GIFTED (2017) Review
Directed by Marc Webb
What if your niece has the potential to become someone great but that takes away her freedom of being a child, of having fun, of being someone far from all the pressure and attention of those who only wanted was your “gift”?
After his controversial stint at directing superhero movie, Marc Webb helms this light family drama that knows where its advantage is, the relationship between its lead characters Frank, played by charming Chris Evans and Mary, played by the adorable McKenna Grace.
Like the father-son relationship in The Pursuit of Happyness starring real life father-son Will Smith and Jaden Smith, Gifted also breathes life to the relationship of the innocent and the experienced. The film plays how life can be so unfair of the talents one has but there are consequences of nurturing them.
It is quite predictable, of course it has to have a happy ending, but how the story was told, there are certain situations where in everything is just endearing. The bond between Frank and Mary is something that will capture the hearts of those soft for issues regarding their relationship with their family. And it is not a bad thing, there’s no reason to be ashamed of it, because the film presents it pleasantly. The story progresses like how a normal relationship progresses: bumps and other difficulties is inevitable as well as the growth between two people.
Gifted is for the whole family. It may not have explosions or full of big and eventful sequences, it definitely brought the needed message for those looking for more than just Hollywood blockbusters.
3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
“Gifted” opens in Philippine cinemas May 3rd from 20th Century Fox, locally distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Rated PG by the MTRCB.