British theater veteran Nick Hamm makes a dire mainstream debut with \Godsend,"" an embarrassment for all involved.?? This film squanders its rich, timely premise with a fiercely mediocre script equipped with heavy-handed, lame dialogue, strictly average performances from an A-list cast, derivative plot twists and turns and a gutless ending that reeks of extensive reshoots. It does not work as a compelling, thought-provoking drama about cloning because of its murky horror, and it fails as a spooky thriller reminiscent of ""The Omen"" or ""The Shining"" (or, more contemporarily, ""The Sixth Sense"" and ""The Ring"") because it timidly apes them.
It is an especially tragic moment toward the end of the asinine horror-thriller when mad scientist Robert DeNiro explodes with anger and instead of being spellbound by the intensity of his performance, the audience cringes.
DeNiro used to be arguably the best actor of the '80s and '90s, taking the time to pick quality scripts and deliver powerhouse performances with zeal and gusto. Now, like fellow veterans Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman, he'll star in damn near anything-collecting his paycheck and devolving further and further into self-parody.
DeNiro's mad scientist, Dr. Harland Wells, a fertility specialist with geneticist leanings, comes into the lives of distraught parents Paul (Greg Kinnear) and Jessie (Rebecca Romijn) after their eight-year-old son is killed in a bizarre accident, which plays like something out of ""Final Destination 2.""??The shady doc offers them the chance to clone their dead son and thus illegally alleviate their grief, which they quickly take.??Jessie soon gives birth to Adam 2 (Cameron Bright), the newly happy family moves and starts a new life and things are peachy.
However, when Adam 2 reaches the age of Adam 1's death, he begins to get weird. Instead of staying the apple of his mother's eye, he starts having freaky dreams and copping an attitude toward his teachers and parents. It is evident that this is not Paul and Jessie's little boy-the horror movie machinations take this already lackluster movie on autopilot.
In another example of greedy studio marketing, ""Godsend"" has been hampered with a PG-13 rating, neutering any feeble impact it may have had in the horror department. Without a decent script, solid direction or intriguing performances, ""Godsend"" may have had a hope of being an entertaining, violent exploitation piece, but without an R-rating, it can't even work on that level. Skittish studios should know that making an already bad movie milder won't make it better nor have more mass appeal. ""Godsend"" is a typical late-April release; the kind of turkey a studio puts out before the profitable summer season begins with hopes that it will die a quick death. Jessica Simpson will join MENSA before this film will crack the top three at the box office.
