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In his directorial debut, Joel Edgerton proves that all that glitters is not gold in this intense, psychological thriller. "The Gift" tells the story of a charming, young couple named Simon and Robyn who just moved from Chicago to L.A. for a fresh start. While shopping for household items, Simon is approached by a man named Gordo who attended high school with him. The two quickly catch up before taking Gordo's number and parting ways. At first, Simon and Robyn think of Gordo as a friendly, old acquaintance. However, his excessive politeness and intrusive behavior becomes exceedingly creepy as he slowly makes his way into the couple's life. Although Robyn considers many of Gordo's gestures to be sweet and generous, Simon can't help but think of him as just some oddball, weirdo trying to get closer to his wife. After an eerie and somewhat awkward dinner party, Simon cuts off all ties with Gordo and soon after strange things begin to happen. Their lovely dog goes missing, their pretty, little fish turn up dead and Robyn starts to feel more and more frightened in her own home. After doing some deep digging, she discovers why bygones are no longer bygones. A powerful secret from the past has caused a ruckus in her marriage and she soon realizes that her husband isn't as nice as she thought.

One of the things that makes this film so compelling is the impressive story line. It consists of a highly interesting plot that keeps you guessing from beginning to end. Edgerton brilliantly avoids the use of terrible clichés which is part of what makes this story so effective. Edgerton also allows the story to unfold naturally while providing the audience with the chance to really get to know the characters. Each of the actors gave exceptional performances. Rebecca Hall is OK as the kindhearted, mild mannered wife. However, Jason Bateman gives one of the best performances to date as an unscrupulous husband who refuses to come to terms with a past wrong doing. More importantly, its Edgerton's edgy portrayal of Gordo that is haunting and mysterious. Friendly and unsuspecting, he's a gentle soul whose been hurt, humiliated and scarred in the past who may be in need of friendship, kindness and understanding. Perhaps he is a bit of a weirdo as Simon labels him in the beginning. Through his acting and directing, Edgerton masterfully toys with the audience's perception of Gordo as he causes us to question his various motives and actions. Through his sharp directing and dark imagery, Edgerton creates a tone that is ominous and tense. The dialogue further enhances the enigmatic nature of the film and remains very natural. Its simple and straight forward without being overly dramatic and unrealistic. The interactions between the characters are honest and direct without being too forced or melodramatic. Overall, "The Gift" is a wonderful debut by Joel Edgerton. I eagerly look forward to his next cinematic gift in the future.

Imagine being bored out of your mind while sitting on a bus or train listening to random strangers talk about absolutely nothing. Or walking past a group of people having mindless chit chat. Now imagine you're not watching a movie and instead picture every character on screen as some annoying, clueless person you know in real life. And there you have it: For starters, the performances are so amateurish that one might think this was the first time any of them had ever been on the big screen. There is also no real acting going on here. It seems as if the actors are simply saying their lines without any real emotion. The story begins with Rob,(Omarion) a young aspiring rapper who lives in Harlem with his mother Tanya.(Kellita Smith). After getting into trouble with local thugs, his mother sends him to Puerto Rico to live with his estranged father Roberto, a musician played by Giancarlo Esposito. Rob meets his brother named Javi (Victor Rasuk)and the two quickly bond over their love of music. Javi introduces Rob to raggaeton, a mixture of hip hop, reggae and Spanish beats and they soon decide to create a demo. Rob meets the lovely CC (Zulay Henao)an aspiring dancer and the two quickly take a liking to each other. Pretty soon, Rob, javi and CC head to New York to pursue their dreams but they quickly realize that the price of fame can be costly.

One of the things that makes this film so bad is the horrible acting and dialogue. Unfortunately, these actors just don't have anything good to work with here. I often wondered whether Chomski was trying to capture the essence of urban street life. Although not a bad idea, this concept would've been great with stronger dialogue and better character development. The majority of the film is very similar to other films of its kind which makes the plot seem very bland and formulaic. I could not understand why veteran, seasoned actors such as Kellita Smith, Giancarlo Esposito and Malik Yoba would agree to star in an atrocity of a film. What a complete waste of good talent !!! Victor Rasuk ("Raising Victor Vargas", "Lords of Dogtown" has done better acting than this and unfortunately Zulay Henao ("Fighting") barely acts and comes across as just another pretty face with a great body.

Last but not least,, Chomski's terrible sense of direction doesn''t help either. Watching "The Mayor" (Yoba) frantically run from the cops as Rob helps him get away is dreadful to watch. Not to mention Rob going against ex crew/gang members after returning to New York. Horrendous !!! Chomski makes an attempt to wrap the film up neatly with ending it at the Puerto Rican Day parade. JLO whose also the producer of the film makes an appearance.

When I first saw the previews for this film, I was far from interested. But when my curiosity got the best of me, I decided to give it a chance. Although I wasn't totally impressed, I do believe the film had its fair share of cute moments. You should know that this is nothing like the 1982 original. So if you're expecting the characters to be anything like Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney or Carol Burnett you will be extremely disappointed.

Our new Annie is played by Hollywood newcomer Quvenzhane Wallis. As the lead, she is an admirable young girl with a perky attitude who helps those around her see the bright side of life. Annie lives in a Harlem apartment with her mean, snotty foster mother and four foster sisters. Hoping to reunite with her parents, she goes to an Italian restaurant called Domani where her parents abandoned her leaving behind a note. While rescuing a stray dog, Annie's life gradually changes for the better when Will Stacks a billionaire and mayoral candidate agrees to take her in to help further his chances of getting elected. Although not right away, Will eventually warms up to Annie and the two develop a strong bond.

Quvenzhane Wallis is absolutely adorable as the lead. The movie is definitely worth watching for her performance alone. The four girls were cute at times but they don't have much to work with as far as screen time and dialogue. Cameron Diaz was far from believable as Miss Hannigan. She's no Carol Burnett but this is by far one of her worst performances ever. Jamie Foxx was goof and quite comical as the cocky, future mayor and cell phone mogul. Many of the scenes he shared with Wallis later on in the film are heartwarming and fun to watch. However, there are certain plot points that the film could've done without. The dancing scene between Bobby Cannavale and Cameron Diaz was just plain dumb. The singing was bad and it had nothing to do with the theme of the movie and therefore seemed pointless. The "auditioning parents" scene was just as bad. Auditioning random strangers to pretend to be Annie's parents was a horrible idea. Perhaps Mr. Gluck could've brought out the worst in Miss Diaz's character through better directing and dialogue. Not to mention the whole "I used to be a bright star"/member of C&C Music factory was a complete joke. I mean talk about unbelievable!!!!! Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne,Bobby Cannavale, Cameron Diaz and David Zayas are all good actors. But they don't have much to work with to really shine. Aside from a few catchy tunes, cute kids and an impressionable lead actress, "Annie is good, but not great.