

In fact, Jason's father grew tired of Red trying to push him into the family's oil business, took the plane and went for a flight.
The ultimate gift full#
His Thanksgiving dinner shows that his family is as prone to this consumption, with several full turkeys for the family.

His relatives pour some sand on his coffin at the funeral in North Carolina. Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Red wished to be buried under Texas soil.When Emily dies, the same statues are seen from the same angles, with a clear blue sky in the background.
The ultimate gift series#
The ultimate gift movie#
Abigail Breslin + James GarnerĪlthough The Ultimate Gift fails to impart its moral values to the audience, the movie does benefit from a handful of solid performances led by an outstanding Abigail Breslin, recently nominated for an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine.Īs for James Garner, he appears only on videotape. The corny ending that follows doesn’t help matters any. Unnecessary and glaringly misplaced, all this action-packed segment does is kill off any credibility left for both the protagonist and the film itself. Worse yet, the dramatic flow of the movie’s first half is shattered when, during a visit to South America, Jason falls into the hands of drug lords. As a result, the film rapidly runs out of motivational resources. The message that money can’t buy happiness is repeated in almost every scene and in just about every bit of dialogue. Can’t buy him happinessĪt this stage, The Ultimate Gift switches from sophisticated drama to stiff lecture. Along the way, he also befriends a young girl named Emily (Abigail Breslin), a talkative cancer patient who will help Jason overcome his irresponsible lifestyle and find true happiness. Step by step, the movie then follows Jason as he struggles to earn the remaining gifts, each one teaching him a life lesson. ‘RoboCop’ 1987 Returns + ‘Crimson Peak’ Cast: Jessica Chastain-Guillermo del Toro Collaboration Instead, Red informs his grandson via videotape that he has successfully earned “the gift of work.” His reward, however, does not involve any money. The catch is that Jason is not to receive his inheritance until he completes a series of challenging tasks, which Red calls “gifts.”įantasizing about the big bucks, Jason takes on his first mission and flies to a Texas farm, where he is asked to put up a fence. Conditional bequestīased on a novel by Jim Stovall (who makes a cameo appearance) and released by Fox Faith, The Ultimate Gift follows the turbulent story of Jason Stevens (Drew Fuller), a spoiled slacker whose life takes a drastic turn when he learns that his deceased grandfather, Red (James Garner), has named him the only heir to the old man’s fortune. Sajbel – whose One Night with the King failed to score with critics – has crafted a mediocre family drama that feels like an overlong sermon, hammering into the heads of its viewers the concepts of “family values” and the importance of friendship and faith. The Ultimate Gift spends two hours delivering a message that a recent Coca-Cola ad conveys in 30 seconds: “You give a little love and it all comes back to you.”īut while the commercial passes this message on to its viewers effectively and at full tilt, the movie makes the inexcusable faux pas of incessantly repeating it in every possible variation.Ībetted by screenwriter Cheryl McKay, director Michael O.
