We usually roll our eyes even more upward than a 'Walking Dead' zombie when we're forced to deal with manipulative movies, but damn it all, "Gifted" managed to push our buttons with its lovable cast and skilled direction.
The genius here is first grader Mary (McKenna Grace) a beyond brilliant mathematics savant in the care of her uncle Frank (Chris Evans), an emotionally casual bachelor eking out a living as a boat mechanic.
Frank, a former philosophy teacher who's opted for a simpler life, maintains his fierce determination to give his late sister's child a normal upbringing......especially in the aftermath of her mother's suicide shortly after Mary's birth. His fairly monstrous mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) a cold, demanding academic who most likely pressured and pushed her daughter, also a math whiz, into depression and misery, now arrives seven years later to seek her granddaughter's custody.
No problem choosing sides here, eh?
All the expected pathos and thorny issues roll out......including Mary's barely controlled impatience at Frank's insistence on placing her in an elementary school where she's decades ahead of her classmates.
Truthfully, we didn't mind at all having our heartstrings yanked around by such a likable bunch of actors........including the both noble and comedic support provided Octavia Spencer as the standard don't-mess-with-her protective next door neighbor and Jenny Slate as the little wunderkind's teacher.
So, just like in school, we'll stick 4 gold stars (****) on this smartly done film about raising a super smart tyke......a worthy addition to the pantheon of 'genius-walks-among-us' movies.
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