Gifted
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMarc Webb
Written byTom Flynn
Produced by
  • Karen Lunder
  • Andy Cohen
Starring
CinematographyStuart Dryburgh
Edited byBill Pankow
Music byRob Simonsen
Production
companies
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release date
  • April 7, 2017 (2017-04-07) (United States)
Running time
101 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7 million[2]
Box office$43 million[2]

Gifted is a 2017 American drama film directed by Marc Webb and written by Tom Flynn. It stars Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate and Octavia Spencer. The plot follows an intellectually gifted seven-year-old who becomes the subject of a custody battle between her maternal uncle and maternal grandmother. The film was released on April 7, 2017, by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and grossed $43 million worldwide. At the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards, Mckenna Grace was nominated for Best Young Actor/Actress. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Evans and Grace, but noted its predictability.

Plot

In St. Petersburg, Florida, seven-year-old Mary Adler, a mathematical genius, lives with her uncle and de facto guardian, Frank. Her best friend is her 43-year-old neighbor, Roberta Taylor. Frank, a former philosophy professor now boat mechanic, feels strongly that Mary should attend normal primary school so she can attain a “somewhat normal life.”

On her first day of first grade, she shows remarkable mathematical talent, which impresses her teacher, Bonnie Stevenson.

Bonnie tries to ask Frank about it but he tries to pass it off as the Trachtenberg system until Bonnie tricks Mary into completing a college math test, and confronts Frank again. It emerges that Mary's mother, Diane, had been a promising mathematician, dedicated to the Navier–Stokes problem (one of the unsolved Millennium Prize Problems) before committing suicide when Mary was six months old. Mary has lived with Frank ever since.

Despite Mary’s initial disdain for average children her own age and her boredom with their classwork, she begins to bond with them when she brings her one-eyed cat, Fred, for show-and-tell. Later, she defends a classmate from a bully on the school bus, something that Frank feels incredibly proud about. After the incident the principal, having discovered Mary’s maths talent, encourages Frank to send Mary to a private school for gifted children, offering the opportunity of a scholarship. However, Frank turns it down, based on his family's experiences with similar schools.

The principal contacts Frank's estranged mother and Mary's maternal grandmother, Evelyn.

Evelyn, a former mathematician herself, is of the opinion that people with capabilities such as Mary’s have an obligation to use their talents to further help society and therefore feels that Mary should be specially tutored in preparation for a life devoted to mathematics, much as Diane was. But Frank is adamant that his sister would want Mary to be in a normal school and have the childhood she did not have. Evelyn later sues him for full custody.

In court, while on the stand, its revealed that Evelyn had kept Diane socially isolated, even home schooling her, so she could be primarily focused on mathematics. When Diane’s teenage boyfriend took her on a romantic getaway, Evelyn filed a lawsuit and pressed charges against him. Forcing him to cut ties with Diane, causing her first suicide attempt - something Evelyn angrily argues “was nothing”.

When Frank takes the stand, he admits working at a low-paying job without health insurance.

His lawyer, worried that the judge will side with Evelyn due to her having a better income, health plan and home, encourages Frank to consider taking a deal orchestrated by Evelyn’s lawyer.

Mary would be placed in foster care and attend the private school where Evelyn wants to have her enrolled. The foster parents live 25 minutes from Frank's home, he will be entitled to scheduled visits, and Mary will be able to decide where she wants to live after her 12th birthday.

Mary is devastated at being placed in foster care and her foster father says she refuses to see Frank. When Bonnie sees a picture of Fred up for adoption, she alerts Frank. He retrieves the cat from the pound and learning that Fred was brought in due to allergy issues, realises that Evelyn, who is allergic to cats, is overseeing Mary's education in the guest house of Mary's foster home.

Frank goes to the foster home and, after making up with Mary, reveals to Evelyn that Diane had indeed completed the Navier–Stokes problem after all. But left instructions to Frank to not publish the equation until after Evelyn’s death knowing that it meant everything to her to see Diane solve the problem. Frank offers Evelyn the opportunity to publish Diane's work if she drops her custody case. Evelyn agrees.

The film ends with Mary back in the custody of Frank, returning to public school and socializing with children her age while taking college-level courses.

Cast

  • Chris Evans as Francis "Frank" Adler, Mary's uncle, Evelyn's son and Diane's brother
  • Mckenna Grace as Mary Adler, the gifted niece of Frank, Diane's only daughter and Evelyn's granddaughter
  • Lindsay Duncan as Evelyn Adler, Mary's maternal grandmother, Frank's and Diane's mother
  • Jenny Slate as Bonnie Stevenson, Mary's teacher
  • Octavia Spencer as Roberta Taylor, Mary and Frank's neighbor
  • Michael Kendall Kaplan as Justin Gilmore, Mary's classmate
  • Glenn Plummer as Greg Cullen, Frank's attorney
  • John Finn as Aubrey Highsmith, lawyer for Evelyn Adler in the case for custody of Mary
  • Elizabeth Marvel as Gloria Davis, the school principal and Bonnie's boss
  • Jon Sklaroff as Seymour Shankland, the head of MIT's math department
  • Jona Xiao as Lijuan, a background character in the university scene who critiques the professor's equation
  • Julie Ann Emery as Pat Golding
  • Keir O'Donnell as Bradley Pollard, Mary's biological father
  • John M. Jackson as Edward Nichols, the judge of Mary's custody trial
  • Jordan Ellenberg as Professor, whose course Mary attends at the end of the film

Production

In December 2014, Tom Flynn's screenplay was one of the 70 to make that year's Black List.[3] In August 2015, it was announced Chris Evans had been cast in the film, with Marc Webb directing.[4] In September 2015, Mckenna Grace, Octavia Spencer, Lindsay Duncan and Jenny Slate joined the cast,[5][6] and in November 2015, Julie Ann Emery was also added.[7]

Filming began in October 2015 in Savannah, Georgia, as well as in Tybee Island, Georgia,[8] and finished in November 2015. Specific locations included May Howard Elementary School in Wilmington Island, Georgia and Emory University in Atlanta.[9]

Although the film is set in St. Petersburg, Florida, screenwriter Tom Flynn was unable to convince the producers to film in Florida, because the state was no longer providing financial incentives to movie makers; that made Georgia a more financially viable option.[10]

Mathematician Jordan Ellenberg, who was himself a child prodigy, was a mathematics consultant for the film;[11] Webb contacted him after reading his article[12] in The Wall Street Journal and asked him to share his experiences.[13] Ellenberg also cameos as a professor lecturing on the partition function and Ramanujan's congruences.[13]

Release

The film was scheduled to be released on April 12, 2017, but was pushed up to April 7, 2017.[14]

Box office

Gifted grossed $24.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $18.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $43 million against a production budget of $7 million.[2]

The film went wide on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, and in its opening weekend grossed $3.1 million, finishing 6th at the box office. In its second weekend of wide expansion, it added more screens, and made $4.6 million, an increase of 47.5% from the previous week.[15]

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Gifted has an approval rating of 73% based on 173 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Gifted isn't quite as bright as its pint-sized protagonist, but a charming cast wrings respectably engaging drama out of a fairly predictable premise."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[18]

Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film 3/4 stars, saying, "Sure, it's a simple, straightforward film, but sometimes that's all you need as long as its heart is true."[19] On Evans' performance, Owen Gleiberman of Variety said, "Chris Evans, abashed and rumpled, with a grease monkey’s can’t-be-bothered-to-shave beard, gives an engaged performance, exuding a homespun warmth we haven’t seen in the “Captain America” films."[20] Richard Roeper gave the film 4 out of 4 stars and said, "Gifted isn't the best or most sophisticated or most original film of the year so far – but it just might be my favorite."[21]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Teen Choice Awards  August 13, 2017 Choice Movie: Drama Gifted Nominated [22]
Choice Movie Actor: Drama Chris Evans Nominated
Deauville American Film Festival September 1, 2017 Public's choice award Gifted Won [23]
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards December 17, 2017 Breakthrough Performance Mckenna Grace Won [24]
Best Performance by a Youth Won
The Overlooked Film of the Year Gifted Won
Women Film Critics Circle Awards December 17, 2017 Best Young Actress Mckenna Grace Nominated [25]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards January 11, 2018 Best Young Actor/Actress Nominated [26]
NAACP Image Awards January 15, 2018 Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Octavia Spencer Won [27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Gifted (2017)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gifted (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  3. ↑ Ford, Rebecca (December 15, 2014). "The 2014 Black List Announced". hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 17, 2015). "Marc Webb Sets Pic Pair: Chris Evans Set For 'Gifted'; Jeff Bridges, Rosamund Pike & Miles Teller Circle 'Only Living Boy'". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  5. ↑ Busch, Anita (September 8, 2015). "Octavia Spencer & 9-Year-Old Mckenna Grace Join Marc Webb's 'Gifted'". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  6. ↑ Kroll, Justin (September 15, 2015). "Jenny Slate Joins Chris Evans in Marc Webb's 'Gifted' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  7. ↑ "'Better Call Saul's' Julie Ann Emery Joins Chris Evans in Marc Webb's 'Gifted' (Exclusive)". Thewrap.com. November 5, 2015. Archived from the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer begin filming 'Gifted' on Tybee Island". alexwassabi.com. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Locations". IMDB. January 7, 2017. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Movie "Gifted" set in St. Petersburg filmed in Georgia". Fox 13. April 10, 2017. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019. Since Florida lawmakers put a stop to offering film incentives, productions, like "Gifted", have been forced to head north in search of a better deal.
  11. ↑ Brown, Gretchen (April 27, 2017). "UW-Madison professor part of formula for 'Gifted'". Wisconsin Public Radio. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  12. ↑ Ellenberg, Jordan (May 30, 2014). "The wrong way to treat child geniuses". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  13. 1 2 Jackson, Allyn (August 2017). "Ellenberg in movie 'Gifted'" (PDF). Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 64 (7): 779. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 2, 2020 – via American Mathematical Society.
  14. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (November 1, 2016). "'Gifted' Trailer: Chris Evans Raising A Child Math Genius". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  15. ↑ "'Fate Of The Furious' Drives Five Wide Releases Off The Road With $38.6M Second Weekend". Deadline Hollywood. April 23, 2017. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Gifted (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Gifted reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  18. ↑ Box Office Mojo (April 20, 2017). "'Fate of the Furious' Set to Repeat at No. 1 as Five New Releases Hit Theaters". Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Mini reviews: 'Gifted' oozes empathy; 'After the Storm' lacks it entirely". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  20. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (March 30, 2017). "Film Review: 'Gifted'". Variety. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Young math whiz gets a lesson in division in gripping 'Gifted'". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  22. ↑ Rebecca Rubin, JD Knapp; Rubin, Rebecca; Knapp, JD (August 14, 2017). "Teen Choice Awards 2017: 'Riverdale,' Fifth Harmony Shut Out Competition". Variety. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  23. ↑ SIMONNE, Mika. "HISTOIRE". Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville (in French). Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  24. ↑ "2017 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Winners –". Keith Loves Movies. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  25. ↑ "The 2017 Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) Winners". Next Best Picture. December 22, 2017. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  26. ↑ Hammond, Pete (December 6, 2017). "Critics' Choice Awards Nominations: 'The Shape Of Water' Leads With 14; Netflix Tops TV Contenders". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  27. ↑ "NAACP Image Awards:The Complete Winners List". Variety.com. January 15, 2018. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
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