5. The Gift (2000)
Raimi went back to the emphasis on story-telling in this suspense/thriller that relied on a talented and gifted cast. Taken from a script by Billy Bob Thornton and set in the Southern US, The Gift tells the story of psychic (Cate Blanchett) who is asked to find an overly-flirtatious Katie Holmes. The obvious bad guy is a racist, abusive Keanu Reeves, but the cast also includes Greg Kinnear, Hillary Swank, JK Simmons, Giovanni Ribisi,
Mr. Noodle from Elmo, the Delta 88, and Lumbergh.
Anybody but Lumbergh... They all deliver tight performances, there are a few well-spaced shock moments and overall it was an interesting spin on a somewhat uncommon story. The ending was nice albeit leaves a pretty large plot point unresolved in my opinion, but it's still quite well-crafted. The spooky elements worked for me while at the same time keeping the story more character-based than shock-based. This was his final movie before the Spider-Man trilogy and gives one some indication as to why the studios thought Raimi would be the right man for a character-based super hero film. Made for a surprisingly small $10 million, it grossed just over $12 million in its theatrical release.