Film Review: Bless the Child (2000)
Some of the Hollywood films trying to exploit millennialist anxieties had the misfortune of being produced too late and released after 1st January 2000, thus making many of their subjects look less relevant. For Bless the Child, a 2000 supernatural horror film directed by Chuck Russell, it was only part of the problem.
The plot, based on the novel by Cathy Cash Spellman, begins in New York City where psychiatric nurse Maggie O'Connor (played by Kim Basinger) adopts Cody, the newborn daughter of her younger sister Jenna (played by Angela Bettis), a heroin addict. Years later, Cody (played by Holliston Coleman) is a child with symptoms of autism who, after being sent to a school for children with special needs, also displays telekinetic and other supernatural abilities. After that, Maggie learns that Jenna became sober and married Eric Stark (played by Rufus Sewell), a self-help guru who takes great interest in Cody and wants her by his side. In the meantime, New York is struck by a series of abductions and ritualistic murders of children whose date of birth is identical to Cody's. They are investigated by FBI agent John Travis (played by Jimmy Smits), a former seminary student with knowledge of the occult. It soon turns out that Eric's organisation is just a front for a Satanist cult that wants to prevent Cody, who is blessed by God, from protecting humanity.
Bless the Child represented one of the bigger Hollywood fiascos of its time. It was savaged by critics and turned into a massive flop at the box office. Apart from its subject matter being less relevant than a few months from its premiere, there were many other reasons for that. The script was filled with clichés and predictable twists, including the final showdown where the epic battle between supernatural forces of Good and Evil gets resolved with guns. Kim Basinger, an Oscar-winning actress who was supposed to elevate this film, is quite bland, and the same can be said for Rufus Sewell, who is quite disappointing in the role of villain, especially after his much better performance in Dark City. Jimmy Smits in the role of FBI agent provides some sort of interesting mix between Detective Simone he had played in NYPD Blue and David Duchovny's Fox Mulder from The X-Files, but his presence could only draw comparisons with the similarly themed The Believers, in which he played the role of a police detective. The best impression is given by Holliston Coleman, although her career, like that of so many child actors, went nowhere during her adult years. Decent special effects and a couple of well-directed action scenes help with the general impression, but not enough to make Bless the Child into anything more than merely watchable.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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