Review of Gifted (2017) by Nightreviews — 05 Jun 2017

On January 17th 2009, visionary and talented music video director Marc Webb made his feature length debut with the totally original and highly unusual romantic/comedy/drama 500 Days of Summer. The film, which went on to be a total critical success, box office spectacle and cult classic, made a name for Webb, who, with his original first film, landed the second leg of Spider-Man’s totally unnecessary “The Amazing” series reboot. Webb, who went on to direct two instalments of our friendliest neighbourhood superhero, re-casting Peter Parker with Andrew Garfield, [in our opinion] the best Peter Parker we have seen so far, was unable to tap into what made Summer so great, and really showed audiences how little creativity and imagination exists inside studio tentpole films. Sadly, while Webb’s Spider-Man films went on to make a ton of money, it proved that just because your movies make money after such a beloved independent film, does not mean that audiences actually adore your body of work. Luckily for audiences, Webb has finally returned to the small scale end of filmmaking, with his newest film Gifted; an emotional and human story of extraordinary circumstances, set with ordinary people.

Sadly, while big name studios continue to cultivate independent break-out directors for their high-profile tentpoles (Colin Treverrow and Jurassic World, Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Kong: Skull Island and Gareth Edwards and Godzilla) we are hoping that the day arrives that these absolutely amazing visionaries find a way to blend the creativeness that once made them recognized, with the profitable property they are in charged of brining to the big screen.

This time around, instead of Spidey, director Marc Webb had the chance of directing the Avenger’s Cap in this emotional and human story of selflessness and unconditional love. Gifted is by no means a large scale film, despite having Captain Avenger himself front and centre.

Evans plays Frank Adler, an ivy-league educated man who, until recently, was given the responsibility of raising his brilliant but deceased sister’s daughter Mary Adler (Mckenna Grace). Frank’s sister Diane was a brilliant mind, who was on the cusp of solving the Navier-Stokes Existence and Smoothness Millennium problem; one of seven of the Millennium Prize Problems. Now, if you are any no way mathematically inclined and have no idea what a Millennium Problem is, here is your history lesson. A Millennium Problem consists of seven of the most complex and difficult mathematical equations known to mankind (yes, they really exist).

Upon learning of Diane’s suicide, Frank acts as Mary’s de facto guardian, and keeping his promise to his sister, devotes his life to keeping Mary’s life as normal as possible; which includes enrolling her into public school in Florida, having friends [even if her only friend is a fifty year old Motown-loving neighbour Roberta Taylor, played wonderfully by Octavia Spencer], and most of all, making a life for herself outside of her wicked mathematical talents.

On Mary’s first day in school, despite Frank’s wishes to stay under the radar, Mary does the complete opposite of Frank’s demands, acting up and showcases her math skills, immediately becoming the star-studded student of the school, especially to that of her teacher, Bonnie Stevenson (Jenny Slate) and school principle Gloria Davis (Elizabeth Marvel). Mary, unable to contain her big personality in such a little shell, is beyond herself and really not able to contain her spunky personality. Noticing her immense gift and talents, Principle Davis is willing to give Mary a free ride and ticket to a prestigious private school nearby. Frank, who gives his own very convincing case, declines all of the offers given to Mary, insisting she live a normal life filled with childhood instances, friendships and most of all, playfulness.

While Frank and Mary seem to be blending into their humble and comfortable lives in Florida, both of their lives are shaken drastically with the emergence of Frank’s mother (Mary’s grandmother) Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), who believes that Mary’s mind is a gifted one-in-a-billion mathematical prodigy mind, who should continue her late mother’s legacy and begin working, while still a child, on the Millennium Problem, given her very abstract and young handle of advance calculus problems and solutions. What continues is an ugly and emotional custody battle for Mary between her Uncle Frank and Grandmother Evelyn.