a GIFTED musing

GIFTED asks what would you do with a child with potential: nurture it from day one in an academy for gifted children, or let the child live a normal life with kids her age with no pressure? The script does a great job exploring those different avenues and the implications of both options. Featuring great performances from Chris Evans, who plays the uncle to the orphaned Mary in Florida, portrayed by a relatively new newcomer McKenna Grace, GIFTED is too simply made for the concepts brought up to be anything great.

The mathematician in me was quite happy and had a few flashbacks to my college days with all the math problems presented. McKenna Grace, playing Mary, the 7 year old gifted child, is so good at playing bigger and very natural in the role to the point where I was getting annoyed with her like other young children get on my nerves. (I swear I’m a good person…) Evans does a great job of being such a lovable dude, Octavia Spencer is stuck in a wise old black woman role but still kills it, while Jenny Slate exaggerates every action in her role, it started to become too noticeable and grating. Usually, when a movie chooses to have shaky cam and regular tracking shots, there’s a purpose, but I was stuck trying to figure it out then couldn’t find a reason, so I abandoned my search for answers mid way through the movie.

While there was not much consistency in the direction, the two leads were able to power this movie. Their connection as a father-daughter-like couplet was so powerful and emotional when those beats come around. Those performances made this a good time in the theater but the movie as a whole is nothing special when considering this director did (500) DAYS OF SUMMER.

PS I went to the premiere for this movie! First time being at a premiere and got to see the stars and director of this movie there. Hope this won't be my last one I attend!

RATING: DIDN'T WASTE MY MONEY

(Refer to my rating system HERE!)