Featured VOD Review: Gifted
July 24, 2017
Gifted - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
At the time of writing this review, Gifted is the biggest limited release hit of the year. (By the time you read the review, it will likely have fallen to second place behind The Big Sick.) On the other hand, its Tomatometer Score was merely good and not great. Did it just get lucky? Or does it deserve its box office success.
Before we get to the movie, I didn’t get a Blu-ray screener for this film and was really hoping I would. I was reduced to the Fox media screener site and it was a nightmare. This is partially my fault, because I’m usually working two or three projects at a time, so Firefox sucks up RAM really quickly. Once it is using up more than 2 gigs, it starts acting up. If it hits 3 gigs, it will crash. The first time I tried to watched the movie, it crashed three times within the first half hour before I gave up. I was eventually able to watch the movie, but I had to restart Firefox a few times to get through the whole thing. On the other hand, this is a positive sign if you are interested in the movie. Had it not grabbed my attention, I would have given up.
And now onto the movie.
Frank Adler is trying to get Mary off to school, but she really doesn’t want to go. She wants to be homeschooled, but Frank wants her to live a more normal life. There’s someone else who doesn’t want her to go to school, Roberta Taylor, the landlord at the trailer park where they live. She cares about Mary a lot and she thinks she won’t do well in school, because Mary is special.
We see firsthand how Mary is special when she’s able to answer really advanced math questions. Her teacher, Bonnie Stevenson, is stunned by her math skills. She’s also stunned later in the day when Mary yells at the principal, because she wants to leave school. When Frank goes to pick up Mary at the end of the day, Bonnie talks to him saying Mary might be gifted. Frank dismisses the idea and claims she can do math really fast because of shorthand she learned, one that Frank learned when he was her age, so it is not that special.
However, when Frank and Mary are alone that evening, he’s a little annoyed with her. She’s not supposed to show off and she’s certainly not supposed to yell at her principal. Mary doesn’t learn her lesson, as the next time we see her at school, Bonnie gives her class a math test and Mary is able to complete the test before Bonnie finishes explaining the instructions to the class. This time Bonnie is prepared; she brought a high school test for Mary to complete as well. After school, Bonnie does a little digging and learns a couple of things. Firstly, Frank isn’t Mary’s father, but her uncle. Also, Mary’s mother, Diane, was a world-renowned mathematician who tragically killed herself when Mary was only an infant.
There’s another incident and this time Frank has to speak with the principal. The principal is willing to forgive the incident, but suggests Mary go to a special school for gifted students. She can even get Mary a full scholarship so money won’t be an issue. Frank rejects the offer out of hand, because he wants Mary to lead a normal life. The principal won’t let this go and decides to look into Frank’s life and that’s when his mother, Evelyn, enters the picture. This is also where spoilers start to show up.
I’m of two minds when it comes to Gifted. There are some rather significant faults with the film. Firstly, the film dances over the line from emotionally effective to emotionally manipulative a couple of times and that does hurt engagement. Secondly, the film is predictable. I don’t think there are many people who will see this movie who will be surprised at any of the major turns. Finally, while the ending is predictable, how it gets there is a bit of a Deus ex machina. Instead of having compelling character arcs, the film is wrapped up in a way that’s too easy, in my opinion.
However, while these issues stop the film from being great, it is still a very good movie. Granted, while the overall plot does suffer from the problems above, it is still engaging. A lot of this has to do with the cast, who have great chemistry with each other. I was going to say Mckenna Grace was a real find; however, she already has nearly a dozen movie roles and countless TV appearances on her resume. ... Today I became jealous of an eleven-year old girl’s professional accomplishments. How was your day? She and Chris Evans have excellent chemistry together and it is this relationship that is at the heart of the movie and it is what will keep most viewers interested in the movie. I’m confident that this, and the rest of the supporting cast, will be enough for most moviegoers.
I don’t have the DVD or Blu-ray to review, but the extras were announced as five deleted scenes and six featurettes. That’s a lot for a limited release, but I can’t tell if the featurettes are substantial or short and shallow. That would make the difference from being worth picking up to being a Pick of the Week contender.
Gifted isn’t the most original movie I’ve seen and it can be a little cloying at times. That said, the central relationship between Frank and Mary was more than enough to recommend the movie. The DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack have a large number of extras, but I don’t have either disc to review, so I don’t know if it is Pick of the Week material or not. It could be close, given the competition this week.
Video on Demand
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The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, Gifted, Lindsay Duncan, Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate, Elizabeth Marvel, Mckenna Grace