Benn Farrell Godsend
reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell

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If this movie is God sent, I would have to change my entire belief system.

"Godsend" was a very unsuccessful film about a couple, desperate to regain the eight-year-old son they lost in a car/pedestrian accident. So, enter Dr. Richard Wells who convinces the couple to let him illegally clone their son Adam.

Wells relocates the couple to a small town, gives them a big house and gets the father, Paul, a great teaching job. However, after Adam the second is born and turns eight years old, he begins to have night terrors, haunted by memories of a child named Zachary. Zachary for some reason looks like Adam the first, wearing Adam's old jacket even. However, its Zachary doing the haunting. Uh…ok.

The dad gets suspicious of Wells' care of their child and becomes very animated about getting Adam #2 the help he needs to beat these mind terrors. Eventually, we find out Zachary was Wells' child who killed his mother and burned down their house, himself inside. Wells' put a genetic code into Adam #2, so he could have Zachary's memories and some attributes. Cheese, man.

The movie resembled a book by John Saul, my favorite novel writer, who usually centers his stories with haunted children and parents investigating the truth of what's going on. So, because of that, I liked the picture to some degree, but a very small degree.

There are so many holes in this picture, especially in the second and third acts, coupled with poor visual inclusions. Director Nick Hamm (The Hole - not a porno) missed many beats with this picture, and used every done-before scare tactic known to give the movie suspense. Screenwriter Mark Bombeck, who is penning the newest "Die Hard" installment, is just as responsible for laying the brickwork for this toilet floater.

My questions left unanswered are these:

  • Why is it a mother who is established as a professional photographer with a dark room and a gallery is never seen with a camera?
  • Why is it Zachary appears in Adam #2's head, dressed as Adam #1?
  • When Adam #2 discovers there WAS an Adam #1, how come he magically switches into Zachary, and we don't get to see the parents try to explain themselves?
  • Why is it, when showing two scenes intercut between each other, a father is bashed over the head and unconscious in a burning church in one, and a mother stalked by a child with a hammer in the other, we are supposed to believe the father miraculously shows up and saves the mother if VISUALLY the scenes were happening simultaneously? This is simply poor filmmaking.
Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets) stars as Paul the father, while two time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro (Awakenings) plays Dr. Wells.

…Robert, Robert, Robert…(deep sigh).

Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (X-Men) plays mother Jessie and has a couple hot scenes making out with Kinnear, but otherwise, she gives nothing to the picture. In turn, the picture gives nothing to us.

There are far better movies in existence involving haunted children, i.e. "The Sixth Sense." I suggested you do a little research, find them and rent THOSE ones. Skip "Godsend."

Benn - Where's the Humanity?