Mr. Movie review: ‘Gifted’ is a movie gift

Gifted introduces you to the best kid actress I’ve seen since Dakota Fanning. She’s Mckenna Grace who stars as child genius Mary Adler. The 6-year-old lives a quiet existence with her uncle Frank. He’s done by Chris Evans who tosses aside his Captain America garb for a story that is light years deeper.

Evans — who is quite good — ought to do this more often.

Frank took Mary in after her mother — his sister — committed suicide. Mary is a math whiz who can do calculations in her head that most people can barely do with a calculator. With the potential to solve the world’s biggest math mysteries, a battle ensues between Frank and his mother over the child’s fate and how she should be raised and schooled.

The acting by a terrific cast is good but the movie is owned lock, stock and barrel by Grace. This kid has great range and can run the emotional gamut from giddy to crying in a single scene. That’s hard — even impossible — for most adult actors to do. Grace’s future is bright and I look forward to seeing more.

Gifted explores relationships along a three-dimensional path. That path has answers as difficult as the questions. At the same time, it has heart; a big, deep, rich, heart and one that beats with a feel-good rhythm that sends you from the theater feeling lighter than air.

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘Gifted’ is a movie gift."