This is a sponsored post on behalf of Review Wire Media for Fox Searchlight. I received information to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
My husband and I recently went on a movie date night to an early screening of Gifted. We had seen the preview in another family movie. I knew just from the trailer, it was going to be emotional.
Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single man raising a child prodigy – his spirited young niece Mary (Mckenna Grace) – in a coastal town in Florida. Frank’s plans for a normal school life for Mary are foiled when the seven-year-old’s mathematical abilities come to the attention of Frank’s formidable mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) whose plans for her granddaughter threaten to separate Frank and Mary. Octavia Spencer plays Roberta, Frank and Mary’s landlady and best friend. Jenny Slate is Mary’s teacher, Bonnie, a young woman whose concern for her student develops into a connection with her uncle as well.
I knew the basic story from the trailer, but as the movie progressed I realized there was so much more to it. You don’t really know if Frank is Mary’s father or how they came to be together. The story unfolds as you learn what happened to her mother and who Frank really is. It’s light hearted with laughs in the beginning as Mary adjusts to going to school in the 1st grade. And, I just loved the adorable one-eyed cat, Jack, who loves ping pong balls.
My husband tends to love laid back movies and cinemtography. I tend to pay attention to dialogue and storylines, but he is always so good about seeing the things that only a movie director would notice, like the beautiful cinematography, which this movie does have. While the movie does unfold slowly, it seems to be a natural pace that just gives you a feeling of this family’s quiet relaxing life.
Then, things gets serious when her grandmother comes into the picture, and all heck breaks lose. Frank just wants her to be a normal kid, but her grandmother sees a mathematical genius who could solve the great mysteries in math. There’s a court case and a heart-wrenching big “decision” towards the end. This was the point when I needed a box of tissues. Mary is 7 years old, and my youngest daughter is a 1st grader who is also turning 7 next month. She reminded me a lot of my own child.
Don’t you just love Octavia Spencer? She just about stole the show in every scene she was in. Her face is so expressive and says it all. Both my husband and I were excited to see her in this as she’s one of our favorite actors.
McKenna Grace was amazing as well. For being so young, she does such a great job showing her emotions in this movie. She just breaks your heart in some of the later scenes.
This was such a great story, and I was definitely satisified with how it all wraps up at the end. It’s a sweet family movie that will break your heart and mend it again. I don’t think young children would really get much out of it, but I definitely think tweens and teens would enjoy seeing this.
It’s definitely a great date night movie. We had so much to discuss afterwards, and we ended up debating decisions made by the characters all the way home.
You do not want to miss this one! It’s in theaters April 7th!
In celebration of this new movie, I’ve got an awesome prize pack for Gifted! Here’s what you get:
- GIFTED Softside Thermal Lunchbox
- Cat Keychain
- GIFTED Pencil Case
- GIFTED Calculator
Good luck and enter below:
To learn more about this movie, visit the Gifted movie website, and follow along on Twitter and Facebook
18 comments
My nieces and nephews are excited to see this movie
Thank You for the chance!
This movie sounds amazing! I’m excited to go see it.
I’m mostly excited to see the directing in comparison with other Marc Webb directed movies!
Very nice review! My daughter teaches elementary gifted and we both can’t wait to see this movie. Like you and your husband, we adore Octavia Spencer! Thank you for holding this giveaway! 🙂
I would love to add this movie to our movie night list..this movie sounds amazing..thanks..
I would LOVE to see this movie with my family! Looks interesting! 😀
I would love to watch this with my husband and children.
I am most excited to see Octavia Spencer in the movie, with my husband.
Excited to see Chris Evans in this movie. Would see with my wife.
I’m excited to see Octavia Spencer,love her as a actress!
I’m interested in it because it sounds like a good story. I don’t really care about going to see a specific actor.
Sounds amazing! I’m excited to go see it.
I would love to win this movie to watch with my daughter.
I want to watch this with my sons. They like Chris Evans from Captain America.
We are always looking for new family movies to watch!
I am excited to see this movie with my oldest daughter. It looks really good! 🙂
I am excited to see Octavia Spencer as I love her in every movie she does.
For me, ‘Gifted’ is a rare example of a film by today’s standards, which was filmed with heart and soul. Light, pleasant, vital, sometimes touching and heartfelt human drama, which turns out to be not only a source of charge with the most positive emotions, but also an impressive food for thought. Allowing you to easily lose track of time when watching a movie.