Gifted
Mary Adler (Mckenna Grace) is a seven year old girl who lives with her uncle Frank (Chris Evans), following her mother's suicide six years earlier. On her first day of school, she shows a remarkable aptitude for mathematics. Despite this, Frank turns down the opportunity for her to attend a school for gifted children on a scholarship. Mary's grandmother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) enters the scene and launches a custody battle against Frank.
This doesn't feel like an especially original story but it is well told. It's Grace and Duncan who provide the strongest performances of the piece. Grace is believable as a child genius. Mary is precocious but not insufferably so (she sagely notes at one point "Nobody likes a smart ass"). Her anguish, confusion and frustration at the situation are real. Irrespective of her abilities, she remains a kid.
A lesser film would have depicted Evelyn as the villain of the piece, by attempting to separate Mary from her beloved uncle (albeit a beloved uncle who lets her watch UFC). Through Duncan's performance we see her as a sympathetic figure who gave her life to academia and who knows what Mary has the potential to achieve. Octavia Spencer and Jenny Slate also provide strong contributions as Mary's neighbour and teacher respectively.
The ending feels a little too contrived and there are a couple of schmaltzy missteps (one scene in a hospital should have been left on the cutting room floor) but Gifted is a charming, compassionate film with much to enjoy.
This doesn't feel like an especially original story but it is well told. It's Grace and Duncan who provide the strongest performances of the piece. Grace is believable as a child genius. Mary is precocious but not insufferably so (she sagely notes at one point "Nobody likes a smart ass"). Her anguish, confusion and frustration at the situation are real. Irrespective of her abilities, she remains a kid.
A lesser film would have depicted Evelyn as the villain of the piece, by attempting to separate Mary from her beloved uncle (albeit a beloved uncle who lets her watch UFC). Through Duncan's performance we see her as a sympathetic figure who gave her life to academia and who knows what Mary has the potential to achieve. Octavia Spencer and Jenny Slate also provide strong contributions as Mary's neighbour and teacher respectively.
The ending feels a little too contrived and there are a couple of schmaltzy missteps (one scene in a hospital should have been left on the cutting room floor) but Gifted is a charming, compassionate film with much to enjoy.
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