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BLESS THE CHILD
Bless the Child
Synopsis
Omens and concepts of good vs. evil
have no place in Maggie O’Connor’s (Kim Basinger) well-ordered,
practical universe. Her life revolves around her job as a nurse at a
busy New York hospital -- that is, until her wayward kid sister,
Jenna (Angela Bettis), shows up on her doorstep one rainy Christmas
Eve and saddles Maggie with an autistic newborn child named Cody
(Holliston Coleman).
Cody quickly touches Maggie’s
heart and becomes the daughter she has always longed for. But six
years later Jenna suddenly re-enters her life and, with her
mysterious new husband, Eric Stark (Rufus Sewell), abducts Cody.
Despite the fact that Maggie has no legal rights to Cody, FBI agent
John Travis (Jimmy Smits), an expert in ritual homicide and
occult-related crime, takes up her cause when he realizes that Cody
shares the same birth date as several other recently missing
children.
The little girl, it soon becomes
clear, is more than simply "special." She manifests
extraordinary powers that the forces of evil have waited centuries
to control, and her abduction sparks a clash between the soldiers of
good and evil that can only be resolved, in the end, by the strength
of one small child and the love she inspires in those she touches.
Paramount Pictures and Icon
Productions present a Mace Neufeld production of a Chuck Russell
film starring Kim Basinger, "Bless the Child," with Jimmy
Smits, Rufus Sewell, Ian Holm, Angela Bettis and Christina Ricci.
The film is directed by Chuck Russell and produced by Mace Neufeld.
The screenplay is by Tom Rickman and Clifford Green & Ellen
Green based on the novel by Cathy Cash Spellman. The executive
producers are Bruce Davey, Robert Rehme and Lis Kern. The
co-producer is Stratton Leopold. Viacom Inc. is one of the world’s
largest entertainment and media companies, and a leader in the
production, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news,
sports, and music. The film is MPAA Rated R.
Another Synopsis:
Bless the Child was extremely engaging. The musical score was
gorgeous, the special effects creepy or luminous (depending on the
scene). The story was edgy, with a slow unfolding from normal life
to being ensnared in a hidden web of evil that keeps you on the edge
of your seat and jumping.
What makes this film unusual was that while you feel the horror of a
fly being slowly wrapped in a sticky evil web, you also get glimpses
(but did you see it or not?) that a finger might be moving to bend
the web and (maybe) provide an escape... It's a side that's not
often shown in a thriller, and it resonated with my own experience
of overt evil opposed, if at all, only through tiny faithful
decisions based on glimmerings of hope.
Basinger and Smits give solid performances, Angela Bettis was
absolutely perfect as an edgy, strung-out addict in way over her
head. Sewell makes a great bad guy, with a thin veneer of charm
barely covering a menacing black evil.
But the real surprise was Holliston Coleman, a kid who was only 6
when this film was cast and turned 7 as filming started. I didn't
think you could get this kind of performance from a kid this young.
Coleman is "the Child", so as you might expect she is
completely central to the film. They took a huge risk centering this
film on such a young child; the film would not have survived merely
a good performance -- it had to be great, and Holliston Coleman
delivered. The really tough part is that she's locked in her own
silent world most of the film ("as if she's listening to
something we can't hear") -- so she has to convey this huge
range of emotions purely in her looks, her eyes, the way she carries
her body. I was astonished.
Go see Bless the Child -- it's a thrill ride that also presents an
interesting way of seeing the world, or the other world...
if you would like to add to this
section, please send all additions to kbasinger00@yahoo.com
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