Godsend (2004)

The teacher Pauld Duncan (Greg Kinnear), the photographer Jessie Duncan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and their eight years old son Adam Duncan (Cameron Bright) composes a simple but very happy medium class family. On the day after his eighth birthday, Adam is hit and killed by a car, shaking the stability of the Duncan's family. Some days later, a mysterious doctor Richard Wells (Robert De Niro) approaches to the couple and proposes to make a clone of their deceased son. A new Adam is born, but after his eighth birthday, the boy has horrible nightmares and a weird behavior at school. The reproduction process hides a deep secret, which affects the life of the Duncans. "Godsend" was a great deception for me, since I expected much more from this film. The first three quarters have some flaws, but is scary and hooks the attention of the viewer. However, the conclusion of the story is horrible! I believe that even the director Nick Hamm was not satisfied with the end of the movie, since the American DVD presents four (4) alternative endings, which one of them worse than the original commercial and moralist one. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Enviado" ("The Envoy")

Fmovies: If you want to watch the "Godsend" go dig out the original 1980 flick. Although not quite the same story - it leaves this for dead! An exercise in how to completely antagonise an audience. The thing appears to be the result of almost daily-re-writes and a veritable conga-line of replaced directors (It wasn't) In support of the theory the makers had no idea what they were trying to achieve, the DVD itself has no less than FOUR alternate endings - three of which are better than the theatrical release.

The end result is neither scary, horrific, edgy...or even interesting! Up until the "Hey, have I got a cloning offer for you?" sequence, the flick had possibilities - not many admittedly...but some at least! You've got De Niro spouting epithets of medical babble but at least "looking" purposeful. Kinnear with all the charisma of a dead lemur and the ever statuesque Rebecca Romijn-Stamos taking up the slack as "Adam's" mom. Speaking of "Adam," (Cameron Bright)...has any kid ever had less cinematic appeal? When all is said and done.....nothing much is explained and the film simply "stops" rather than ends. Personally I think the IMDb's 4.7 is overly kind!

We've all lost somebody close to us at some point in our lives whether it be a parent, a grandparent, cousin, a friend, a wife, or a girlfriend, it's happened to everyone. But for a parent to lose a child, especially in the prime of their life, has to be one of the most horrible experiences a parent can endure. The whole concept of the parent outliving the child is just so radically outrageous that no normal human being could ever fathom how such a person would feel, unless they themselves lost a child. In years past, one would lose a loved one, the time of grieving would take its course, and then that would be that. But times have changed and so have the methods of science, where a person would lose a loved one forever now the deceased can be brought back to life through the experimental method of cloning or at least that is the thought. Sounds more like some ungodly science-fiction novel right? Not anymore. Now that scientists have experimented on everything from sheep to mice to rabbits they now want to move on to humans, with some radical and inscrutable groups claiming they have already achieved the unthinkable Â… the birth of the first clone human being. Sooner or later, the moral convictions of mankind will contend with radical science to determine whether or not man can conquer death.

The story centers on a couple who decide to take the advice of a radical scientist and have their dead child cloned in order to return to their once happy life. Jesse and Paul may not have the most high paying jobs, the best house, or even the best neighborhood but there is one thing in there life that they would never be able to live without, their son Adam. Things within the Duncan household seem to be looking up with Paul being offered a better job which would require the family to move to a better quality neighborhood. But life takes a tragic turn when, just a day after his eighth birthday, Adam is fatally injured in a car accident and dies practically in his mother's arms. With their whole world turned upside-down and memories of their dead son everywhere in their home, the couple turn to Dr. Richard Wells, a radical genetics researcher, who claims to be able to take cells from the body of their dead son, place them in an egg from Jesse, and produce an identical version of Adam. All the couple would need to do is move into a new house, graciously provide by Dr. Wells himself, and promise not to tell anyone about the controversial procedure they are about to embark on. Once Adam is `re-born', the couple's life returns back to way things were before the accident Â… that is until young Adam crosses the age at which the original Adam died. From there the child has sleepless nights, a sudden lapse in emotions, and disturbing night-terrors that both frighten and confuse his parents. Could this be their just punishment for venturing into the realm of God or is there something else behind Adam's bewildering behavior? The story of Godsend is nothing more then a half-assed attempt at copying true a horror classic, Rosemary's Baby, and even The Others. What starts out as an intriguing insight into the moral and ethical complications behind the concept of cloning turns into an uneven and flat attempt at cheap thrills that leaves you with more question then when you started with.

The cast is mainly centered on only four characters and, unfortunately for the film, only one performs up to the standards expected of the movie-going public. Despite the fact that Robert DeNiro's character is a great opportunity

Godsend fmovies. I couldn't wait for this movie to end. Lot's of scenes with one character "sneaking" up on another and then a load sound to make you jump. The story was really lame and predictable. I think Robert De Niro and Greg Kinnear are both fine actors but it seemed like neither one believed in this movie and just gave up. This is the only movie that I've seen Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (the mother) and Cameron Bright (the son) in, and I'll try not to hold it against them . It was very simply a very bad script and it appeared that the direction of the actors was seriously lacking. This is one of the worse movies I've seen in quite a while. I usually only post my remarks when I think a movie is really outstanding or really stinky. This one is especially stinky.

1/10 (a total waste of time)

While not the worst movie I've seen, it ranks up there. The plot was very thin and it was not very scary (although there was one surprising twist). The horror elements were very predictable. I suppose I may have been disappointed because I was expecting something more intellectual and instead I watched something akin to _Child's Play_. (A trailer was shown for _Seed of Chucky_.)

Often during the course of the movie, the music would creshendo as if something very scary was about to happen, then the visual would disappoint (especially in the "flashback" scenes).

Although the movie was only 1 hour and 40 minutes long, it seemed to drag on at the end. The ending was bland and uninteresting.

What can I say about Godsend that hasn't already been said? Probably not much. It was just so...blah. I'm convinced that there could have been a good movie here. I mean Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, and Robert Deniro! Come on! This should have been a much better film. The premise was good: a couple lose their only son and are given a chance to bring him back through the possibly amoral process of cloning. If they would have listened to Jud Crandall they would have realized that "sometimes dead is better." It was just terribly hard to sit through and the ending was really lame. I have to blame the writer. You know why? Because there are 4 alternate endings on the DVD and they all suck too. Either he just didn't know how to end it or perhaps the studio wasn't pleased. Either way, it's completely avoidable.