Post by Sgt. AWOLaLot on Oct 22, 2017 19:08:00 GMT -5
Hello all. I'm back with some more reviews. Sorry about the hiatus, but I've just been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. This is for a movie that came out this year but totally missed until a month ago.
Written September 11th, 2017.
"Sep 11, 2017 12:20pm
Time for another review, and this time it’s for a film that wasn’t on my radar at all until last night; I had never even heard of it. It’s a film called Gifted.
Gifted (2017) is a drama film directed by Marc Webb (known for the Amazing Spider-Man films) and stars Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, and Octavia Spencer. It tells the story of a young girl named Mary (Mckenna Grace) who is a child prodigy and has a gift for mathematics. Chris Evans’ character (Frank Adler) is aware of her intelligence and does want her to use it, but he also wants Mary to have as normal of a childhood as possible rather than being groomed to do theoretical math for the rest of her life. However, his mother Evelyn sees the potential that Mary has for mathematics and would rather concentrate on nourishing her intelligence. Because of this a custody court battle ensues (Frank isn’t a legal guardian) in which old family wounds are brought to light. The film is overall very decent and well made, but it felt like it was missing something to propel it to being excellent. Due to a few similarities I will likely make comparisons to Good Will Hunting since that movie could be considered the “standard” for young genius films (like The Dark Knight is for superheroes or The Godfather and/or Goodfellas is for crime).
In the early part of the film, Frank decides to have Mary attend a first-grade class in a public school. This is where the audience is introduced to Mary’s intelligence, as we see she can do 3-digit multiplication in her head (which while feasible for adults, is very impressive for a first-grader). Mary also asks questions and makes comments that are very precocious, and her reasoning is well beyond her age. And like Good Will Hunting, the script is one of the better parts of this film. While Mary doesn’t go off on long tangents like Matt Damon does, there are moments where she has some good witty dialogue. And I noticed that the humor in this movie was often low-key and restrained. The best way I can explain it is that the dialogue could be funny without feeling like it was trying to make you laugh; it wasn’t forcing it or going for an easy joke (except maybe on one occasion referring to Frank’s lawyer).
Another good part of the film was the dynamic between Frank and Mary. Their relationship is the most important in the film, because if it’s not believable then the whole thing would fall flat. Mckenna Grace’s performance was good, and it was interesting to see her shift from being pretentious (because of her intelligence and frustration with elementary school level education) to being more light-hearted and wanting to be a kid. This does bring up one thing though. A lot of the focus in this film was put on the court battle, and by extension the family drama between Frank and Evelyn. This is appropriate and makes sense for the plot, but it might have served the film well to include a few small scenes where we see her interacting with other kids, which could’ve helped reinforce her character growth.
Chris Evans was good as well, and it was nice to see him try some dramatic acting. I’ve said this before, but it always makes me happy when actors are able to branch out from their type-cast roles and show how much talent they really have. While I couldn’t call it a huge shift from playing Captain America, Frank is more morally complex than Cap and allows for some different character traits. And again, the relationship between him and Mary felt strong.
Then there’s Lindsay Duncan as Evelyn Adler. She is the primary antagonist in the sense that she wants Mary to focus on mathematics like her daughter. She’s a sympathetic antagonist though I think, and while she may have ideas others would deem unethical, she certainly wasn’t evil. She is basically like the professor in Good Will Hunting, wanting to use the brain of the main character for prestige and not being concerned with what they want.
Gifted was also a very good looking movie in terms of the cinematography. It’s a movie that’s pleasing to the eye is neither too dark (like Lincoln could be) or too colorful (which is possible). One sequence that stands out is when Frank takes Mary to the beach, and at the end we see them playing and talking in front of a sunset.
The directing though seemed pretty conventional, which is fine. There weren’t any weird camera tricks or movements that I can remember, but I suppose they weren’t necessary. Though I’m going to take this time to talk about two scenes and share some knowledge about camera placement and movement that I’d like to pass on. The first scene is a conversation between Frank and Evelyn, where they are debating on what is in the best interest for Mary. The part of it that’s important here is that Frank is on the left side of the camera, Evelyn on the right. The reason it’s important is because in a lot of films, the protagonist (or “good” faction) is often on the left side of a camera, while the antagonist (or “bad” faction) is on the right. Think of the Battle of Hoth (Empire Strikes Back), the Ride of the Rohirrm (Return of the King), or the final fight between Maximus and Commodus (Gladiator). It's a very common theme in films because of our linear way of thinking and because Western languages go from left to right. The left-right placement can also be used to show who is in control of a situation, like the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight (the analysis of that is where I became aware of this technique).
The other scene is where Frank is sitting in the witness stand and Evelyn’s lawyer is standing next to him. After asking some revealing questions, the camera zooms in. It focuses on Frank, but the lawyer is also getting bigger behind him while Frank is looking down. This reinforces that Frank feels cornered, even defeated.
As far as the original score goes, I can’t really remember a note. I recall the first half of the film using more piano cues, while the second half had one touching sequence in a hospital where the strings played in full force. The music is functional, and that’s about it. But drama can be a hard genre to write for.
Overall, I found Gifted to be a good movie. My biggest flaws with it would be its predictability and that things wrap up a little too conveniently for me. There’s also still the fact that I think it’s missing something in its execution that keeps it from being great. And I don’t think it’s due to being predictable. Good Will Hunting has a story that’s predictable too, but the script is so good and it has so many good individual moments that help set it apart. Besides the scene in the hospital, Gifted just didn’t have enough of those moments to elevate it. It’s still a good film though and well worth a watch. I just won’t lose any sleep if I never see it again. As far as young genius films go, Good Will Hunting is the superior film."
Written September 11th, 2017.
"Sep 11, 2017 12:20pm
Time for another review, and this time it’s for a film that wasn’t on my radar at all until last night; I had never even heard of it. It’s a film called Gifted.
Gifted (2017) is a drama film directed by Marc Webb (known for the Amazing Spider-Man films) and stars Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, and Octavia Spencer. It tells the story of a young girl named Mary (Mckenna Grace) who is a child prodigy and has a gift for mathematics. Chris Evans’ character (Frank Adler) is aware of her intelligence and does want her to use it, but he also wants Mary to have as normal of a childhood as possible rather than being groomed to do theoretical math for the rest of her life. However, his mother Evelyn sees the potential that Mary has for mathematics and would rather concentrate on nourishing her intelligence. Because of this a custody court battle ensues (Frank isn’t a legal guardian) in which old family wounds are brought to light. The film is overall very decent and well made, but it felt like it was missing something to propel it to being excellent. Due to a few similarities I will likely make comparisons to Good Will Hunting since that movie could be considered the “standard” for young genius films (like The Dark Knight is for superheroes or The Godfather and/or Goodfellas is for crime).
In the early part of the film, Frank decides to have Mary attend a first-grade class in a public school. This is where the audience is introduced to Mary’s intelligence, as we see she can do 3-digit multiplication in her head (which while feasible for adults, is very impressive for a first-grader). Mary also asks questions and makes comments that are very precocious, and her reasoning is well beyond her age. And like Good Will Hunting, the script is one of the better parts of this film. While Mary doesn’t go off on long tangents like Matt Damon does, there are moments where she has some good witty dialogue. And I noticed that the humor in this movie was often low-key and restrained. The best way I can explain it is that the dialogue could be funny without feeling like it was trying to make you laugh; it wasn’t forcing it or going for an easy joke (except maybe on one occasion referring to Frank’s lawyer).
Another good part of the film was the dynamic between Frank and Mary. Their relationship is the most important in the film, because if it’s not believable then the whole thing would fall flat. Mckenna Grace’s performance was good, and it was interesting to see her shift from being pretentious (because of her intelligence and frustration with elementary school level education) to being more light-hearted and wanting to be a kid. This does bring up one thing though. A lot of the focus in this film was put on the court battle, and by extension the family drama between Frank and Evelyn. This is appropriate and makes sense for the plot, but it might have served the film well to include a few small scenes where we see her interacting with other kids, which could’ve helped reinforce her character growth.
Chris Evans was good as well, and it was nice to see him try some dramatic acting. I’ve said this before, but it always makes me happy when actors are able to branch out from their type-cast roles and show how much talent they really have. While I couldn’t call it a huge shift from playing Captain America, Frank is more morally complex than Cap and allows for some different character traits. And again, the relationship between him and Mary felt strong.
Then there’s Lindsay Duncan as Evelyn Adler. She is the primary antagonist in the sense that she wants Mary to focus on mathematics like her daughter. She’s a sympathetic antagonist though I think, and while she may have ideas others would deem unethical, she certainly wasn’t evil. She is basically like the professor in Good Will Hunting, wanting to use the brain of the main character for prestige and not being concerned with what they want.
Gifted was also a very good looking movie in terms of the cinematography. It’s a movie that’s pleasing to the eye is neither too dark (like Lincoln could be) or too colorful (which is possible). One sequence that stands out is when Frank takes Mary to the beach, and at the end we see them playing and talking in front of a sunset.
The directing though seemed pretty conventional, which is fine. There weren’t any weird camera tricks or movements that I can remember, but I suppose they weren’t necessary. Though I’m going to take this time to talk about two scenes and share some knowledge about camera placement and movement that I’d like to pass on. The first scene is a conversation between Frank and Evelyn, where they are debating on what is in the best interest for Mary. The part of it that’s important here is that Frank is on the left side of the camera, Evelyn on the right. The reason it’s important is because in a lot of films, the protagonist (or “good” faction) is often on the left side of a camera, while the antagonist (or “bad” faction) is on the right. Think of the Battle of Hoth (Empire Strikes Back), the Ride of the Rohirrm (Return of the King), or the final fight between Maximus and Commodus (Gladiator). It's a very common theme in films because of our linear way of thinking and because Western languages go from left to right. The left-right placement can also be used to show who is in control of a situation, like the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight (the analysis of that is where I became aware of this technique).
The other scene is where Frank is sitting in the witness stand and Evelyn’s lawyer is standing next to him. After asking some revealing questions, the camera zooms in. It focuses on Frank, but the lawyer is also getting bigger behind him while Frank is looking down. This reinforces that Frank feels cornered, even defeated.
As far as the original score goes, I can’t really remember a note. I recall the first half of the film using more piano cues, while the second half had one touching sequence in a hospital where the strings played in full force. The music is functional, and that’s about it. But drama can be a hard genre to write for.
Overall, I found Gifted to be a good movie. My biggest flaws with it would be its predictability and that things wrap up a little too conveniently for me. There’s also still the fact that I think it’s missing something in its execution that keeps it from being great. And I don’t think it’s due to being predictable. Good Will Hunting has a story that’s predictable too, but the script is so good and it has so many good individual moments that help set it apart. Besides the scene in the hospital, Gifted just didn’t have enough of those moments to elevate it. It’s still a good film though and well worth a watch. I just won’t lose any sleep if I never see it again. As far as young genius films go, Good Will Hunting is the superior film."