Gift Giving Guy

I picked seven memorable gift movie moments from the recent decade. Not surprisingly, several gift-themed scenes occur in romantic comedies. Please note the spoiler alerts if you haven’t seen the films.

Serendipity (2001)
By chance, Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) find themselves both grabbing the last pair of black leather gloves at Bloomingdale’s. She intends the gloves for her boyfriend’s Christmas present; he wants the pair for his girlfriend. Jonathan will hand over the gloves, if she will have a cup of coffee with him. So begins a story about love, fate, separation and reunion.

Old School (2003)
Frank “The Tank” Ricard (Will Ferrell) gives six-year-old Max an Oster breadmaker (regifted from Frank’s wedding) for Max’s birthday. “What do you think, Max, huh? It’s got three speeds!”

Elizabethtown (2005)
Spoiler alert: This scene occurs toward the end of the film.
Claire (Kirsten Dunst) gives Drew (Orlando Bloom) a scrapbooked map for his road trip back home — “into the deep… beautiful melancholy of everything that’s happened.” She times each leg of his journey with specially chosen music. “The songs, of course, were classic mix tape songs,” Drew says in monologue. “About her, of course. And the rich flurry of our almost romance.”

Once (2006)
Spoiler alert: This scene occurs at the end of the film.
Guy (Glen Hansard) sends Girl (Markéta Irglová) an upright piano from the music shop where they played “Falling Slowly” together. When Girl sees the piano delivery, she realizes why Guy asked for an extra 1,000 pounds on his bank loan.

Juno (2007)
Spoiler alert: This scene occurs toward the end of the film.
Directed by a chalk message on the front porch, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) opens the road-side mailbox. Scores of orange tic tac containers spill out. He smiles widely. Paulie sees Juno (Ellen Page) later that day.

Paulie: Did you put like, a hundred things of tic tacs in my mailbox?

Juno: Um, yeah, that was me.

Paulie: Why?

Juno: Well, you know, because they’re your fave. And I figured you could never have enough of your favorite one-calorie breath mints.

Wall-E (2008)
Forced into the truck by a sandstorm, Wall-E (Ben Burtt) shows Eve (Elissa Knight) the knickknacks he has salvaged. He hands over an egg beater, bubble wrap, a Rubik’s Cube and the Hello Dolly videotape. Later, as Eve watches the Hello Dolly characters sing “It Only Takes a Moment,” Wall-E suddenly recalls his latest find. He scrambles through the junk and presents Eve with what she has been searching for: a living plant.

Seven Pounds (2008)
“Ben” (Will Smith) spends an evening fixing a 1955 Heidelberg Windmill letterpress. With the repair finished, he surprises Emily (Rosario Dawson), an ailing artist who needs the press for her livelihood. That’s not the only gift Ben will give as he transforms the lives of seven people in this poignant film.