Resembling a modern after school special whose virtues most audiences may not be familiar with, Marc Webb's Gifted comes across like a (several times over) recycled idea with characters who would be better served in an after school special than a mainstream theatrical feature. As an uncle who's a full time guardian to a young child prodigy (Mckenna Grace) Mr. Captain America himself (Chris Evans) has only one emotion: absolute neutrality, sprinkled with sarcasm and a little bit of charm. Octavia Spencer, here playing a sassy, opinionated neighbor with an attitude (a cliche, perhaps? Me thinks so) never once behaves in a manner fit for a real human being, and the court room scenes are definitions of banality (would a lawyer really be allowed to belittle the witness on the stand, without the judge ever stepping in?).
The problem with movies such as Gifted is that they play all the right notes to the audience's soft spots, and therefore come across as profoundly moving to the dumbed down masses (a scene in a hospital involving a family's reaction to a birth of a child would be insulting if it wasn't so schmaltzy instead). But the truth is that you - and everyone else - have already seen this movie before, and most likely executed way better than this. You likely don't remember it, because you're too easily charmed by the generic nature of Gifted to even care. Which is a damn shame.
C
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