''The Ultimate Gift'' is a 2006 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by Michael O. Sajbel from a screenplay written by
Cheryl McKay Cheryl McKay is an American author and screenwriter, from Los Angeles, California.
McKay holds an M.A. in Screenwriting from Regent University in Virginia, and is a winner of the 2006/2007 Art Within Labs award.
She wrote the screen adaptations ...
, which is based on the best selling novel by
Jim Stovall, who cameos in the film. It stars
Drew Fuller
Andrew Alan "Drew" Fuller (born May 19, 1980) is an American actor and former model. He is best known for his portrayal of Chris Halliwell in the television series ''Charmed'' and for playing soldier Trevor LeBlanc on Lifetime's ''Army Wives' ...
,
Ali Hillis
Ali Hillis (born December 29, 1978) is an American actress who has appeared in television and film, and voices a number of characters in video games. She may be best known for her video game work as Dr. Liara T'Soni in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy ...
,
Bill Cobbs
William Francisco Cobbs (born June 16, 1934) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in movies such as Louisiana Slim in '' The Hitter'' (1979), Water in ''The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), and as Lewis Coleman on ''I'll Fly Aw ...
,
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Kathleen Breslin (born April 14, 1996) is an American actress. She rose to prominence with the comedy-drama film '' Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at ...
,
Brian Dennehy
Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in ...
, and
James Garner
James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...
in his final live action film appearance. It was released on March 9, 2007 in the United States and Canada.
The film's DVD sales were quite high in relation to its theatrical receipts and it continues to be a success in DVD sales and on television. Two sequels, ''
The Ultimate Life'' and ''The Ultimate Legacy'', were released in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
Plot
When his rich grandfather, Howard "Red" Stevens, dies, Jason does not expect to inherit anything from his multi-billion-dollar estate. He strongly resents his grandfather because his father had died while working for him. There is an inheritance, in fact, but it comes with a condition: Jason must complete 12 separate assignments within a year in order to get it. Each assignment is centered around a "gift". Gifts of work, money, friends and learning are among the dozen that Jason must perform before he is eligible for the mysterious "Ultimate Gift" his grandfather's will has for him. Red's attorney and friend, Mr. Hamilton, and his secretary, Miss Hastings, attempt to guide Jason along the path his grandfather wishes him to travel.
He first goes to Texas where he works on his grandfather's friend Gus Caldwell's ranch for a month, learning what hard work is. On his return after completing the first task, everything he values is suddenly taken away from him – his luxury apartment, his restored muscle car, and all his money – and he is left homeless. His trendy girlfriend, Caitlin, ditches him when his credit card is rejected at a fancy restaurant, and none of his friends are willing to give him a place to stay despite him having done so many favors for them in the past. After his mother tells him she cannot help him, as part of the agreement, he miserably wanders the city alone. While sleeping in a park, he encounters a woman, Alexia, and her outspoken daughter, Emily. Jason befriends the two, and then asks them to go to the attorney's office and confirm themselves as his "true friends" in order to pass his assignment, but afterwards Jason walks away and ignores Emily's request to see him again. However, Jason accidentally discovers that Emily is suffering from leukemia, and sees a chance to develop a strong bond with someone.
From that point, he tries his best to help Emily have a great life while it lasts, and Emily encourages a romance between Jason and her mother. Another of his tasks requires him to travel to Ecuador and study in a library his father and grandfather built to help the people there. This brings him to address his resentment over the death of his father there, and he makes a trip into the mountains with a local guide to see where it happened. Jason learns from his guide that the story he had always believed about his father's death was a lie, fabricated by his grandfather out of guilt and shame for trying to push Jason's father into the oil business. Jason and the guide are captured there and taken hostage by
militants
The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...
for several weeks, until Jason manages to ensure their escape. He returns to America and discovers that Emily's condition has deteriorated, so he arranges for Gus to host a belated Christmas celebration at his home for them.
Upon completing his twelve tasks, Jason is given a sum of $100-million to do with whatever he pleases, and all of his property is returned to him. Caitlin, knowing that he has regained his wealth, makes an attempt to win him back, but Jason declines her offer. With his inheritance, Jason chooses to build a hospital, called Emily's Home, for children with terminal illnesses, but before the building begins, Emily dies. After the groundbreaking for Emily's Home, Jason is recalled to the law firm for one more meeting and told he has exceeded the expectations of his dead grandfather, and he is given the final gift of $2-billion dollars, rewarding Jason not only for his completing the tasks, but for using the $100-million to help others. That night, Jason is seen sitting on a bench in the park, when Alexia joins him. He thanks her for the help that she and her daughter gave him. Then they kiss, as a butterfly, representing Emily, flies around them.
Cast
In addition, then
Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina
The office of the Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina is currently held by Democrat Vi Lyles, who took office in December 2017 after defeating Republican Kenny Smith in the November election.
The office was established in 1853, when William F. ...
Pat McCrory
Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor o ...
has a cameo appearance as himself, while
Jim Stovall, the author of the book the film is based on, has a cameo as the limo driver near the end of the film.
Production
The film was financed with $14 million from the
Stanford Financial Group
The Stanford Financial Group was a privately held international group of financial services companies controlled by Allen Stanford, until it was seized by United States (U.S.) authorities in early 2009.
Headquartered at 5050 Westheimer in Uptown H ...
,
a
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
based firm the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
shut down two years later for being a "massive
Ponzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...
".
[
]
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, ''The Ultimate Gift'' holds an approval rating of 33% based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 5.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though ''The Ultimate Gift'' avoids religious speechifying like other Fox Faith films, it's dramatically inert with flat direction." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reviewer said, "Reeking of self-righteousness and moral reprimand, he movie
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
is a hairball of good-for-you filmmaking..... e movie's messages are methodically hammered home." ''Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'' felt the film warranted 3.5 out of 4 stars and called it "lovingly crafted ... but never manages to build up much mystery, suspense, tension, or narrative steam." Joe Leydon of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' magazine was favorably impressed and noted that "discussions of faith and God are fleeting, almost subliminal — without stinting on the celebration of wholesome family values." William Arnold of the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States.
The newspaper was foun ...
'' wrote: "Its sincerity, optimism and air of open-minded tolerance go down well, and it makes a nice change-of-pace." He lauded its "tight and often compelling" screenplay, sparkling dialogue and "first-rate" production values.
Box office and home media
''The Ultimate Gift'' opened with receipts of $1.2 million on its first weekend, with final box office of $3.4 million.
DVD sales were $9.55 million in the first two months following its release.
Soundtrack
Mark McKenzie wrote the film's incidental music. At the film's climax, "Something Changed" is highlighted, a song composed by Contemporary Christian Music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
-singer Sara Groves
Sara Groves (born Sara Lee Colbaugh, September 10, 1972) is an American contemporary Christian singer, record producer, and author.
Groves received her Bachelor of Science degree in history and English in 1994 from Evangel University, a private ...
. Other songs include "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...
, and "Crazy" by Patsy Cline
Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...
.
See also
* Tuesdays with Morrie
''Tuesdays with Morrie'' is a memoir by American author Mitch Albom about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz gradually dies of ALS. The book topped the ''New York Times'' Non-Fiction Bes ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ultimate Gift, The
2006 films
Films about inheritances
Films shot in North Carolina
Films based on American novels
Films about Christianity
2000s English-language films