said. "I'm hoping that millions of Americans will ignore attempts to keep this film down and vote with their feet to send a message to the movie industry that a values- driven family movie about virtue can be a box-office hit."

The Sope-Bocks: I read the excerpts from reviews over at RottenTomatoes.com. It's offensive to me to see some movie critics give The Ultimate Gift a slight thumbs-up because the Christian values message isn't overt. It's as if a movie would be totally unacceptable if it directly spoke of God, salvation and the "s" word [sin]. With the likes of all of the truly EVIL movie content available these days (Saw, Hostel, 300, Dead Silence, etc), I can't see how anyone wouldn't want to embrace a clean, moral story that doesn't glamorize sadistic murder and disgustingly grotesque images.

TOPIC: Good casting is true present in entertaining `Ultimate Gift'

By Roger Moore / Orlando Sentinel

If you ever wonder why we still call them "movie stars,'' look no further than The Ultimate Gift. It's a parable, a slight movie about a poor rich boy who has to learn the meaning of work, thrift, selflessness and faith from his richer-and-deader-than-Midas grandfather. Casting the right dead grandfather and "names'' in some supporting roles never paid off better.
This latest and most entertaining offering from Fox Faith, the religious-themed arm of 20th Century Fox, has James Garner as the charming old man whom his greedy, mean-spirited relatives watch on video as he tells them what he's willed to them. Bill Cobbs (Night at the Museum) is the crotchety old attorney presiding over this will reading. Lee Meriwether (Barnaby Jones) is his longtime assistant. And after grandpa's dispensed with his other heirs, he gets around to announcing a series of tests for his estranged, spendthrift grandson, Jason (Drew Fuller), all leading up to The Ultimate Gift. The 30-ish jerk Jason is packed off to spend time with Gus, an old Texas pal of grandpa's.
If you've ever needed to pass life lessons on to a ne'er-do-well, you could do a lot worse than Brian Dennehy. He does more with a wry shake of the head than most actors can manage in a soliloquy. One last casting coup -- the sickly little girl who must teach Jason selflessness and faith? She's Abigail Breslin, the Oscar-nominated pageant dreamer of Little Miss Sunshine, much more interesting here.
The movie sends Jason on a series of executor-monitored quests -- to work on a ranch, give up all his money and possessions to see who his ``true'' friends are, to South America where his father died, to learn the lessons grandpa, who wasn't on speaking terms with him, didn't get around to teaching him. "I made a lot of mistakes with you,'' grandpa Garner says. "The only way to make it up to you is to not give you anything."
It's enough that Garner, Breslin, Cobbs and especially Dennehy show up in this. They class up the movie, and while a little more sass would've made Garner's character more memorable, it's enough that he brings a couple of generations of good will to the part. Fuller is perfectly obnoxious as Jason, but never a caricature.
You get the sense that this Michael O. Sajbel film -- he also did the passable religious epic One Night With the King -- spent its money wisely. Faking Texas and Ecuador in North Carolina (where this was filmed) saved cash. Who cares if their ''jungle'' is just trees covered in North Carolina kudzu? They used what they saved there for cast and soundtrack songs. B.B. King, Bob Dylan and Patsy Cline underscore the action.
The faith element here is kind of shoe-horned into the last act of the movie. But The Ultimate Gift manages to be funny and moving, and several steps above the Hallmark Channel pabulum that Fox Faith has mostly rolled out up until now.