***does anyone think that Gollum might not be really evil?***

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

Once again, Kalimac, the words have been taken from my mouth. I agree with you.

Gollum was never as true-hearted as Frodo or Sam. He was driven to murder at first sight of the ring. Therefore, since there was more evil in his soul than other hobbits, he was affected much quicker by the ring's influence.
I am not saying that there was no good at all, though. I think that he truely saw Frodo as a nice hobbit, and deep down in his heart he didn't really want to hurt him... but the darkness in his soul eventually won and took the upperhand (as in many many cases).
I must say that his inner conflict is played out very well in the movie (please, no throwing stones). I think that it helped shed some light on Gollum for me & I am now re-reading TTT with a new light on his character. I think I understand him much better now.