Bless The Child film review

certificate_15

BLESS THE CHILD

You can nearly always rely on Kim Basinger to push the boundaries of wanton pouting and non-expressive facial movement, and Bless The Child continues the trend.

This movie spins a ludicrous Omen-esque yarn of good versus evil in pre-millennial New York.It's pure hokum from the low-key opening to the overblown, effects-laden finale, demanding nothing of the viewer and giving equally in return.

Maggie O'Connor (Basinger) is a busy hospital nurse whose life is turned upside down when her autistic surrogate daughter Cody (Holliston Coleman) is kidnapped by a satanic cult led by creepy Eric Stark (Rufus Sewell). Aided by FBI agent John Travis (Jimmy Smits), an expert in ritual homicide and occult-related crime, Maggie musters all of her courage to save Cody from the forces of evil.

But classifying Bless The Child as a supernatural thriller contravenes trade descriptions laws. The screenplay, adapted from Cathy Cash Spellman's best-seller, has no patience for the book's resonant themes - the allure of religion, the bonds of motherhood and plausible character development.

Basinger's flowing blonde locks show more life than her acting and Smits slums it in sub-NYPD Blue mode, while Sewell believes true evil manifests itself in Englishmen who seldom blink.

Seven-year-old Coleman delivers an impressive debut, accurately depicting her Messianic moppet's autism, and Christina Ricci has an all-too-brief cameo as a former cult acolyte.

Overall, Chuck Russell's direction serves up meagre thrills and is too reliant on special effects to hold the film together.