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Godsend
2004
Paul and Jessie Duncan have lost their beloved eight year-old son Adam in a tragic accident. As they are arranging for his burial, Dr. Richard Wells, approaches with the incredible offer to clone Adam, essentially bringing back their boy and reuniting their broken family. Despite the many legal, ethical and moral issues raised .. Read more
| Starring | Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, Robert De Niro, Cameron Bright |
|---|---|
| Director | Nick Hamm |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Drama, Thriller |
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Godsend
Paul and Jessie Duncan have lost their beloved eight year-old son Adam in a tragic accident. As they are arranging for his burial, Dr. Richard Wells, approaches with the incredible offer to clone Adam, essentially bringing back their boy and reuniting their broken family. Despite the many legal, ethical and moral issues raised by the offer, the grieving couple, after much soul searching, accept Wells' proposal, placing them in a sort of Faustian pact with the doctor. But to the Duncans, the secrecy Wells demands is insignificant compared to the hope that their son will again have the chance to grow up. The couple moves to the small town of Riverton, home of Wells' impressive Godsend Fertility Clinic, where the stem cells carrying Adam's DNA are implanted in Jessie's womb and where Adam will be born and raised for the second time. Adam's new life follows a comfortable and, to Paul and Jessie, predictable pattern, until he reaches his eighth birthday and virtually begins living on borrowed time. The parents have placed their complete trust in Dr. Wells, but now questions are raised and they start to wonder: just how far did he really go? Did he settle for simply playing God? Once they unravel the horrific truth, Paul and Jessie Duncan will have to come to terms with what they have done, and what has been done to their family.
| Starring | Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, Robert De Niro, Cameron Bright, Jenny Levine, Deborah Odell |
|---|---|
| Director | Nick Hamm |
| Studio | PATHE DISTRIBUTION |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 38 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Drama, Thriller |
| Language | DVD: English, English Audio Description |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Released | DVD: 08 Nov 2004 Production year: 2004 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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Robert De Niro revives the notorious old cliché of the mad scientist in this horror thriller from The Hole director, Nick Hamm. When the eight-year-old son (Cameron Bright) of Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos dies, De Niro's benign doctor offers to clone the dead boy at his Godsend Fertility Clinic. All goes well for a time, but then sinister cracks appear in the good doctor's façade. The cloned child also begins to exhibit signs of evil — recalling those other killer kiddies from The Exorcist and The Omen. Hamm manages to distance the pervasive wickedness from the warmth of family life with macabre expertise. But, apart from some neat shocks, the story is painfully predictable, even if it is a timely warning of the way science can take over our lives.
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Most helpful member's review
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25 out of 29 people found this review helpful
Appalling
It’s not very often I rate a film with an unwatchable 1 point, but ‘Godsend’ really did earn it.
First things first, completely ignore the trailer for this film. The trailer tricks you into thinking this is a horror film. You do have all the perfect horror ingredients, weird kid, flash backs, dead people (sound familiar?) and an enigmatic doctor type. However they seem to have gone bad in the mix, very bad.
The basic premise is that a young boy dies at the age of eight. In a state of distress his parents are offered an exact clone of their child by a mysterious doctor (De Niro). Ethics out the window the parents opt for the clone. Things are fine up until the point the cloned child exceeds the life of his dead counterpart. From this point on things go, well, pear shaped.
I won’t give away the ending to much, but let’s just say it would have been better if the cast of ‘Queer eye for the straight guy’ suddenly appeared and revelled that the clone simply needed a ‘makeover’.
This film really is appalling; it doesn’t even warrant a straight-to-video, more apt would be a straight-to-bin. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Creepy
Quite creepy. I suppose it's not very original, but it still keeps you watching. The little boy is a really good actor. On the DVD extras there are alternative endings and they seem to go on forever, repeating bits of the film that are the same over and over again! That's a criticism of the DVD, not the film though.
I think this film is ideal for say, 12-17 year olds. -
News and features
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Controversial Kidman film gets studio backing
- 29 Jun 2004
Nicole Kidman's latest offering has received studio backing, despite a growing furore. In the film "Birth" Kidman plays a widow who becomes convinced her late husband has been reincarnated and that his spirit dwells in a ten-year-old boy. In a scene dubbed "borderline disgusting" by some critics Kidman strips and bathes with the child. But New Line Cinema boss Mark Ordesky defended the scene stressing that the two do not make physical contact. "The scene was shot over... Read more
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