GIFTED movie review

Gifted is a story about Mary, pre-school age kid a hidden talent. She is gifted. She knows how to solve math problems like a Math major or even better. This is what usually described gifted children or a better term, a child prodigy. She is played by upcoming child star McKenna Grace.

 

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

McKenna Grace will surely be noticed for this movie because her performance is fun and smart. She may be playing the role of a gifted child but you can’t expect her to say some lines unusual for a ten year old which is her real age. But what impresses me that she can pull off looking like a preschooler.

In the movie, Mary will undergo struggles. She is a seven year old kid but her intellect does not fit in with other children her age. This is the conflict that she will have in her struggle. Should she choose to have a normal life or go to a school with people at least twice her age?

Mary is raised alone by his uncle Frank Adler, played by Chris Evans; after Mary’s mom passed on. Frank wants Mary to have a normal life as his sister would. The conflict arrives when the grandmother suddenly entered their lives for the first time.

I remember back in grade school when gifted child Shaira Luna was five years old back then when she seated in in one of our batch’s classes. It was quite surreal to have a five year old sitting with a bunch of 12 year olds. Who can she talked to about her own concerns and we are surely asked to behaved properly especially in front of her.

It is also a change of scenery to see Chris Evans play serious roles besides being a superhero and he also used to play teenage roles. His character is not only the parental figure but also a single parent. Even in the new millennium, there are still conservative part of the society should think that a family is still traditionally with two parents. Frank didn’t want to be a parent but he felt that he is the right guardian for Mary. It only shows that even the non-traditional family structure can be complete.

After her successful movie Hidden Figures, Octavia Spencer played the part of the sympathetic landlady which is very protective to Frank and Mary.  Lindsay Duncan played a formidable role of Mary’s grandmother.

What makes this movie great because the story was like something that was made from the 80’s which we don’t see anymore. It also makes a good reference for those with child prodigies under their care or if you are related to one. I see more promising projects will come on McKenna Grace in the future after this movie.

I haven't seen 500 Days of Summer yet but I am curious what's the fuss besides the fact that Marc Webb directed it but judging it because of Gifted, it might be a good movie. For more quality movie reviews, follow this blog and like L.E.N.S. blogs on Facebook. Gifted opens in Philippine cinemas on May 3. Released by Twentieth Century Fox and distributed by Warner Bros.