"The Ultimate Gift" is THE ultimate movie

The gems of filmody are the movies that don’t allow you to just watch actors and wonder what their character is going to do, but force you to look introspectively at yourself and decide what you are going to do about the film.

I have seen many, many movies in my life, and in most cases, the only thing left with me after I watched one were the pounds I had accumulated from the theatre’s concessions. There are powerful movies that engender waves of emotion, and then there are the ones that don’t just leave us with raw emotion, but give us motivation to actually get up and DO something. The results are certainly as varied as the people are who watch the movies; but who among us can say that watching Titanic or Shrek really caused us to do something great, or changed our life for the better?

The film, “The Ultimate Gift” works on the premise that ‘Great movies don’t end as the credits roll.’ The filmmakers have said ‘Great movies inspire and motivate . . . demand[ing] further action outside the walls of the theatre.’ Truly great movies do just that, and their impact will be far greater than any box office numbers can possibly show.

The movie opens with the funeral of Red Stevens (a tender James Garner), a billionaire oil-tycoon. We are quickly introduced to the deceased man’s relatives, and instantly realize they have been brought together—not to commemorate Red’s legacy, but—by their greed to take a slice of the fortune left them. Following the funeral, the family meets with Red’s attorney, Ted Hamilton (played by Bill Cobbs), and are soon confronted with the fact that what they’ve inherited leaves much to be desired. As one-by-one, the family members all leave in a huff, in walks Jason Stevens, the 20-something, playboy grandson (a role that actor Drew Fuller makes anything but stereotypical) who’s never earned a paycheck in his life, yet has lived comfortably off of the family fortune. Sure that he’s been left nothing of value—like the rest—he is about to leave, when the attorney calls him back. “What could my grandfather have possibly left me?” he fumes. “Walk away and you’ll never find out,” Hamilton answers mysteriously, and the bait is set.

In a video will, Red explains that he has a very special ‘Ultimate Gift’ to give Jason upon his completion of a series of tasks. When the message is complete, Hamilton tells Jason to be at the airport the next morning. It will be the first task (or as Red calls it, “gift”).

Jason decides he doesn’t need the dead man’s money and can live fine off of his Mom (he has all his life, anyway). But his money-grabbing girlfriend convinces him to take a chance. What’s the harm in trying? And after all, she tells him: “one can always use more [money].” So he decides to give this thing a try, and arrives at the airport the next morning only to find that, his seat is in coach—not first class—and he’s forced to ride with a bunch of screaming babies and their parents in tight quarters. This is only the beginning for Jason, who is met with one circumstance after another that drives him farther and farther away from himself, forcing him to see the reality of life that luxury had so far shielded him from.

As you can imagine, his constant awakenings to various hardships in life make for some very funny moments and hilarious one-liners, such as Jason’s “so this is hell” remark when he realizes the first task is to live at—and work on—a ranch. The first gift is the “gift of work,” which Jason rejects at first, but then grudgingly accepts when he understands that he’s stuck at the ranch until he finishes digging fence posts around the property. Only when he completes the task will he receive the ultimate gift his grandfather has left for him—whatever it is.

But when Jason finishes at the ranch and gets back home, he realizes that his hardships are just beginning. Not only does he not get the money he’s expecting, he realizes that his bank accounts have been frozen, his penthouse has been cleared out, and his cars are all towed. Worse still, another DVD of Red Stevens brings yet another challenge to Jason: he has one month to find a friend. A true friend. But without his money, how is Jason supposed to do that? In humorous (to us) fashion, Jason discovers it’s pretty hard to get help when he doesn’t have money to seduce it. Just before the proposed deadline, Jason happens on a single mother and her young daughter eating lunch in the park and saves them from a homeless guy who’s trying to steal from them. Capitalizing on the moment, he tells the girl he needs a friend, and she plays the part. Once he shows Hamilton and Miss Hastings this ‘true friend’ he’s got, he figures he’s at last beaten the system and the gift is finally his.

No such luck. He’s given a paycheck for the work he did at the ranch and told that the next month he has to find a way to give away the money to someone truly in need.

This is where the plot suddenly speeds up into something I wasn’t expecting. Those who have read the best-selling novel “The Ultimate Gift” written by Jim Stovall (from which the film was adapted) will be surprised where the film goes from here. Jason’s task to give away the money is harder than it sounds, and soon he’s thoroughly mixed up in the lives of the mother and her young daughter Emily (played by Little Miss Sunshine herself: Abigail Breslin) who has leukemia.

What ensues is more than a story of love or loss, joy or sadness, luxury or poverty. . . .

The movie continues to get more and more harried as the characters’ lives are thrown about wildly, and Jason is forced to get out of himself and focus on those around him. He is fighting an inner battle between what he was, what he is, what he wants to be, and what he feels his grandfather is pushing him to be. He doesn’t appreciate the manipulation, but at the same time, he finds he just can’t live for himself anymore.

A trip to South America adds an intense plot hook and reveals the source of Jason’s bitterness to his grandfather. This and other twists and turns abound, and the story is suddenly far from what it originally seemed to be; yet it successfully manages to never lose its central focus.

This story of a man pushed to the limits by a dead grandfather with a relentless agenda, is one that will motivate anyone who sees it, and the stellar cast convinced me that the ever-evolving plot was natural and not manufactured in the traditional Hollywood vein of ‘feel good’ stories. I was most impressed by Drew Fuller’s acting as Jason, especially since he is a TV actor doing a leading film role for the first time. Everyone loves to play the spoiled brat, but Jason makes the role and convinced me at each wild turn of events. James Garner has stated that he wishes to end his long and prestigious film career with this movie, commenting that it’s the best project he’s ever been a part of. The amazing thing about his onscreen connection with Jason is that—while we never see the two of them physically together (since Red is dead throughout the movie)—they have a dynamic chemistry and a relationship that seems alive. It is a spectacular offshoot of brilliant scripting and crafty cinematography, and the musical score (by Mark McKenzie) provides a moving backdrop to every scene. I was amazed, though, by Abigail Breslin—as the sick girl Emily. Breslin pulls off one of the better dramatic roles I’ve ever seen a young person do. Yes, she didn’t win the Best-Supporting Actress Oscar for her job in Little Miss Sunshine, but she is still one of the finest child actors working today.

The supporting cast of Lee Meriwether, Bill Cobbs (as a riveting Ted Hamilton), Brian Dennehy, and Ali Hillis (Emily’s mom) all do a fine job; particularly Cobbs and Ali, and do a great job of selling each one of their characters’ emotions and many internal (and external) struggles.

In an age when the movie industry is a catalyst for moral decadence, it’s a wonderful thing to watch a movie like “The Ultimate Gift” and know that the there are still movie makers and film companies out there who know how to put together a movie that is not only well-made and entertaining, but thought-provoking and inspirational, as well! Director Michael Sajbel and the rest of the team there at Life(n) Media are to be highly praised for a job well done!

Look for the movie in the U.S and Canada opening this Friday, March 9. It is being widely distributed by 20th Century Fox.

www.theultimategift.com