If anything, the film's uplifting moral tone seems more in line with a Frank Capra flick than a cinematic sermon.
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03/09/07
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The Ultimate Gift (2007)
32
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:18
Rotten:38
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Though The Ultimate Gift avoids religious speechifying like other Fox Faith films, it's dramatically inert with flat direction.
Theatrical Release:Mar 9, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $3,178,843
Synopsis: The videotaped will of deceased billionaire Red Stevens (James Garner) includes the "ultimate gift" for his spoiled, sullen grandson Jason (Drew Fuller). A series of tasks meant to turn Jason from... [More]
Starring: Drew Fuller, James Garner, Ali Hillis, Abigail Breslin
Director: Michael O. Sajbel
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Reviews for The Ultimate Gift
It does telegraph its sentiments with all the subtlety of a greeting card.
03/09/07
Reeking of self-righteousness and moral reprimand, The Ultimate Gift is a hairball of good-for-you filmmaking.
03/09/07
Top CriticHas a mercifully light hand in selling its Christian-values themes, but its plodding story about a spoiled young scion who must complete 12 tasks assigned him by his late grandfather is still a slog.
03/09/07
Top CriticThe movie's heart is in the right place. It's just that the route it travels to get there is so dull and unsurprising that you just want the trip to be over with.
03/09/07
It won’t offend anyone, but it’s not likely to inspire anyone, either.
03/09/07
The Ultimate Gift is less a theatrical feature than a Sunday night made-for-TV movie brought to you by Hallmark. That sounds crueler than it is: The movie, directed by Michael O. Sajbel, has plenty of charm.
03/09/07
It's worth considering regardless of your religious bent -- or whether you have any religious feeling at all.
03/09/07
Relentlessly sappy and predictable...this may go over well as a public service announcement but as a roughly clocked two-hour movie it feels both tepid and tedious.
03/09/07
The sap runs freely in this drama that aims to uplift its audiences with all the subtlety of a forklift.
03/09/07
Ten-year-old best-supporting-actress Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin and 78-year-old James Garner easily steal this show.
03/09/07
Truly awful filmmaking, informed not by real life but by old movies, savages the story's generally honorable and positive themes
03/09/07
Like sensible woolen socks in a ribbon-wrapped package, The Ultimate Gift may be good for you, but it's a little hard to get excited about.
03/09/07
... hardly great, but tries so hard to be good that it's probably due a break.
03/09/07
The predictabilities of the story line might be forgivable if they had been rendered more entertainingly, but the overlong proceedings have been staged in an utterly pedestrian fashion.
03/09/07
I never found Ultimate Gift to be very pushy or distant, and while I might not subscribe to Stovall's teachings, I respect their intent, and this movie's efforts to embody them for the silver screen.
03/08/07
the ultimate morality play sometimes diving into melodrama filled with over-acting, while also providing some real emotional moments that filmgoers should be willing to seek out.
03/08/07
It soft-pedals its religious elements -- discussions of faith and God are fleeting, almost subliminal -- without stinting on the celebration of wholesome family values.
03/08/07
Top CriticThere's an anti-abortion message jammed into one scene with all the subtlety of an avalanche. Just in case you miss it, it's repeated in the credits too. Some gift, eh?
03/08/07
The film communicates its message without belaboring its moral points or throwing in any overt religious dogma. Christ is mentioned only once and I couldn't tell from the story or the credits what the religious affiliation of the producers might be.
03/08/07
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