• Home
  • Meetings
  • Events
  • Blog
  • E-Board
  • Around Boston
NUFEC
.

Arjun Agarwal on Gifted

4/9/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​I have to say that I wasn’t really expecting much from this movie but I left the theater pleasantly surprised. Gifted is a perfectly decent movie with engaging characters that overpower the familiar story. Mckenna Grace stands out from the sea of performances like this and is another rising child star who you will undoubtedly see on the big screen for years to come. It’s an adequate family film that plays with your emotions in a way that might come off as overly manipulative to some viewers but still resonates nevertheless.

The plot follows intellectually gifted 7-year-old Mary (Mckenna Grace) who demonstrates extraordinary mathematical talent on her first day of school. This propels her into a ferocious custody battle between her uncle Frank (Chris Evans) and grandmother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan). Frank is adamant that Mary be enrolled in regular public school while her grandmother believes that Mary is a "one-in-a-billion" mathematical prodigy who should be specially tutored in preparation for a life devoted to mathematics. It emerges that Mary's mother had been a promising mathematician, dedicated to the Navier–Stokes problem before committing suicide when Mary was six months old. Mary has to deal with the swarm of adults deciding her future for her and the new details surrounding her mother’s death while desperately trying to cling on to some sense of normalcy.

The charming cast is what makes Gifted worth seeing above all else. It’s not Chris Evan’s best role by any stretch of the imagination but like Snowpiercer, it shows what else he is capable of outside of being Captain America. Octavia Spencer, who plays a relatively small part, has the funniest lines and adds much needed levity in the midst of the growing drama. However, I really wish the narrative took some left turns because generic storytelling only works up to a point and it’s what holds this movie back from being a great picture. That being said, I found myself captivated by certain scenarios that pull at the heartstrings in a big way. 

There is also a blatant amount of exposition in this movie that makes it hard to sit through at times. The several court scenes have the most impassioned exchanges but suffer from too much information delivered in bite sized sequences. At a runtime just under two hours the movie doesn’t overstay its welcome but certain excerpts could have easily been edited out without much consequence to the overall story. Still, most dialogue driven scenes are well paced and will hold your attention. The final confrontation between Frank and Evelyn is powerful and will likely leave a lasting impact on the audience.  

Gifted is a well-executed independent movie with compelling emotional drama that only intensifies as the film goes on, culminating in a touching yet predictable resolution. It’s an interesting next step in director Marc Webb’s career, who has worked on everything from romantic comedies ((500) Days of Summer) to giant blockbusters (The Amazing Spider Man). Despite the safe story, the memorable moments are enough to make this something worth your time.

Grade: B-
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    AJ Martin
    Andy Robinson
    Anime
    Anthony Formicola
    Anu Gulati
    Arjun Agarwal
    Arzu Martinez
    Ben Garbow
    Brandon Isaacson
    Brian Hamilton
    Carter Sigl
    Dan Simeone
    Discussion
    Elizabeth Johnson Wilson
    Eliza Rosenberry
    Emily Fisler
    Erick Sanchez
    Eric Tatar
    Essays
    Festivals
    Gabrielle Ulubay
    Grace Phalon
    Haley Emerson
    Here's Some Movies
    Ian Wolff
    IFF Boston
    IFFBoston 2015
    Interviews
    Isaac Feldberg
    Kunal Asarsa
    Library
    Lists
    Marguerite Darcy
    Marissa Marchese
    Marli Dorn
    Mary Tobin
    Meghan Murphy
    Mike Muse
    Mitch Macro
    Neel Shah
    Netflix Instant Watch
    Parth Parekh
    Patrick Roos
    Profiles
    Reviews
    Short Films
    Television
    This Week In Movies
    Tyler Rosini

    Want to Write for Us?

    Contact NUFEC at [email protected] if you're interested in writing for this blog!

    Archives

    October 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    April 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.