jdonalds-5 This movie is sweet, if a bit slow. I got the overall message but I don't think the director pulled as much out of the story as could have been. I liked it but it was a on the dull side.An example of how the movie missed on depth and emotion was the early scene with Jason Stevens setting fence posts. The scene simply showed him doing the job. No close up shots of him sweating. No anger, no sense of accomplishment both in the fence post work but also in the lesson he was learning. Just dull.The part that I had the most difficult time with was the death of Emily Rose. It just killed the movie for me. Her death drew my attention away from the movie. I know it's real life that kids will die but she was such an important character that I felt as if she was the lead story, and the director killed the lead. Not good.Many reviewers suggested this was a Christian movie. I am a Christian and while the movie had "nice" themes, "nice" people, "nice" scenes, there were only the thinnest mentions of church within, and I don't think the name Jesus was spoken once. So if you're a non-believer this might seem Christian but it totally misses the mark as an evangelistic movie. Without reading that this was a Fox Faith (didn't know that existed) creation I wouldn't have thought of this as a Christian movie. But having seen quite a few "Christian" movies I guess my review isn't much of a surprise to me. I don't know why but directors simply seem to make dull faith based movies. They're all this way. Oh it's certainly nice to watch a movie that isn't full of swearing, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or having sex without knowing the partners name. But I want a movie with some passion and depth and these just don't cut it. Fireproof, Courageous, Facing the Giants, and others like them are all nice movies to watch but the all fail in the same way. They are sweet, slow, and superficial. I long for a good solid movie of this genre that is a 10.

lagudafuad The ultimate gift is a subtly movie that plays with the human sensitivity and leaves you wanting more, I did enjoy this movie more than I expected to. After seeing the bad ratings it got, it took me more than 6 years to see this movie but after seeing it I wonder why I waited so long.The movie had something I did enjoy, which is the beautiful scenery it displayed although the plot is quite predictable, as you can guess from the start how some events were going to end, but the scenery and the shots will take you by storm. The cinematography of the movie was nice enough to make you know that a considerable amount of money went into this movie's production.The movie is based on a bestselling novel of the same name written by blind novelist Jim Stovall. The movie was funded by a financial group with the intension of busting customer patronage which actually worked for them.The movie/book is about 12 gifts that a man wants his grandson to acquire, the gifts were work, friends, money, family, learning, problems, laughter, giving, gratitude, a day, loving and dreams. The aim of this, was because Jason (Drew Fuller) was a spoilt brat, who has never worked a day in his life and doesn't know the value of the 12 gifts, so his grandfather after his death decided to take him through a life lesson that he will not forget easily, with the hope that at the end Jason will come to value and understand those gifts.To help him along the way, Jason met a friend named Emily (Abigail Breslin), who helped to achieve his grandfather's goal.Drew Fuller plays the lead Jason and to be honest, the moment I saw him was like "isn't that Chris Halliwell from the television series Charmed" because I have to be honest after Charmed I don't remember seeing Drew anywhere else. Bill Cobbs is getting old but you can see from the movie that old age has nothing to do with talent because he did deliver and the movie gave him a sweet assistant that was just like the mother to the protagonist, since the protagonist mother was busy with her younger lovers.Ultimate Gift can be seen as a cheesy film that plays on your emotions, but it is a nice film one many should watch and enjoy.www.lagsreviews.com

Michelle Palmer This was an awesome movie! When I saw this kid, I wondered how they were going to make him into a good guy. Well, I'm not going to tell you how it happened...This movie went places I never expected. It went from a big city to a ranch in Texas to a park bench to a children's ward in a hospital to the jungles....Wow, this movie was so involved and I never knew where it was going to take me next!!!I laughed at times, I bawled at times. This was a good, clean family movie that you can watch anywhere anytime!!! There was so much love and so much feeling that went into this book.Though God was missing, I don't know that Jason ever discovered God...Oh, and the butterfly at the end of the movie was a wonderful, special touch!

EveIsBored The Ultimate Gift, a drama directed by Michael O. Sajbel and released in 2006, tells the story of a thoroughly spoiled and rebellious man Jason, whose dying grandfather decides to put him through a series of obstacles, leading to what he calls 'the ultimate gift'. However, Jason soon realizes that the old man is trying to teach him not only how to be a successful businessman, but also a good person. The film has a rather beautiful idea: a man tries hard to get his grandfather's money yet at the end realizes that money isn't what matters in life. However, 'The Ultimate Gift' completely fails to execute this idea. It has all too many plot twists (a girl dying from leukemia, Jason unexpectedly falling in love with the girl's mother, etc.) that seem as if they belong to a soap opera, not a family film. It also tries to show us too many events – the film focuses on Jason being kidnapped by a gang in the forest, trying to find the place where his father died, stalking his ex-girlfriend and such – whereas it completely neglects character development. It is due to this that many of the characters' decisions seem hard to believe or simply absurd. Also, the film might seem a little hypocritical as it spends a lot of time attempting to prove that money only does good when given away to the poor (otherwise it just corrupts a person), yet at the end Jason still ends up gaining billions of dollars from his grandfather and not being unhappy with it. Still, it could be said that the film ought to be praised for its positiveness. It tries to preach the ideas of love and acceptance and has the happy ending that seems mandatory for all American dramas – Jason falls in love with the girl's mother and ends up owning a company that is worth billions of dollars. Maybe someone who could relate to the characters in the film would find the movie to be a more touching experience. I, on the other hand, found this film's plot to be too contrived and irksome. The acting was also mediocre at best (particularly Drew Fuller's, who is quite probably the blandest male lead I've ever seen). My advice would be to skip this flick if you want to see something interesting and thought-provoking. However, if you enjoy all these sugar-sweet generic dramas, you might enjoy it.