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"The Ultimate Gift": Selfish Man Encourages Dying Girl

The Ultimate Gift is about an arrogant, spoiled young man named Jason Stevens (played by Drew Fuller). Jason expects a huge inheritance when he hears that his grandfather has died. What he gets instead is a crash course in life. Jason is required to do twelve tasks—what his grandfather calls "gifts"—designed to challenge him in improbable ways. Among Jason's tasks is the challenge to make one true friend within a month. He soon befriends Emily (Abigail Breslin), a little girl battling leukemia. In this scene, Jason finds Emily sitting alone in the hospital chapel. She is staring at a statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched.

"I wonder if he takes advance orders," she says.

"For what?" Jason asks.

"For my place. You know—up there," Emily answers as she points upward.

"What do you think it's going be like?" Jason asks.

"Butterflies—lots of butterflies. Do you know God paints every color on a butterfly with his finger?" asks Emily.

"I didn't know you thought about stuff like that," Jason replies.

"I think about dying," Emily says, as she begins to cry. "There's something basically unfair about a person dying. I even hate the idea."

"You know," Jason says softly, "I don't know much about God or Jesus, but I can promise you that those arms are meant for you."

Soon after Emily's death, Jason eventually inherits $100 million from his grandfather. He invests every dime of it to build Emily's Home, a facility for families whose children are facing extraordinary health challenges.

Rated PG for some violence and language.

Elapsed Time: DVD, Chapter 14; 00:46:56–00:47:59

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