Now on DVD -- ‘Gifted’ Barely Makes the Grade

Mary (Mckenna Grace) is a formidable young mathematician.

Gifted Barely Makes the Grade.

Gifted is a drama that follows single man Frank Adler  (Chris Evans) as he raises his precocious seven-year-old niece Mary (Mckenna Grace). He may not be wearing a star spangled spandex suit or have an adamantium shield but we’re sold an image here that Frank is a kind of superhero. After his older sister and famed mathematician Diane’s sudden suicide, Frank was left to take custody of the then infant Mary. The film opens on a sunny morning in Florida with Mary sulkily poking and prodding at her bowl of Special K cereal at the kitchen table. She gripes to Uncle Frank that she does not want to go to school. After being home schooled for the entirety of her young years the idea of hopping on a bus and being spirited off to some huge building overrun with other children and teachers she doesn’t know, she mopes and tries to argue her case with Frank, but to no avail. He shuts her down and says he’s taught her all he could, she’s too bright to have to settle for that, and it’s time to grow up and get going. Although he’s a soft sell and doesn’t say in a sharp words, his tone is final enough.

Her handsome one-eyed ginger cat Fred and her doting next door neighbor and landlord Roberta Taylor (Octavia Spencer) are sad to see her go, but they don’t have the same grumpiness and bitterness as Mary herself has. Flash-forward to the middle of Mary’s first  math lesson. Chipper first grade teacher Miss Bonnie Stevenson (Jenny Slate) is all smiles as she calls to students around the room to answer some simple addition problems. Eye rolling and groaning and slumping into her seat, Mary is dead bored and annoyed with the exceedingly easy problems, and rapidly answers Miss Stevenson’s increasingly complicated equations, at one point even firing off what one of the numbers squared would be.

Fred the mewie digs the surf and sand too!

An exasperated Mary grumbles to Frank after school that she wants out. But before she’s able to complain more, Bonnie introduces herself to Frank and pulls him aside to tell him about Mary’s surprisingly sharp participation during the math lesson. Without a doubt Bonnie knows Mary is gifted (hence the title of the movie) and that Mary may be better off in a more advanced program.

This is where the drama part kicks in. Frank now has to confront what he’s been trying to deny all along, that Mary isn’t just any typical little girl. This is intensified by the sudden reappearance of Frank’s stuffy British mom Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) who hears tell of Mary’s exceptional abilities and insists on not just taking over Mary’s education, but trampling Frank’s guardianship and taking custody of the little girl herself and bringing her back to her home in Boston.

A few of the character roles here are rather tropey. First we have Frank himself, who’s a loner and when he’s not spending his time fixing boats on a freelance basis at the marina, he’s drinking at Ferg’s bar. One of the elementary school teachers makes eyes at Frank during one scene, and elbows Bonnie, “he’s quite the damaged hot guy,” she winks. At first glance Frank could be just another Nicholas Sparks creation. He’s sensitive and emotionally invested in raising Mary and although he’s guarded and often on his own, we’re expected to believe he’s got a heart of gold because of all the sacrifices he’s made for Mary. His role never quite does rise above this, and although he does seem genuine and real, and deeply invested in being there for his niece he’s not entirely dimensional.

Next, we have Roberta who’s essentially a sassy matronly black woman. Octavia Spencer tends to get pidgeon-hold into this role, and she wears it well, especially when in one moment she blocks Evelyn’s path, frowns and “nah-ah” ‘s her. But her role is even more one-dimensional than Frank’s. Yes her scenes having a Friday girls night with Mary, grooving around the living room singing disco songs into plastic microphones are super cute, but they’re also sugary sweet Hallmark card quality bonding. It would’ve been more moving if Roberta wasn’t just those three adjectives and more of a full rounded character.

Boatside flirting with Bonnie (Jenny Slate) and Frank.

Unsurprisingly, Bonnie has the hots for Frank. In one scene she cheekily says she has an "addiction to fixer guys" and embarks on a vaguely Lifetime original movie relationship with Frank. But although it’s predictable and chock full of cliche dialogue Chris Evans and Jenny Slate have believable chemistry and their characters cultivate a friendship that goes beyond just hooking up and sucking face. Their romance never becomes the focal point of the story, it’s just one element to the tale and it’s very tastefully handled, and never overly dramatized.

On the other hand we get family drama galore when Evelyn embarks on a ruthless custody battle. This courthouse warfare quakes both Frank and Mummy dearest. And even Mary feels the shockwaves of this tug-of-war for her. Mary desperately clings to the hope that she’ll be able to stay with Frank because he loved her and wanted her before he “knew she was smart” she says matter of fact to a court appointed child psychologist. Evelyn scoffs at Frank’s humble living, and she wants Mary who’s inherited her late mother’s aptitude for arithmetic to have not just educational challenges but the glory and prestige that comes with solving these tricky algorithms. Mary is not just any little girl, and Evelyn refuses to treat her as such. Just as she did to her daughter Diane before she ended up committing suicide, Evelyn is all geared up to isolate Mary and make her only life’s purpose working with tutors, enrolling in college classes at elite MIT and dedicating all of her time to solving one or more of the Seven Millennium Prize Problems. Diane herself was on the cusp of solving the Navier-Stokes before her death. When she’s not pitting presumptuous lawyers against Frank across a courtroom she’s stopping by his house and parroting lines like "You know, I have no desire to hurt you" and "I hate it that we're at odds."

The cats out of the box! Show and tell spectacular! Fred FTW.

Evelyn’s case to take Mary into her evil grandmotherly clutches is purely selfish. Her entire cases hinges on trying to revoke Frank's guardianship because he lives in a low income zip code in Florida and doesn't have solid health insurance. But what about everything else? Is Mary given wholesome meals, clean clothing that fits and is to her taste and loved? Is she given a place to sleep in a house that although is small is free of debris, clutter, filth and rubbish? Yes yes yes and yes.

Is Frank a drinker? Does he do any drugs? Smoke? Have a history of any substance use or abuse? Nope nope nope and nope. There are no grounds for her to demand that Frank is unfit for parenthood, other than that she resents Frank was close with his sister Diane before she died, and that although Frank is her son, she had zero relationship with him.

This is a spoiler-free review so the end result of said court warfare isn’t going to be described here. It is however, predictable. Gifted plays it safe for the duration of its run time, with a happy ending that feels if not a bit manufactured, appropriate for the tone of the story established early on. Gifted isn’t a particularly raw or edgy look at family, and the drama is there but not exceptionally moving. The message being told throughout is admirable, and the bonds between the characters feel authentic. Seeing a young man raising a little girl on his own is wonderful, as single-fathers/guardians still aren’t as televised as single mothers. Just as seeing a young and academically talented girl is positive. Another thing in  Gifted’s favor is the presence of rescue kitties! Especially one with such a visible “disability”.  Fred is just as uncommon as Mary, and is a nice mirror of what it means to be so set apart from others.

It’s unfortunate that Gifted just limits itself to intelligence with numbers. Knowledge consists of a broad spectrum and math geniuses are depicted time and time and time again in movies and by choosing that route Gifted shot itself in the foot. Gifted is a few steps above mediocre but still quite below anything exceptional.

Smart girls unite! 

Pictures from IMDB.