If you are looking for a good movie to watch, you should consider seeing “Gifted.” The movie was released on April 7, 2017. It was written by Tom Flynn and directed by Marc Webb. It features Chris Evans, who plays Frank Adler, Mckenna Grace, who plays seven-year-old Mary, and Octavia Spencer, who plays Roberta, the next-door neighbor.
Mary’s mother, a talented mathematician, lives a troubled life before committing suicide when Mary is just an infant. Mary, now age seven, is also a talented mathematician. Since her mother’s death, she has been living with her mother’s brother, Frank, who hopes to give his niece a normal life. In doing so, he decides to enroll Mary in school after homeschooling her so she can make friends and feel normal, even though she isn’t.
I went into the movie expecting to see the story of a child who is gifted, as the title suggests. Not once did it come to mind that I would shed a tear while watching this movie. I don’t cry an awful lot when watching movies; however, I was not able to hold back the tears, no matter how hard I tried. “Gifted” is categorized as a melodrama, one that is centered around the life of a child prodigy, Mary. Even though she is not a normal child, Frank wants as close to a normal life for her as possible. He wants her to make friends her age and tries to romanticize it by telling her she’ll make friends there who she can borrow money from in the future.
Mary is a witty, bold child, and she is also full of personality. At school, she gives her teacher “a run for her money.” Not only does the teacher notice Mary because of her personality, she also notices that the child is a math whiz.
Soon after Mary’s abilities are made public, we realize that the movie will feature a custody battle. Mary and Frank live in a small coastal town in Florida. Their neighbor, Roberta, seems to be Mary’s best friend and only friend apart from Frank. Mary is loved by Roberta, and when Roberta learns of the custody battle, she is worried and tries to help in whatever way possible.
If you know anything about custody battles, you know that they are not easy for the parties involved and that this is the time that people get nasty. It is no different in this movie. At times, the custody battle seems not only too much for the characters, but also the audience. During these scenes, you could hear the sounds of sobbing and you could see people reaching for their handkerchiefs to dry their eyes.
The movie “Gifted” is not sad by nature, just the scenes that involved the custody battle that were a bit emotional. “Gifted” is a beautiful movie. I loved it so much, I have considered going to see it a second time.