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 "Mixed
'Blessing'" by Scott Mantz
"Bless the Child"
Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits
Directed by Chuck Russell
Isn't it strange
how winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress has lately
turned out to be the kiss of death? Just ask Mira Sorvino, who followed
up her Oscar-winning performance in Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite"
with roles in forgettable fluff like "The Replacement Killers" and
"Mimic." Or better yet, ask Marisa Tomei, who walked away from the
podium with her award, never to be heard from again.
Then there was
Kim Basinger, who in 1997 stunned a public of naysayers with her
career-defining performance in "L.A. Confidential." She was duly
rewarded Hollywood's golden boy, which she followed up with an earnest
performance in the remarkably un-earnest "I Dreamed of Africa."
Now Basinger tries the high concept approach in "Bless the Child,"
a lame thriller inspired--or should I say uninspired--by "The Omen."
Chalk it up as yet another example of a film that starts out with
promise, only to fall apart into a typically second-rate horror
flick with shallow characterization and unimpressive special effects.
Maggie O'Connor
(Kim Basinger) is a New York City nurse who comes home one night
to find her strung-out sister Jenna (Angela Bettis) at her door
with her newborn baby daughter. Jenna does an about face and runs
out on Maggie, forcing her to raise the child all by herself. Over
the next 6 years, Cody (Holliston Coleman) will develop special
abilities that even Maggie doesn't understand. One person who does
understand is Eric Stark (Rufus Sewell), a religious cult leader
who is intent on using Cody's special powers for his own benefit.
Maggie enlists the help of FBI agent John Travis (Jimmy Smits),
and they race against time to keep Stark from killing Cody.
"Bless the Child"
bears a striking resemblance to last year's "End of Days" and "Stigmata,"
which were quick to cash in on all that crazy pre-Millennial madness.
In that sense, "Child" almost feels like it came out a year too
late. Actually, it's too bad that it came out at all. Let's face
it--this film is still a real turkey. Despite a few promising thrills
in the first 20 minutes, the movie is filled with uninvolving characters
and ineffective suspense sequences that have been done much better
in other films, specifically "The Exorcist" and the aforementioned
"The Omen."
Kim Basinger
once again gives it her all, but she comes up short in her attempt
to make more out of the film than it really is. She's got a strong
enough screen presence and succeeds in making her character instantly
sympathetic, but she's surrounded by players who merely seem content
with going through the motions. That pretty much sums up Jimmy Smits'
uninspired performance. All that's known about his character is
that he was on his way to being a priest, but he somehow got sidetracked.
More roles like this, and he'll end up back on the small tube where
he obviously belongs.
Rufus Sewell
certainly looks the part of the religious fanatic who kidnaps the
child in question, but he is never really given the chance to make
his character stand out as the kind of bad guy you love to hate.
Christina Ricci, who looks like she stepped out of her trailer from
"The Addams Family," lends the film some credibility as a former
member of the cult, and Ian Holm shows up near the end in a role
that couldn't have taken more than a few hours to shoot.
Considering
how jaded moviegoers are these days, it's going to take a lot more
than dreck like this to get rise out of them. One thing that always
seems to work is a good script, which "Bless the Child" obviously
doesn't have. But fear not. If you really want to see how it's done,
just hang tight until September 22. That's when Warner Bros. plans
to re-release what is undoubtedly the scariest movie of all time--"The
Exorcist."
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