WASHINGTON — “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979) won Best Picture by聽exploring聽a single dad聽seeking聽custody of his young child, while “Good Will Hunting”聽(1997) won聽Best Screenplay by exploring a聽young math prodigy seeking self-worth.
“Gifted” plays out like the square root of both movies, resulting in a film that’s nowhere near as exemplary, but one that at least aspires to the better angels of both movies for an uplifting watch.
Set in Florida,聽Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single guy repairing boats and聽raising his child prodigy niece Mary (Mckenna Grace), who was orphaned by the suicide of her聽mathematician mother. While Frank and trusty neighbor Roberta (Octavia Spencer) want聽Mary to be home-schooled,聽her聽teacher (Jenny Slate) and principal (Elizabeth Marvel) offer her a scholarship to an elite school for the gifted.
The plot thickens when聽Frank’s estranged math-whiz mother (Lindsay Duncan) pops back into their lives, viewing Mary as her second chance at solving a聽math problem that her deceased daughter worked on her entire life 鈥� a so-called Millennium Problem that no one has ever solved. The clash between Frank and Mary explodes into a custody battle over how best to raise this exceptional child.
As you might expect,聽young Mckenna Grace steals the show. You’ll recognize her as Rose in Netflix’s “Fuller House” or Young Emma Swan in ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” but “Gifted”聽is her true coming-out party to prove聽she can carry a movie. Her performance聽comes across wise beyond her years while maintaining a certain childhood innocence. The combo makes for undeniably adorable moments that are the聽closest thing to young聽Dakota Fanning adoring Denzel’s Creasy Bear in “Man on Fire” (2004).
This role of bruised uncle turned father-figure聽shows a different side to Evans after his repeat turns as聽Captain America (five聽and counting). Together, Evans and Grace聽find charming chemistry,聽from the opening breakfast scene with a聽symbolic bowl of Special K cereal,聽to a nighttime piggyback ride that becomes a deep debate on faith, shot in silhouette against an orange sunset a la聽Mufassa and Simba.
There are many such beautiful shots by director Marc Webb, often featuring picturesque Florida marinas. And yet, the strongest scene聽is a human moment on the school bus,聽as the camera pans over a bus seat to reveal a humorous prop, followed by a聽child’s POV that ends in an abrupt cut to black.
This scene’s peering camera is a credit to cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh, Oscar nominee for “The Piano” (1993), while the cut-to-black belongs to film聽editor聽Bill Pankow, who worked with Brian DePalma on “Body Double” (1984), “The Untouchables” (1987), “Carlito’s Way” (1993) and others.
In such little human moments, it’s nice to see Webb聽take off the cape and return to earth after directing “The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012) and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014).聽We’ve seen聽him do much more daring work in “500 Days of Summer” (2009), which featured聽split-screens of “expectations vs. reality” in a killer rom-com script by聽Scott Neustadter聽and聽Michael H. Weber.
In “Gifted,” the script belongs to screenwriter Tom Flynn, who’s聽been relatively off the map since delivering his debut feature “Watch It” (1993) and the TV movie “Second String” (2002). His “Gifted’ script made聽the 2014 Hollywood Black List of best unproduced screenplays, and you聽can certainly see why in some of the dialogue聽exchanges聽between Evans and Grace 鈥� particularly early in Act One.
The opening scene聽manages to weave in exposition of the characters’ back stories without feeling heavy-handed. There’s even one really well-placed, guaranteed laugh-out-loud line that’s perfectly set up with聽Mary’s school antics. Like the best jokes, you聽don’t know you’re being set up at the time until the giant punchline arrives and you find yourself giggling to yourself for聽the next 10 minutes.
We won’t spoil聽the joke here 鈥� but you’ll know it when you see it. It’s fantastic.
Oddly, the聽risk-taking energy drains聽from the script later聽in聽Act Two. As聽the custody battle heats up, the story beats聽become聽less intriguing聽precisely when they should be getting more exciting.聽There’s a forced聽hospital scene with cheesy, overbearing music, as well as聽an聽eye-rolling plot twist with a one-eyed聽cat that聽would make Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat” screenwriting聽book meow in disapproval.
Perhaps most disappointing are the underdeveloped supporting female characters. There’s certainly flirtatious chemistry between Evans and Slate聽鈥� the couple just聽ended聽a聽real-life romance 鈥� but the parent-teacher聽romantic involvement borders on clich茅.聽Similarly, Spencer’s reliably spunky neighbor Roberta disappears for large stretches of the movie, which is a crying shame.聽We saw her kick butt with Evans in the聽sci-fi action gem聽“Snowpiercer” (2014), so we聽wish she was given more to do here.
By the end, you’ll feel conflicted as to “the聽head vs. the heart.” Your head will聽recognize the film as formulaic, manipulative, even聽schmaltzy in its attempt to tug at聽our heartstrings, while your heart will fall for the characters whose well-being you’ll genuinely care about by the聽time the end credits roll.
To put it another way, “Gifted” isn’t聽narratively risky, visually groundbreaking, nor intellectually challenging. Instead, it’s decent, in both senses of the word: in quality and in morality. It聽carries聽a vital聽message: that we need to teach our kids to be聽well-rounded, allowing them聽to pursue their inherent gifts, but not at the expense of being a normal kid聽who can relate socially with the world.
