The Good
A strongly told movie with a very important message.
The Bad
The ultimate gift for me with this DVD would have been for it to contain better Special Features.
Jason Stevens (Drew Fuller) thinks that he has happiness. He has wealth, a life full of things he’s acquired but he seems to be disconnected from his soul. When his grandfather Red Stevens (James Garner) passes away, Jason finds out that this cold man has mentioned him in his will. Thinking he might be getting money, Jason comes to find out that Red has a lot more in store for him. Setting up 12 Gifts (tasks essentially) for him to carry out, Jason is sent on the ultimate journey of self discovery. He finds himself doing manual labor, homeless, making friends with Emily (Abigail Breslin), and eventually, through doing the 12 Gifts, Stevens comes to gain more than he ever thought possible.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
The Ultimate Gift is one of those films that you either get or you don’t. It is sappy but it is also making a very interesting point about who we are and what we can achieve. It seems to be a perfect film for today’s times because it feels like America may have lost its way (or been led astray) somewhat. In a world where the stock market appears to be unsteady, a horrible war is being carried out and people generally seem to be too busy to live, The Ultimate Gift shows us that when we lose our perspective, when we stop caring, we lose everything.
Features
Behind the Scenes
In this featurette we hear from The Ultimate Gift or Jim Stovall, James Garner, Brian Dennehy and others as they talk about their characters, the themes of the film and what they felt was special about this project. I think Jim Stovall really hit it on the head when he said that the theme of all of this was finding out what your gift is and then giving it away. Also, the journey of discovery that Jason Stevens goes on is one that we’ve all got to experience in our own lives.
The Ultimate Gift Music Video
Leave A Legacy and Leave The Ultimate Gift
The two featurettes here are basically building upon the themes from the The Ultimate Gift book. They talk about things like family, love, gratitude and essentially cover the practical ways that we can get organized in our own lives and make the world better for others. I didn’t really have the time to go through these two pieces as much as I’d like to, but since I own this DVD I hope to find the time to do that at some point.
Video
Widescreen - This movie had a solid, if unspectacular look to it. There was a simplicity to the way it was shot that was neither arty nor inspired. The colors were simply lit and it seemed like the subject matter was what was really meant to be showcased here. The interior shots juxtaposed well with the exterior shots, and overall the presentation was very clean. Sometimes this bothers me with movies but overall I think it worked well for the story being told here.
Audio
As Fox didn’t send me this release in normal packaging I can’t 100% say what the sound was. Everything sounded fine, although since they sent me a burned DVD of The Ultimate Gift I did have to turn things up a tad louder than normal. This wasn’t really a problem but I often wonder why Fox just doesn’t send the finished goods?
Package
Fox Home Entertainment sent me this release in a generic white envelope that sadly tells me nothing about the packaging. Due to this, I really cannot say anything about it.
Final Word
I remember hearing about this movie in Newsweek, Forbes or one of those other magazines and I recall that it sounded interesting. As I have said above, I think that this is the sort of movie that the world needs nowadays. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it will find an audience except for the already converted. Also, The Ultimate Gift is one of those films that looks positively on human behavior and that could end up hurting it as well. I personally didn’t mind it at all, it just seems like people don’t necessarily want to be taught a lesson when sitting down to watch a movie. I found that there was a richness to what was being put across on screen. The message of a movie like this is timeless and it’s because of that that I really wanted to see it.
While I wouldn’t call The Ultimate Gift a perfect film, it is one of those movies that is ultimately worth everyone’s time.
