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"GODSEND" (2004) (Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Moderate *Heavy *Heavy Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Heavy Extreme None Moderate Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Extreme Moderate *Moderate QUICK TAKE: Suspense/Thriller: A couple must deal with the spooky repercussions when the clone of their dead son starts experiencing weird and sinister occurrences. PLOT: Paul (GREG KINNEAR) and Jessie Duncan (REBECCA ROMIJN-STAMOS) seem to have the perfect life. He's a biology teacher who may be moving on to a better school system, while she's a photographer. But the pride and joy of their lives is their 8-year-old son, Adam (CAMERON BRIGHT). Yet, when he's killed in a freak car accident, their lives are shattered, as they know they'll never see him again. Genetic scientist Richard Wells (ROBERT DE NIRO) of the Godsend Institute, however, has heard of their plight and offers them a unique solution to deal with their grief. By harvesting the DNA from their dead son, Wells claims that he can clone their son, creating a perfect duplicate of him. Paul is adamantly against it, knowing full well that such a creation might be genetically identical to Adam, but simply wouldn't be him. Nevertheless, his and Jessie's growing grief eventually gets the best of them and they agree to Richard's proposal, moving hundreds of miles away and severing all ties with anyone who knew Adam. Eight years later, they're right back where they were before the tragedy. Yet, when Adam passes the age at which the original version of him died, he begins experiencing odd and frightening hallucination-like occurrences. Richard, who's now quite close to the Duncans, reassures them that it's just a common childhood condition known as night terrors. As they continue to grow and worsen, however, Paul and Jessie begin to worry that something more complicated and possibly sinister might be causing them. As they dig deeper for an explanation, they race against time to find the answer before something tragic occurs again. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of horror type suspense flicks and/or someone in the cast, they just might, but this doesn't seem likely to attract many preteens. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For violence including frightening images, a scene of sexuality and some thematic material. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: GREG KINNEAR plays a biology teacher who, against his better judgment, allows Richard to clone his dead son so that he can have him back again. Once weird things start occurring, he then sets out to uncover the explanation. He uses some profanity and briefly gets physically violent with Richard. REBECCA ROMIJN-STAMOS plays his photographer wife whose life is shattered by the death but then resurrected with the new version of him. She also strives to find out what's occurring with Adam once the problems begin. ROBERT DE NIRO plays a wealthy genetic scientist who may or may not have ulterior motives when he offers to create a clone from the Duncans' dead son. CAMERON BRIGHT plays both the original boy and then his clone who must contend with various frightening and disorienting visions and supernatural-like occurrences. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a quick look at the content found in this suspense flick that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 5 "s" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some sexually related dialogue is present, as is a sexual encounter between a husband and wife with some sounds, movement and partial nudity. Violence consists of various deaths (implied or off camera), including that of an eight-year-old boy being hit by a car (resulting in tense family moments). Some fighting (with bloody results) and a flashback to an attempted murder via drowning are also present. Those scenes, various jump ones and other scenes designed to be spooky may be unsettling, suspenseful or downright scary to younger viewers and those with low tolerance for such material. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, some drink, and thematic material includes familial loss and the issue of cloning. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Jessie pours wine for the adults at a birthday party. Paul jokes about a possible job relocation to another school that has less crack (cocaine). Jessie has wine. Paul has some wine. Jessie and Richard have wine. We see a glass of wine in Richard's place. BLOOD/GORE We see some "birth goo" on a just delivered infant. Adam sees another version of himself and then a shot of what appears to be the first Adam, seemingly after his car accident (he has some blood on his face). A burned or decomposed arm suddenly grabs Adam's arm as he reaches for a doorknob. That same arm is seen again toward the end of the film in a similar manner. We see a flashback to blood on a floor and then some dripping from a hammer just used to kill someone. Richard has some blood on his face after Paul punches him. Paul then has blood on his face and head after Richard hits him quite hard with an object. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Some viewers may find the overall notion of cloning as having a bad or disrespectful attitude toward God, nature or whatever. Two young thugs grab Paul in an alley, with one holding a switchblade to his face (but they let him go when one recognizes Paul as his former teacher). Richard takes advantage of the Duncans' grief to propose his cloning experiment. Adam suddenly tells Paul, "I don't think I like you anymore," but then says "Gotcha" and both laugh about that. A bully at school tells another, "I'll beat the crap out of you." A school bully pushes Adam backwards and then challenges him to a "who can swing the highest contest," telling him "Ladies first." Adam then spits at him and others, jumps from the swing, and then spits in his teacher's face (while "possessed"). We hear the sound of glass breaking as Paul breaks into an old, closed school to look around. We see a flashback of a nanny pulling a shower curtain down onto a boy in a bathtub and attempting to kill him, but then hear her saying (in the present) that she couldn't go through with it. We learn that a person had ulterior motives for cloning Adam. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Jump Scenes" might also be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to some younger kids and viewers sensitive to suspenseful and/or horror material, but others might not have any problem with any of it. Two young thugs grab Paul in an alley, with one holding a switchblade to his face (but they let him go when one recognizes Paul as his former teacher). As Adam's ball partially rolls out onto a city street, he walks out to retrieve it. A bicyclist then cuts in front of a car that swerves out of the way, becomes airborne and then flies directly toward Adam. We see his point of view, but not the impact that kills him. We see Jessie yelling in pain during labor. After her baby is delivered, a nurse and then she count the seconds during which the baby isn't breathing (but we then hear a loud cry in the forties and everything is okay). Adam has a confusing nightmare where he's in the hallway of a school and we see the silhouette of kids around him, seemingly taunting him. He then sees another version of himself and then a shot of what appears to be the first Adam, seemingly after his car accident (he has some blood on his face). He then loses consciousness in the real world. Adam has more disorienting nightmares. Adam runs away from Paul, through the woods and into a dilapidated but large shed where he appears to be off in another world. Adam briefly has more disorienting nightmares. As Paul pulls into the driveway, Adam suddenly darts there on his bike and Paul nearly hits him with the car. Adam hears sounds outside the door while in the bathtub. He then see a shadow cross the closed shower curtain and then gets out, slowly walking about the bathroom. He then sees what look like invisible hands grabbing the shower curtain and then suddenly yanking it down into the tub (as some childhood screams play on the soundtrack, along with scary music). He then suddenly sees a figure beneath the downed shower curtain in the filled bathtub. A burned or decomposed arm then suddenly grabs Adam's arm as he reaches for a doorknob to leave the room. We see flashes of a boy slowly approaching a woman (whose back is to him) as he carries a hammer in a menacing fashion. A truck nearly hits the Duncans in their vehicle on a snowy road and they have to swerve out of the way. We see another nightmare in an old and dark shed where a person looks up to see a hatchet coming down at them (from their point of view). We see the point of view of someone approaching a student down by a stream in the woods. He hears something and turns, but then turns back. We then see the point of view of a hatchet swinging at him (and his body is later found in the stream). We see more flash images of taunting kids, and a fire at a school. We see the point of view of someone or something looking through the window at Jessie who's alone in her house. We see a flashback of a nanny pulling a shower curtain down onto a boy in a bathtub and attempting to kill him, but then hear her saying (in the present) that she couldn't go through with it. Jessie slowly makes her way through her house when she thinks she hears something. Adam suddenly spins around and Jessie recoils, accidentally breaking the lone light bulb in the basement. We then hear and partially see Adam or some other figure scurrying about her in the basement. Jessie slowly makes her way through the above shed, looks around, almost leaves, hears a noise and then returns. We then see a boy suspended up on a chain, raising a hatchet to strike her, but Paul is suddenly there and stops him. Adam hears something in a house, slowly goes toward a closet and opens the door. Nothing's there, but when he goes to close it, a burned or decomposed hand suddenly yanks him back into a closet. GUNS/WEAPONS Switchblade/Hammer/Hatchet: Used to threaten or apparently kill others (in the past, but no impact is seen). See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "That's bullsh*t," "You ungrateful piece of sh*t," "I'll beat the crap out of you," "He's a total ass-oid" (or something like that), "Wussies," "Jeez" and "Like hell I'm not." Adam spits at a bully and others from a swing, jumps from that, and then spits in his teacher's face. A bully unsuccessfully tries to egg on other students to come down to a stream in the woods with him. JUMP SCENES Adam suddenly pops up out of some bath water. We suddenly see a figure beneath a downed shower curtain in a filled bathtub. A burned or decomposed arm suddenly grabs Adam's arm as he reaches for a doorknob. We see another nightmare in an old and dark shed where a person looks up to see a hatchet coming down at them (from their point of view). Sudden music and the sight of Adam at Jessie's bed may startle some viewers. A woman suddenly bangs on Paul's car window. Adam suddenly spins around as some sudden music plays. Adam hears something in a house, slowly goes toward a closet and opens the door. Nothing's there, but when he goes to close it, a burned or decomposed hand suddenly yanks him back into a closet. A hand suddenly grabs Paul. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 5 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("do you"), 2 damns, 1 ass, 1 crap, 1 hell, 8 uses of "G-damn," 3 of "Oh God," 2 each of "God," "Oh my God" and "Swear to God" and 1 use each of "Jesus" and "My God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY Running off her lists of things to do, Jessie suggestively tells Paul, "I have to do you" and that she can take care of that right now. She then pulls him down onto her on the sofa and the two passionately kiss. We see Richard between Jessie's spread legs during the medical implant procedure (nothing explicit is seen). We see Jessie with her legs spread during delivery, but nothing explicit is seen. We see Paul in a shirt and boxers, while Jessie sits in a chair in her tank-top and panties (showing a lot of leg from the side as it's bent up in front of her). We then see a full-frontal shot of her in the same attire and see the small panties in full. She then straddles Paul on a chair, they passionately kiss and remove each other's shirts (we see a brief glimpse of part of her bare breast). They then lie back with her on top of him, followed by more passionate kissing. This scene is then inter-cut with a nonsexual and non-related one, with quick shots of them, and him rolling on top of her, then her straddling him on a chair, with some subdued movement and related sounds. Paul teaches a class about DNA, and starts to mention that some genes are responsible for the length of a male student's (and then pauses, resulting in some snickers from other students in anticipation of the body organ they think he's going to say, but he finishes his thought with "nose hair"). SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Paul and Jessie grieve following their son's death. Later, they get into argument over Richard's proposal to have their dead son cloned. We see Paul somberly looking over the accident site where his son died and then later a home video featuring his family. Adam suddenly tells Paul, "I don't think I like you anymore," but then says "Gotcha" and both laugh about that. We see a hysterical mother at the scene where her boy's body is pulled (from being face down) from a creek. Once Adam starts having his bizarre visions and encounters, his parents worry about him. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Cloning and all of the various ramifications of that. Grief and losing a loved one. Sleep disorders and night terrors. VIOLENCE The murders that are present in the film occur off-screen. Two young thugs grab Paul in an alley, with one holding a switchblade to his face (but they let him go when one recognizes Paul as his former teacher). As Adam's ball partially rolls out onto a city street, he walks out to retrieve it. A bicyclist then cuts in front of a car that swerves out of the way, becomes airborne and then flies directly toward Adam. We see his point of view, but not the impact that kills him. A school bully pushes Adam backwards. We see another nightmare in an old and dark shed where a person looks up to see a hatchet coming down at them (from their point of view). We see the point of view of someone approaching a student down by a stream in the woods. He hears something and turns, but then turns back. We then see the point of view of a hatchet swinging at him (and his body is later found in the stream). Paul pushes Richard back against a wall in anger. We hear the sound of glass breaking as Paul breaks into an old, closed school to look around. We see a flashback of a nanny pulling a shower curtain down onto a boy in a bathtub and attempting to kill him, but then hear her saying (in the present) that she couldn't go through with it. We see a flashback to blood on a floor and then some dripping from a hammer just used to kill someone. Paul grabs Richard by the coat and then pushes him down into a church pew. He then punches him in the face and grabs him by the throat. Richard then grabs a large religious cross (or similar item) and bashes Paul over the head or back with it, sending him to the floor. Their fight also causes the church to catch on fire. Reviewed April 27, 2004 / Posted April 30, 2004

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