Still, there is plenty of drama with plot details that are more unique to this story, and it keeps it feeling fresh enough. You can predict how some things will go - whether romantically, between Frank and Bonnie, or with the legal battle over Mary. It has some of the same beats of similar films that have come before it over the years, albeit not completely. If there's anything that the film suffers from, though, it's some predictability. The lawyers and judge feel as real as it gets, and it all helps draw you in to feel the struggle Frank is going through. Finally, there's a custody battle between Evelyn and Frank that takes the twosome into a courtroom where everything feels a bit gritty and grounded. Throughout the story, we're given small revelations into Mary's mother's story and learn about her own skills and experiences being raised by Evelyn. No family is perfect, that's for certain, but Evelyn takes it to a whole new level of complexity. Lindsay Duncan plays Frank's mother, Evelyn, and proves to be a fantastic and surprisingly charming antagonist who turns in a truly powerful performance. Octavia Spencer has a surprisingly smaller role as a friend and neighbor of the Adlers, but she helps bring additional warmth to the story. You need that in her character as she clearly has some fire and spark to her that isn't always good (like mouthing off to her teacher or occasionally swearing). Mckenna Grace, who plays Mary (and can currently be seen in a recurring role on Kiefer Sutherland's new show, Designated Survivor), is a wonderful young actress who brings a lot of warmth, depth and heart to the role. Evans is good, but his performance is mostly reserved, if not a little understated. It makes for some surprising dramatic revelations by the film's climax, and keeps the story compelling till the end.īut what helps elevate the film above your usual dramatic affair is the acting.
But what the film does nicely is slowly peel back the layers of who Frank is and how he got to where he is at this point in his life, giving us bits and pieces of the full story as it unfolds. (You can even catch his little film Before We Go on NetFlix, a drama he directed himself and starred in alongside Alice Eve.) Evans is a relatively low key actor these days, and in Gifted, he's a little more subdued or sullen. He's most recognizable for his excellent portrayal of Captain America in the Marvel cinematic universe, but his love for indie films and smaller, dramatic roles has had him turning in some interesting performances.
Frank and Mary's life together becomes unhinged once people realize that not only is she Frank's niece (and not his daughter), but she's a budding genius who doesn't really belong in the humble setting of a small town in Florida.Ĭhris Evans has come quite a distance since his early films playing Johnny Storm in the first two Fantastic Four films and running to the aid of a kidnapped Kim Bassinger in the Speed-like thriller, Cellular. It doesn't take long for the audience to realize that Mary is a special child, especially when, on her first day of First Grade, she wows her teacher by solving an off-the-cuff, complex math problem in her head. When the film opens, Frank is seen living in a modest home, raising a 7-year-old girl named Mary by himself with a one-eyed house cat named Fred. Life just doesn't play out the way any of us anticipate it to, and Frank Adler, the protagonist in the new family drama, Gifted, is a prime example of this. Movie Reviews (Main) > Movie Reviews (Main).
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