Good writing avoids cliché and provides characters with intelligent, interesting things to say. It can lift the mundane to the profound, and the routine to the special. Tom Flynn’s script for Gifted is largely exceptional, avoiding obvious benchmarks in favor of moments and conversations that surprise and satisfy in meaningful ways. While the story courts melodrama at several points it usually finds its way past the predictable to arrow straight into the crux of each new scenario. If only most movies could boast writing this solid.
Marc Webb’s film introduces young Mary Adler (Mckenna Grace), who goes to public school for the first time only to find herself way too advanced for the simple curriculum. Her uncle Frank (Chris Evans) knows she has a genius intellect but he wants to ensure that she has a “normal” childhood, something that his deceased sister, Mary’s mother, would have wanted. But Mary’s grandmother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) has other plans. A noted mathematician, Evelyn believes that Mary needs to study full-time in the name of science, and she battles Frank in court for custody of the young prodigy.
I’ve seen versions of this story before (minus the genius element), and many familiar elements abound. Yet Flynn’s script turns this into a fascinating story. Mary is precocious, of course, but she has wonderful personality traits that elevate the role beyond type. Frank and Evelyn actually get along very well, except for the custody thing. A teacher, Bonnie (Jenny Slate), proves to be far more persistent and capable than one would imagine. A neighbor, Roberta Taylor (Octavia Spencer), is more devoted to Mary than almost anyone else, and is ready to fight like a tiger. In almost every respect the writing of these characters and their concern for Mary rises above the simple plot of the story.
About the only thing I didn’t like is the big secret that climaxes the story and brings Frank and Evelyn together. That plot device seems too contrived — and if it had surfaced earlier in the story than a lot of angst could have been avoided. That said, this movie is a triumph for everyone involved. Mckenna Grace (now seen on TV’s “Designated Survivor”) is a star in the making; her performance is perhaps the best young performance since Dakota Fanning’s in I am Sam (2002). Chris Evans, Jenny Slate, Lindsay Duncan and Octavia Spencer are all terrific. Gifted is a wonderful movie; go see it! ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2. 30 April 2017.