Godsend

December 5, 2005 - This 2004 sci-fi suspense thriller stars Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Robert De Niro also stars though, for the life of me, I can't figure out why he agreed to do this movie.

Kinnear and Romijn play Paul and Jessie Duncan, a married couple celebrating the 8th birthday of their son, Adam. The celebration doesn't last long, however. The next day, poor Adam is creamed by an out-of-control car and killed.

Not to worry. Dr. Richard Wells (De Niro) can make it all better. He's a former professor of Jessie's and, before Adam is even buried, he approaches the distraught couple about having their son cloned. Paul is horrified at first, but he comes around after a friend says Wells is a genius. So, Paul and Jessie go to Wells' Godsend Institute in the middle of nowhere. The good doctor sets them up with a house and a job and, nine months later, Adam II arrives.

Fast forward to Adam II's eighth birthday and that's when things start to go bizarro. The little boy starts having creepy nightmares and visions and answering to the name Zachary. Don't worry, says Dr. Wells. Well, Paul's not falling for that. He discovers that the good doctor is not so good afterall, and that he's the reason Adam II isn't as sweet as Adam I. The ending leaves things open for a sequel, but I seriously doubt anyone will bother to make one.

Overall review: **, and that's just because I'm kind of partial to Greg Kinnear. I totally didn't buy Romijn-Stamos and De Niro wasn't on-screen enough to save this movie. For that matter, I don't know if anything could have saved this movie.