Rhemalogy

“You haven’t lived until you’ve lost everything.”

Synopsis: Jason Stevens (Drew Fuller) has always lived a life of wealth and privilege — a life that’s about to take an unexpected turn. His grandfather, Red Stevens (James Garner) has passed away and in order to get his inheritance, Jason must learn the true meaning of work, finances, and friends. Which proves to be more difficult than his wreckless carefree life has always afforded him.

After all of his disgruntled relatives leave the lawyer’s office after the reading of the will–Jason is the last one there. His grandfather left a series of videotapes specifically for him. Because in spite of himself, Jason seems to be the black sheep of the family which may prove an advantage as he faces a series of 12 tasks (gifts) designed to help him truly understand what’s most important in his life. And it is up to the discretion of his grandfather’s partner and attorney Ted Hamilton (Bill Cobbs) whether Jason passes each test or not. If he fails just one task he loses the ultimate gift which the attorney is not at liberty to tell.

His first task is to understand the gift of work. This proves to be quite exasperating since Jason’s never done an honest day’s work in his life. He’s given a one-way ticket to Texas where he’s met by Gus (Brian Dennehy), a rancher friend of Red’s who takes him to a place on his property and leaves Jason with some barbed wire and posts. After some complaining and temper tantrums, he finally gets the hang of it. And after a month he passes the first test.

Jason’s second task is how to make do without money! He loses his credit cards, the penthouse, and even his car gets taken away. He has a rude awakening when he finds out that all of those “so-called” friends of his weren’t friends at all. He can’t even get a place to sleep so ends up sleeping on a park bench which he has to fight to keep. This leads up to the third task to find the gift of a true friend. And he just happens to come across a single mom Alexia (Ali Hillis) and her out-spoken ten-year-old daughter Emily (Abigail Breslin) eating lunch in the park. Emily agrees to be his best friend and tells Attorney Hamilton. “I promise to be his best friend for as long as I live.” At the time Jason has no idea Emily is dying from leukemia. When he does find out he also discovers they are about to lose their place to live so he takes his wages from working on Gus’ farm and pays their rent. And despite her dire circumstance Abigail is the voice of reason that leads Jason in the right direction.

As he continues on this task-filled journey, he quickly learns compassion for others and finds an unexpected answer and friend when he goes to Ecuador, where his father’s death had always been a looming plague for him.

Will Jason discover his object lessons? Will he get the ultimate gift? What will happen to Emily and her mom? You will just have to watch the movie to find out.

The Ultimate Gift was originally released in 2006 is 1h 58m and is rated PG. Can be seen on Amazon Prime, Peacock, PureFlix, and YouTube.

Director: Michael O. Sajbel
Writers: Cheryl McKay (screenplay) and Jim Stovall (book “The Ultimate Gift”)
Stars: Drew Fuller, James Garner, and Abigail Breslin

We give The Ultimate Gift

Based on a self-published book by Jim Stovall, The Ultimate Gift is a faith-based film that depicts the spiritual transformation of a self-centered rebel. Those 12 gifts help him become a more compassionate, generous, and loving human being. What profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul really drives the point home in this film. Another lesson this writer walked away with was It is far better being on a rough road that leads to your destiny than on an easy road leading you to nowhere. This is a must-see for believers and non-believers alike. There are many life lessons for all to learn.

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