Hello, movie lovers!!
I’ve been wanting to see GIFTED for so long, and I finally got to watch it last night! I absolutely loved it! The cast was phenomenal and Mckenna Grace is definitely a force to be reckoned with.
SYNOPSIS: Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single man raising a child prodigy – his spirited young niece Mary (Mckenna Grace) – in a coastal town in Florida. Frank’s plans for a normal school life for Mary are foiled when the 7-year-old’s mathematical abilities come to the attention of Frank’s formidable mother, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), whose plans for her granddaughter threaten to separate Frank and Mary.
To be quite honest, this didn’t even feel like a movie. This felt like I was a spirit observing a beautiful relationship between an uncle and his niece. The acting didn’t feel forced at all and Mckenna’s performance didn’t just tug at my heart strings . . . she obliterated them. The on-screen chemistry between her and Chris Evans was so incredibly heartwarming. Even her relationship with their neighbor, Roberta (Octavia Spencer), was a thing of beauty.
This film touched me on a personal level because of the relationship I have with my own niece. Sometimes you put your own life on hold to help raise someone else and I felt Frank’s struggle entirely in that respect. You want to do right by them and make sure they have the best life possible, but everyone makes mistakes. It’s how you bounce back from those mistakes that makes all the difference.
What Mckenna does as Mary is what blows you away as a viewer. She is a math prodigy who struggles to balance being a genius and being a kid. Frank, Roberta and the one-eyed cat Fred, help to keep Mary on a track that finds that balance successfully.
I caught the film on HBO, but this is one that I would definitely recommend actually buying. It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s beautiful, it’s tragic and it’s absolutely underestimated. It’s a wonderful indie film that I highly recommend!
According to Kristin 