Critic's Grade: D-

Consider this premise: a yuppie big-city couple has just finished celebrating the eighth birthday of their young son. Much to their dismay and sorrow, he dies the very next afternoon, leaving them emotionally wounded and vulnerable to the proposition of a doctor who brings with him the promise that they can have their son back just the way he was through the miracle of science. Predictably, they go ahead with the procedure, only to discover down the road that their one-way ticket back to happiness arrives at an unforeseen, and by extension unpleasant, destination.

Sounds good, right? I thought so, especially after seeing theatrical previews for "Godsend" as early as winter of last year. The advertising showed so much potential: would the film be a dramatic exploration of the morality issues that come into play in regards to the controversial phenomenon of cloning? Or would it be more along the lines of a political thriller, making arguments for or against this medical breakthrough whilst keeping our attention and provoking our thoughts about the subject?

Sadly enough, it's neither of the two. As a film critic, there's nothing more maddening for me than a movie that possesses a brain but lacks the proper knowledge to use it correctly. Such is the case with "Godsend," which is closer to being a curse than a blessing. Director Nick Hamm and writer Mark Bomback come so close to achieving a solid cinematic effort, guiding us through an opening premise that shows signs of progressing into something even more satisfying, when in reality it's only setting itself and the audience up for one of the year's biggest letdowns. I wonder if the filmmakers wore Cat in the Hat hats to work and drank Slurpees during production.

The story introduces us to the Duncan family, comprised of parents Paul and Jessie (Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and their 8-year-old son Adam (Cameron Bright), who as previously mentioned has just had a birthday, and lived less than a day to enjoy it. A freak car accident takes his life and leaves Paul and Jessie devastated, so much so that when Richard Wells (Robert De Niro), a former professor of Jessie's, approaches them with a medical procedure that would allow for them to conceive and give birth to a perfect clone of their former child, they ultimately give in to temptation and go ahead with it.

To do this, they must leave everything from their past behind, moving 300 miles to a new town, and relinquishing all of their friends and family. They are supplied by Wells a spacious home, Paul is able to find a suitable teaching job, and Jessie's career in photography starts to pick up soon after. Everything goes according to plan: the new Adam is reborn, right down to the 44 seconds of ceased breathing once he has left his mother. Another eight years pass, and all seems well, until Adam begins seeing images in his dreams of a young boy named Zachary, who looks almost exactly like him.

Up to this point, "Godsend" is almost a riveting experience. The presence of the heated issue of cloning leaves room for some very potent possibilities, all of which are left untouched by the film as it passes them in search of sloppy thriller tactics and typical plot twists that go from bad to worse to downright deplorable. Adam goes from being a perfect angel to Satan's spawn, as the mentality of the child he sees in his mind quickly begins to overtake everything else. Jessie, thinking only of her own happiness, thinks nothing of it and brushes her son's manifestations aside, while Paul, always wary of Dr. Wells' constant check-ups on the family, decides to do some investigating of his own once he starts finding out more about what it is Adam is seeing in his head.

The plot is pretty bad, especially considering how much worse the execution of it is. The film follows the typical structure of a thriller, leaving room for expected revelations and "boo" moments that have no place in a movie of this sort. And then there's the conclusion, which lacks any sort of resolution for the characters or the events that took place in the passage of six months since we last saw them. Did Mom and Dad finally break down and tell their son where he really came from? I could ask many more questions, but in the interest of saving myself the trouble and preventing myself from ruining the film for you, the viewer, I shall keep mum. Just don't say you weren't warned beforehand.

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