Plot
A grieving couple allows a mysterious doctor to bring back their deceased son through an illegal cloning process, but something is very wrong with the new boy. As the cloned child passes the age of the original child’s death, odd behaviors begin to manifest in the child causing the doctor’s benevolent motives to be questioned.
Analysis
The advertisements for Godsend made the movie seem more horror than suspense with several cuts that were reminiscent of “The Shining,” “The Others,” and “Jacob’s Ladder.” Godsend starts off slow but the story seems promising from the outset. That story unravels somewhat in the wake of ethical and theological debate. More suspenseful drama than horror movie, it does provide some seat-jumping moments although the startle response is triggered by loud noises on more than one occasion. I don’t want to spoil anything but I will say that what appears to be happening to the boy early in the movie would make for a better storyline than what turns out to be happening to him. A vague statement, I realise but you’ll understand as the movie progresses.
As the plot expands, potential storylines branch out at every turn only not be realised. There seems to be a great deal of potential in these branches and I would not be surprised to see several future movies from filmmakers inspired by Godsend. At around the 30 minute mark, it seems that the director had to choose between drama or suspense but couldn’t have both. Kinnear conveys the loss of a child better than Rebecca Romjin-Stamos but you do end up feeling for them both, nonetheless. As for DeNiro’s performance, there is no evidence of the brilliance that has made him one of the celebrated actors of our time. His involvement embodies the paraphrased sentiment; “If something isn’t worth doing then it’s not worth doing well.” Watch out for the closing scene which appears to be a homage to “Phantasm”.
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Rating (out of 5)
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Action
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None
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None to speak of, really.
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Tension
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The startle response will have you twitching in your seat several times although this is mostly near the end of the film. You’ll be hard pressed later to tell someone else what made you jump though.
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Violence/
Gore
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The violence is downplayed. Nothing you wouldn’t see on network TV.
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Bare Flesh
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You only catch glimpses but they are glimpses of Rebecca Romjin-Stamos, after all. It does raise questions about what type of prosthetics she wears in the “X-Men” films though.
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Plot
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Nothing ground-breaking but there’s an acceptable number of twists to keep things interesting.
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Verdict
Godsend starts off slow on suspense but the story does manage to capture the imagination if you let it. If your expectations are in the average range, you won’t be disappointed.
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Facts, figures and boobs
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Lions Gate Films setup a promotional web site that was intended to appear as a cloning institute in order to generate a buzz around their upcoming release. The web site gave an email address and phone number for the "Godsend Institute;" calling the number resulted in a recorded message giving the institute's office hours.
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Movie Pictures
(Click picture to enlarge)
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