Godsend *** (2004, Robert De Niro, Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, Cameron Bright) – Classic Movie Review 423

First, take a great idea: a devilish doctor confronts distraught parents at the funeral of their eight-year-old son killed in a road accident, makes an offer they can’t refuse to clone the boy. They accept the Faustian pact, and all goes well until the new kid supersedes the age of the original…

Second, take three clever actors, Robert De Niro as the mad doctor, and Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as the parents.

Third, take a clever Brit stage director (Nicholas Hamm) who had a small movie success with the English chiller The Hole in 2001.

Fourth, hire an inspired cameraman (Kramer Morgenthau) to help create a posh-looking production. Result: a half-decent chiller, the first half, which goes sinisterly well. But then, the writer (Mark Bomback) forgot one of the main ingredients for the stew: a place to take the story. And, by the end, you just say: ‘What was that about?’

Though a lot of actors could play this role, Robert De Niro is first rate, hired no doubt on the strength of his name and his similarly diabolic Angel Heart. Kinnear and Romijn-Stamos wring their brows to very stirring emotional effect, and the boy actor (Cameron Bright) is effective as both the cute kid and the creepy one who replaces him.

But, by the end, a lot of the good work seems largely in vain, and you feel you have slightly wasted your time, listening to half a story. Sorry, guys.

Still, the first two thirds are a pretty good chiller, smart-looking and intelligent. And the polished acting and clever ideas help make up for the daft air of hysteria as it goes wildly off the rails in the last third.

Hamm didn’t direct another movie till Killing Bono in 2011.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Film Review 423 derekwinnert.com