Intermission: Strong cast overcomes borrowed story lines

|tab|"Bless the Child"|ret||ret||tab|

Directed by: Chuck Russell|ret||ret||tab|

Starring: Kim Basinger, Holliston Coleman and Jimmy Smits|ret||ret||tab|

Rated: R|ret||ret||tab|

There have been a great number of "ecumenical" thrillers in Hollywood of late, precipitated by the end of the millennium. "End of Days," "Stigmata," even Kevin Smith's satire "Dogma," all dealt with spiritual matters and the ultimate struggle between all that's good and all that isn't.|ret||ret||tab|

The latest in this line of movies is Chuck Russell's "Bless the Child," a film that might be described as a cross between "Rosemary's Baby" and "Touched By An Angel." If the old saying that "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery" is indeed true, director Russell is spreading flattery around with this film. He borrowed heavily from everything from "The Exorcist," and "The Omen," to "The Devil's Advocate." One character also cops the line about the devil's greatest achievement nearly verbatim from "The Usual Suspects." |ret||ret||tab|

All of that aside, the strength of "Bless the Child" lies in its main story and in Russell's fine casting.|ret||ret||tab|

Kim Basinger won an Oscar a few years back and is always on her game. Rufus Sewell is sufficiently creepy as a self-help charlatan with greater designs. Christina Ricci shows up for a small and rather disturbing role, but the real find here is young Holliston Coleman in the title role. The part is demanding, and Ms. Coleman shows great range for a young actress. She's never sappy or cloying and seems to understand her craft well for an actress still in her single digits. Wrestling with the Apocalypse is no small feat for any actor.|ret||ret||tab|

In "Bless the Child," Basinger plays Maggie O'Connor, a childless divorcee who devotes herself to her career as a psychiatric nurse. Around Christmas (marked by a star shining that hasn't been seen in nearly 2,000 years) her kid sister, strung out on heroin, shows up with a newborn girl. She promptly dumps the kid on her big sister and disappears. Maggie endeavors to raise Cody, and soon discovers the child isn't quite normal. The doctors tell Maggie that Cody may be mildly autistic, but the viewers get glimpses into behavior we know is much beyond that.|ret||ret||tab|

Jump ahead six years. There has been a rash of child murders around the city, with one curious connection. All of the kids share the same date of birth, which also happens to be Cody's. Around this time, Maggie's little sister shows back up married to the wildly successful, and wildly creepy, self-help guru Eric Stark. They snatch Cody from Maggie, and in the ensuing scenes we get an idea of just how dark Eric's vision of "The New Dawn" really is. One of his taglines, "Do what you will ... will what you do," is straight out of Anton Levay's "Satanic Bible." |ret||ret||tab|

Stark and his minions have big plans for young Cody that will culminate, one way or another, on Easter eve.|ret||ret||tab|

Meanwhile, Maggie has enlisted the aid of Jimmy Smits, who plays the role of a former seminary student turned FBI agent assigned to the murdered kids' case. He's been keeping an eye on Stark and his organization for a long while and knows all too well what this guy is capable of. Maggie also enlists, quite unawares, the help of several supernatural beings. The first time one pops up, we're not quite sure what is going on, but after awhile it becomes apparent, though never overt.|ret||ret||tab|

The third act unfolds pretty much as expected, with more than a few demonic special effects thrown in and a lot of talk about the return of the "dark lord." While there aren't a lot of surprises here, I still found the story to be engaging and Coleman is a welcome find. If she doesn't get the dreaded "curse of the child actor," she's got a great future in Hollywood. |ret||ret||tab|

Despite being somewhat derivative, and loaded with cliched dialogue, I enjoyed "Bless the Child" as a spooky diversion. |ret||ret||tab|

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)[[In-content Ad]]