Plot
The film is set in the fictional southern town of Brixton, Georgia, where young widow Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), the mother of three young boys, is the resident "fortune-teller." The town is abuzz with the disappearance of Jessica King (Katie Holmes), the fiancée of Wayne Collins (Greg Kinnear), the school's principal.
As the search for Jessica begins, the local police and Jessica's father Kenneth King (Chelcie Ross) enlist Annie's help to see if she can come up with a possible answer. Annie is unable to produce a vision, largely due to the presence of Pearl Johnson (J. K. Simmons), the local sheriff who looks upon Annie's trade unfavorably.
Annie later receives a vision that Jessica has been killed and her body weighed down by a chain and thrown into a pond. She also sees a fiddle player in the vision, white lilies and a split-rail fence. She returns to Johnson with her findings, and with the information, Johnson decides to search a pond at the home of Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves), a violent alcoholic. Barksdale's battered wife, Valerie (Hilary Swank), gives her permission for the search as Donnie is away fishing. Donnie returns while the search is proceeding. As the police are ready to give up on the search they find the nude and chained body of Jessica King. Donnie is immediately arrested.
During his trial for Jessica's murder, it is revealed that Jessica and Barksdale had an affair, and Jessica's reputation for promiscuity is exposed in open court. The case against Barksdale is strengthened when a scratch on his forearm is proven to have been perpetrated by Jessica during a confrontation at a local bar. Annie also takes the stand, and though her psychic testimony is ridiculed by defense attorney Gerald Weems (Michael Jeter), Donnie is eventually convicted and sent to prison.
A subplot reveals other examples of Annie's "gift". Buddy Cole (Giovanni Ribisi) harbors an intense hatred for his father, and consistently has fits of seemingly unprovoked rage, including incidents with Annie and with Donnie Barksdale. Buddy tries to explain to Annie why he hates his father but Annie is preoccupied and doesn't want to listen to the panicky and vulgar Buddy. He asks "If I look into a blue diamond, will I die?" but doesn't elaborate. Unable to understand the question, Annie shrugs Buddy off. Soon after, Buddy's hysterical mother calls Annie to come to the house as Buddy has snapped and has his father bound to a chair. Buddy sets fire to his father, and as Annie tries to stop him, he shows her a blue diamond tattoo on his father's navel. It is revealed that Buddy's father took advantage of his son's fragile mental state to force him into fellatio. An ambulance takes Buddy's father away, while Buddy is taken to a mental hospital.
Later, Annie receives another vision saying that Donnie is innocent. She asks District Attorney David Duncan (Gary Cole) to reopen the case. Duncan refuses, but Annie counters that she will reveal Duncan's own involvement with Jessica King, as Annie had caught them making out in the women's toilet while at a local dance. Duncan offers her money to keep quiet, but Annie refuses, still wanting justice for Barksdale.
Annie tells Principal Collins that Barksdale is not responsible for his fiancée's death and that DA Duncan will not reopen the investigation. After driving out to the pond that night with Collins, Annie realizes that Collins is the murderer. He confesses to Annie that he was angry after he discovered that she was cheating on him. Collins attempts to kill Annie, knowing that she'll go to the police. Just as he is about to land a fatal blow with a steel flashlight, Buddy Cole shows up and knocks Collins out.
Sitting in the car at the pond, Buddy, uncharacteristically calm, returns a handkerchief that Annie had lent him earlier, and tells her that she is the heart and soul of the town and for her not to stop doing what she's doing. The two drive to the police station with Collins stowed in the trunk. Annie tells Buddy that he will have to return to the mental hospital, and he waits in the car while she goes inside to talk with Sheriff Johnson. When she goes out with the police to retrieve Collins from the trunk, Buddy has disappeared. When Annie explains to Johnson what happened at the pond, he informs her that Buddy Cole hanged himself at the mental hospital earlier that day. However, Annie still has her handkerchief that Buddy returned to her.
Read more about this topic: The Gift (2000 film)
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—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
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