jim you don not have to be blind to see stovall be an inspirational writer who in 2001 publish a little book by the name of the ultimate gift in which he transpose many of his motivational teaching into a novel form and a story of how a tape of a die man can alter the life of a crassly money centric young grandson lead him through trial and challenge to teach him the meaning of life . now the ultimate gift come to the screen or dvd and before make the groaning judgment that here be yet another insipid little tale about learn life lesson and gain some spirituality in the process and try watch this two hour traversal of well act and well script ( cheryl mckay ) and well direct ( michael o. sajbel ) input . there be a lot more to the film than the grinches might think . a wealthy man red stevens ( james garner ) have amass a fortune and turn his personal life into a shamble in the process and produce a family of greedy ruthless glutton with one exception represent one son rebel and lose his life to dream despite the aspiration of the father . red have just die and the will be read by red longtime partner and lawyer ted ( bill cobbs ) and his devote assistant miss hastings ( lee meriwether ) represent the family be outrage at the result of red division of his fortune and the one person who be leave to learn of the will content be red egocentric grandson jason ( drew fuller ) . through a tap interview just prior to his death red outline the twelve lesson jason must learn if he be to inherit anything . and here begin the episodic journey during which jason learn about poverty and compassion and friend and death and and spirituality that change jason into a full human be and create a character who give back more than he get . along the way jason encounter work ethic gu ( brian dennehy ) and a little girl emily die from leukemia ( abigail breslin ) whose sharp wit and tongue manifest wisdom that lead to the bonding of jason and emily mother alexia ( ali hillis ) and and host of other character actor in the various part of the world where jason journey take him . yes and the plot be predictable and and yes and the tenor of the piece border on soap opera at time and but the end result be an examination of life that be tell with enough fine humor and realistic dialog that it work . if viewer pass by this dvd because they fear it be just another sappy lecture and they will miss the pleasure of enter the realm of tender communication deliver with style and sincerity . and we all need that and especially now . grady harp .