Film Review: Godsend

Directed by Nick Hamm

Lions Gate

What would you do if you could bring a loved one back from the dead?

While mourning their recently deceased eight year old son,  Jessie (Romijn-Stamos) and Paul Duncan (Greg Kinnear) are approached by Dr. Richard Wells (Robert De Niro) with just that proposition: create a genetically “identical” son through the Godsend project.

When the child matures past the date of his prototype’s death, his personality begins to change drastically for the worse. Frustratingly, the only thrills generated by this “thriller” is the thought of an upcoming ending and the unsettling feeling of a thoroughly wasted two hours and $8.50.

The intriguing premise of the ethical and practical debate surrounding cloning is abandoned early in the film in favor of amateur suspense sequences culminating more times than not with the requisite bloodied hand reaching out toward the audience and ripping screams from the terrified child on screen. The only truly eerie parts of this film are the uncanny similarities to the “X-Files” theme song constantly reiterated throughout the score.

The unimaginative screen writers leave no generic demon flick cliche unused; terrified children bang on windows, creepy red-lighted darkrooms, chases through the woods and a Tituba-esque majestic coerce shrieks from the audience.

At the climax another critic quipped, “I didn’t see that coming,” eliciting laughter and applause from the audience; everyone saw every surprise far in advance. As the boy grows into a cartoonish overdramatization of “pure evil,” it is no surprise: all-too-obvious foul play has already obviously corrupted the cloning procedure.

Robert De Niro has the film’s sole intriguing roll: the personification of mixing God and science. His character, Dr. Wells, tampers with ethics and morality through cloning, supposedly demonstrating the unpredictable and malevolent ends that can come from disregarding the laws of nature. Even though the movie doesn’t live up the character’s potential, De Niro’s monotonic intensity compliments the overriding tedious nature of the film.

Despite the script’s flaws, the cinematography often effectively produces suspense where the plot is lacking. Typical yet effective camera angles as well as vivid colors and blurred effects bring the night terrors that the young boy experiences to life and creates picturesque moments that fall short of redeeming the film.

With little resolved as the credits roll, the stage is set for Godsend II. Let’s hope the foreboding horsemen of the premiere will cause this new apocalypse to meet box office devastation.