The Ultimate Gift (2006)

Plot synopsis of The Ultimate Gift (2006)

The movie starts off with an old man asking, “Are we on?”—implying that he’s recording a video for something. Soon after, the scene cuts to a woman wearily talking on the phone. She walks into a room with one of the main characters, Mr. Theophilus Hamilton, and tells him that “he's gone.” Hamilton tells her to contact his family members, board members, and other business ventures that he had. The woman pays her condolences and then goes to do what he says.

After a while, we cut to a scene at a graveyard where a funeral is taking place in a rainstorm. Two men are talking about who the deceased talked to in order to “get the skies to rain.” We find out that the man who died was Howard “Red” Stevens. As the priest is talking about Howard Stevens, we see a little girl holding a pink umbrella. She puts her umbrella down to enjoy the rain, and her mom asks her what she’s doing.

Soon after, one of the two men comes to pay his respects. He says that Howard wanted to be buried under Texas soil—his birthplace—which is what the man brought with him in a container. As he is putting the soil onto the coffin, a muscle car blaring rock songs comes along. The very pompous-looking man gets out, and his mother comes to greet him. We find out that she's his mother. She tells him he’s late, and he asks, “For what?” After a while, we moved to a conference hall with Mr. Hamilton addressing the board members. He starts off by paying respects to Mr. Stevens and telling the board members how much he meant to him and how they became friends, but he is interrupted by a board member who asks if they can proceed with Red’s will.

As Hamilton begins reading Red’s will, we find out the eldest son, Bill, was granted the Panhandle Oil and Gas Company, but since Bill had no interest in the company, the board will continue to maintain control. Red’s will also had a clause telling them to leave the room after they received their portion. One of the women was given a 10,000-acre cow farm, but she didn’t like that very much and stormed off. Another relative also storms off while screaming about how this was supposed to make him rich. The next relative is the widow of Mr. Red’s late son, Jay Howard Stevens. Mr. Red left her control of the estate where she resides, and a managed trust for all of her expenses, but Mr. Red made sure she couldn’t sell off the estate by leaving control to the trustees.

As the main character, Jason—the same guy who came in the muscle car at the funeral—is about to leave, Hamilton calls him. Jason says he knows his grandfather didn’t leave him anything, but Hamilton tells him that’s not the case. As Jason walks into the conference room, he notices that Mr. Red has left him a box with a DVD in it. This DVD holds the video that was shown at the start of the movie.

Mr. Red addresses Jason. He tells him that he made a lot of mistakes with his family and that Jason is the one he hurt the most. He wants to give him something, but he doesn’t want it to ruin him like it ruined his uncles and aunts and their children. Mr. Red says he wants to give Jason a series of “gifts,” which will lead him to the ultimate gift, but he needs to do some tasks for it. These tasks must be completed to Mr. Hamilton’s satisfaction. After the video ends, Hamilton gives Jason a flight ticket for Houston for tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. Jason says he isn’t interested, but Hamilton tells him to rethink that. Jason says, “What can he possibly give me that he hasn’t already taken away?”

Cut to the next scene: Jason is at some sort of party. A girl asks him what’s going on in his mind. He tells her about what happened today. He tells her that he won’t go pick it up, but the girl—like a typical gold digger—thinks it’s gold. He tells her that Red ruined his life and that he won’t sell his soul for it, but the girl manages to convince Jason, and he decides to take the flight to Texas. Now in Houston, Texas, he meets Gus. Gus tells him he looks like a guy who hasn’t had to work a day in his life. Gus says he’s Jason’s ride for the day. As Gus is driving Jason, he tells him that he knew his grandfather.

Gus takes Jason to his home and tells him to get settled. Jason asks Gus about the gifts he’s supposed to get, to which Gus just laughs and walks away. Jason already hates being there. The next morning, Gus tries to wake Jason early, but Jason tells him to “beat it.” Gus, being a hardworking man’s man, brings a little taser to shock Jason awake. After waking up and getting dressed, Jason goes with Gus to work. On the way, Gus tells Jason how hardworking his grandfather used to be and how great he was.

They reach a field, and Gus teaches Jason how to plant a fence post. He tells him to continue setting up posts. Since Jason has never worked a day in his life, he asks Gus what the hell he means by this. Gus just tells him that lunch will be delivered to him soon. This happens the same way the next morning. Jason finally decides to work this time and manages to plant a few fence posts in the field. When Gus comes to take a look at them, Jason asks if he likes his work. Gus doesn’t respond and simply pulls the fences out with his truck, implying the work is sloppy.

The next morning, Jason is talking to the same girl who convinced him to go. He realizes that he has to finish his work to get his gift. This motivates him to work harder. He starts working harder, and we get a montage of him placing the fence posts better this time around. He becomes more hardworking and even gets better at placing the fence posts. After a few days, Gus visits Jason with a few men and tells Jason to come with him. Jason tells him that he isn’t finished, but Gus just tells him to come along. As the camera pans away, we see just how many fence posts Jason managed to set—quite a lot. Gus takes Jason back to the airport. He tells Jason that if he does any work like he did with the posts, he can do anything. Jason asks Gus about the gift again, and Gus laughs again.

Back with Hamilton, Hamilton tells him that this was the gift he was supposed to receive. Jason insists on at least knowing the amount of money he’s going to receive. Hamilton tells him not to worry about it and that it will end soon, as he knows Jason is going to fail. Hamilton tells him to talk to his secretary if he wants to continue. Jason decides to do the next task. As Jason gets home, he realizes that his whole house has been picked clean, and when he goes back to the garage, he sees his car being taken away too. Back at Hamilton’s, Jason watches Red’s video. Red tells him that “you don’t begin to live till you’ve lost everything,” and that he himself had lost everything multiple times. Red tells Jason that now that he has lost everything, he will find out who his true friends are. This time, Jason’s task is to come back at the end of the month with one true friend.

At dinner with the girl who convinced Jason to go to Texas, he has taken her to a special, expensive restaurant. He asks her if they should move their relationship further, but as they talk, the restaurant staff tells him his card has declined. He then tells her that he’s temporarily out of money and asks her if she can pay for this. Like a typical gold digger, she gets up and leaves. He finds out she wasn’t his true friend. He then tries calling his other friends to see if they can let him stay the night, but all of them decline. Out of options, he goes to his mother’s house. He tries going inside, but she won’t let him in. He asks her for money, but she tells him she can’t help him in any way—they told her that if she helps him even a little, they’ll take away everything she got from the inheritance.

Now with nowhere to go, he falls asleep at a random swimming pool. The next morning, Jason is sitting in a park when he gets harassed by a hobo who tells him that’s his bench. The two of them get into an argument. The hobo tells him he’ll flip Jason for it. They look for a quarter, but both are broke. The girl with the pink umbrella comes and says she has a quarter. Jason flips it, but the hobo grabs it and runs away. As Jason lies back down on the bench, the girl asks if he will chase him for it. She says she saw him at the funeral with his “interesting entrance.” Her mother tries to take her away. Jason, coming off a little desperate, tries to make a deal with them. He says that he needs a friend. They think he’s strange and leave. Jason even notices his old girlfriend has already found another guy to latch onto.

After a few days pass, as Jason is sleeping on the park bench, he notices the pink-umbrella girl and her mother getting harassed by the hobo, so he saves them. Jason ends up making friends with the girl and takes her and her mom to Hamilton. Hamilton asks the girl if they are true friends. After a while at Hamilton’s, we find out more about Red and Hamilton’s friendship. Hamilton's assistant tells Jason that there’s an apartment in the building for a custodian that he can take. He thanks her and goes to sleep.

The next day, Jason watches more of Red’s videos. Red tells him that he has led quite an extravagant life up until now and is probably down on his luck for the past month at this point. Mr. Hamilton then gives Jason a check. Jason thinks it’s his gift and walks off with it, saying he never wants to see Hamilton again, but he soon comes back when he realizes it’s not what he thought. Red tells him it’s a paycheck for the work he did for Gus. Red tells Jason to make sure not to spend it on pointless things.

Back at the park, Jason thinks giving some money to the hobo from earlier will suffice, but when he approaches him, he notices that the man is going through someone’s bag. It turns out to be Emily’s bag—the girl he befriended. We find out that she has cancer. Jason goes into her room but leaves in shock. He meets her mother outside and asks what’s wrong with Emily, learning that she has leukemia. He tries to help, but Emily’s mom tells him she won’t let a rich kid “play a game with her.” Nevertheless, Jason pays the $1,600 needed for Emily’s surgery.

Back at Hamilton’s, Red tells him that now that he has given him the gift of hard work and of friends, he will now give him the gift of family. Jason goes to meet Emily again, but doesn’t find her in the room. The nurse tells him she’s in church. Jason talks with Emily. The two have a heartbreaking conversation. She speaks about her idea of what heaven is like. Emily tells him that she thinks about death all the time. This scene is emotional even for Jason. He tries to comfort her. Emily asks Jason what will happen to her mom after she dies. Jason doesn’t have an answer, so he just comforts her. Emily tells Jason to “get together with her mom.”

Jason goes and tries to talk with Emily’s mom, Alexia, who has just received bad news about her daughter. He goes to her and tries to comfort her. The two share a tender moment in the hospital cafeteria. She tells Jason about Emily, her father, and how things ended up this way. Jason asks Alexia if she would join him for Thanksgiving. She declines, saying Emily needs her.

Back with Emily, Alexia talks to her about Jason’s offer. Emily tells Alexia to go. Emily practically forces her mother to go. The two go to Jason’s family home, and Jason tells Alexia to brace herself. At dinner, a kid steals a device Jason was given by Hamilton. The family gets into an argument about each other’s business and talks about Red’s business. They find out Jason was also part of Red’s will. We see how dysfunctional Jason’s family is.

After some arguing—where his family members ask Jason what he got—Jason storms off. On the way back home, Alexia asks Jason about his past. She tells him he can let go of it. They talk about Jason’s inheritance. Alexia tells Jason she’ll try to pay back the $1,600 he paid for Emily. Apparently, their date didn’t go as well. Jason goes to Hamilton’s house, and the two talk about family and love. Hamilton tells Jason about his late wife. Jason tells Hamilton that he might have found someone like that, too, and Hamilton tells Jason to cherish her.

Hamilton shows Jason more of Red’s clips. Red tells Jason that “pain is a teacher too.” At this point, Hamilton gives Jason another letter. After reading it, Jason says he won’t do it. Jason visits the hospital again. Emily asks Jason why he’s there. Jason tells Emily that he has to leave the country for a while, and he’s scared of what he’s leaving behind—Emily and Alexia. Emily tells him to leave and be back by Christmas. Jason arrives in Ecuador. He gets greeted by a woman who says she wants to show Jason the library Red had built. The lady gives Jason a letter she found on Red’s desk. It was a letter young Jason had written to Red.

The next day, Jason works at the library fixing the books, rebinding them, and even setting up new books. As he’s working, a man visits Jason. He tells Jason that he was there the day Jason’s father died. Jason asks him to take him there, but the man says that’s the area of a drug lord, and they can’t go there. Meanwhile, the locals are having a party for Jason and his family. The next day, Jason sneaks off in the early morning and decides to take the Jeep to where his father died. The man who told Jason he couldn’t take him there had hidden himself in the back of the car. The two of them go to where Jason’s father died. They come upon a crashed plane, but they soon get ambushed by drug traffickers. The traffickers hold them for ransom.

A few months pass, and Jason realizes the mistakes of his life. He also finds out more about his father. After some time, Jason manages to escape. He even saves his guide. The two of them get to safety. Jason heads back home and meets Alexia at the airport. He asks her about Emily. We find out that Emily won’t survive the next year. After that, Jason gets a list of letters from his grandfather, as well as the details of Jason’s father’s death. After a while, Jason goes back and visits Emily. He gives her a little gift. He tells her that he missed her. She gets angry at him for missing their Christmas. Emily tells him that she wants her Christmas now. Jason agrees.

He asks Hamilton for his grandfather’s jet because he wants to take Alexia and Emily to Gus’s for Christmas. They share a nice Christmas together at Gus’s place. They all share a warm moment at Gus’s farm. Jason and Alexia officially get together and become a couple. At night, Jason watches the final moments of Red’s video that he made for Jason. Red tells him that it’s time for Jason to dream now — to make something of himself. After a while, he talks to Emily again. He asks her what her dream is, if she could dream of anything. She tells Jason that her dream was to have a perfect day, and that she has just finished her dream. She hugs him.

Emily asks Jason what his dream is. He tells her that he doesn’t know. She tells him that even though he doesn’t have his own dream, he did manage to give her her dream. She tells Jason not to blow it with Alexia, and the two of them share a nice moment together. Cut to a scene with Jason talking with Hamilton and his board. He says that he has only drifted through life up until now. He tells them that even though he doesn’t have a dream, he knows he can help others fulfill theirs. After consulting with the board, Hamilton tells Jason that he has passed Red’s test and that he gets $100 million to do whatever he wants with.

Jason says that he doesn’t feel much because of the money, and they tell him that it’s because he’s a different person now. Jason sets up a meeting with the board members of his dad’s company. He shows them a new idea for an apartment complex hospital named Emily’s Home. As he’s finishing the speech, Alexia gets a call and rushes off. We find out that something is wrong with Emily. We then learn that Emily has passed away. After Emily’s funeral, Hamilton takes Jason back to the conference room, where there’s one last thing Red had to show him. We find out that Red knew Jason would give away the $100 million. Red tells him that he is proud of him and that he has finally done right by him. Red tells Jason that he loved him.

After that, Hamilton gives Jason the final gift Red had left him: the complete transfer of Red’s property, estate, investment portfolio, and everything else worth $2 billion to Jason. After some time, Jason is seen sitting with Alexia. He thanks her for everything, and the two of them kiss.

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Video Recap of The Ultimate Gift (2006)