Frank Adler (Chris Evans) has been raising her niece Mary Adler (McKenna Grace) since her mathematical genius mother Diane left her as a baby and then committed suicide. He sends her off to first grade despite her protestation. Her teacher Bonnie Stevenson (Jenny Slate) realizes her mathematical skills. Frank resists efforts to put her into special school by the principal and his strict mother Evelyn Adler (Lindsay Duncan) who seeks to take custody. Roberta Taylor (Octavia Spencer) is their friend and landlord.

Mckenna Grace is super duper cute missing-my-front-teeth adorable. Director Marc Webb keeps the movie running on the straight and narrow. Slate and Evans have a nice chemistry. This is not the most challenging film but it's an easy watch. I do have a problem with the resolution of the court case but the drama does need to go somewhere. It has the advantage of going where I wasn't expecting. It's a little girl alternate Good Will Hunting.

"Gifted" is an American 100-minute film from this year (2017),so still a really new one we have here. The director is Marc Webb, who is still most known of course for his take on Spider Man starring Andrew Garfield. But this blockbuster should not be in the focus today. Instead, we talk about this film here that is writer Tom Flynn's most known work until now. It is the story of a young girl who is a child prodigy, just like her mother was. She lives with her uncle as her mother's genius was also her demise eventually and the uncle (played by Captain America Chris Evans) tries all he can to keep his niece from living a life as destructible as her mother did. There is also a bit of an evil stepmother character in here and that one is played by Lindsay Duncan, even if she is of course actually the grandmother and she wants her granddaughter to continue her daughter's work. Now I mentioned already some of the actors and characters here and I believe that Duncan is the MVP overall. Admittedly, it is by definition already a role with great potential, but she sure delivers and fulfills the expectations. The only contender for MVP is child actress Mckenna Grace, who I can see really having a bright career if she decides to keep making movies when entering adult life. She really had my eyes glued to the screen in every scene she was in and actually those were not as many scenes as you would expect as we see the people around her more than we see her at times.

For Chris Evans, this is a worthy addition to his body of work too. He did a fine job most of the time and he is one of the current superhero actors who still need to establish themselves as character actors (something Cumberbatch, Ruffalo and RDJ have done a long time ago already),but he is on the right track. Jenny Slate I am still undecided. Eventually her character is a bit pointless. But the teacher parts early on were played well by her, the romance parts added almost nothing and in the second half of the film she is just there with no material at all. Oscar winner Octavia Spencer is once again a disappointment. Her character could have been left out completely and it would not have changed a thing. Besides, she has a tendency to play exactly the same character in every film she is in really and by now it has gotten stale and repetitive. Yes she has recognition value (like Slate too, maybe Evans could have a bit more),but that simply is not enough anymore in my opinion. Yeah, she brings some comedy here and there, but honestly the Black lawyer was really enough to have that genre covered.

Story-wise, the film was convincingly written I would say. Here and there a minor weakness, but the argument "kids don't talk/act like that" can easily be refuted by the protagonist being different. The scene when Evans' character leaves the girl with the foster parents was probably the saddest and most touching of the entire film. Afterward, it turned a bit into a sob story, also with the dog being almost killed before daddy rushes in and then also the scene with Duncan's character back in action and the final confrontation scene when she realizes what she did to her daughter. It's truly walking the edge, probably depends on your perception if you think it's masterfully balancing or crossing the edge. The story arc with the finished theory I am not sure if I liked it. It came a bit surprising in possibly not the best way, but I think that the explanation was nicely handled and the interpretation too as we know the grandma will never leave the girl alone unless she gets these documents of which she did not even know existed. I think I can live with that as I can live with the entire film. It has its moments, both good and bad, and eventually it is worth checking out, even if I would not say it's best-of-the-year material or a must-see by any means. The highs are higher than the lows are lower I guess, so it's a positive recommendation from me. Thumbs up. Oh yeah, before I forget one final note: The entire thing reminded me a bit of "What Maisie Knew" from 5 years earlier, perhaps slightly inferior to that one, but both are defined through strong performances by girls playing core characters. If you liked WMK, you may end up enjoying this one too.

Mary Adler is a six year old mathematically gifted child being raised by her uncle Frank, a freelance boat repairman, in Florida. They own a one-eyed cat named Fred and rent from Octavia Spencer who always manages the perfect role or maybe she is just that good. Mary comes from a line of mathematical geniuses. Frank (Chris Evans) is attempting to raise Mary as a "normal" child reflecting on the wishes of her melancholy mother who is deceased. However, not everyone agrees with Frank as Mary is "one in a billion" which leads to a custody battle.

Frank is also intelligent and has a flippant sense of humor. The film's strong points are its characters and underlying humor. Mckenna Grace did an excellent job as the gifted child and I love her more than my stupid niece in medical school. (Just kidding folks). The film focuses on developing gifted children for the benefit of society, or to let them have happy lives.

Guide: 1 F-word. Implied sex. No nudity. "The Girl with All the Gifts" is a different film enjoyable on a different level