Post by Picap on Feb 3, 2017 20:14:03 GMT
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifted_(2017_film)
Gifted is a 2017 American drama film directed by Marc Webb and written by Tom Flynn. It stars Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate and Octavia Spencer. The plot follows an intellectually gifted 7-year-old who becomes the subject of a custody battle between her uncle and grandmother. The film was released on April 7, 2017, by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and grossed $43 million worldwide.
PLOT
In a small town near Tampa, Florida, seven-year-old Mary Adler lives with uncle and de facto guardian, Frank. Her best friend is her 40-ish neighbor, Roberta. On her first day of first grade, she shows remarkable mathematical talent, which impresses her teacher, Bonnie Stevenson. There, despite her initial disdain for average children her own age and her boredom with their classwork, she begins to bond with them when she brings her one-eyed cat, Fred, for show-and-tell and later defends a classmate from a bully on the bus. Mary is offered a scholarship to a private school for gifted children. However, Frank turns it down. Based on his family's experiences with similar schools, he fears Mary will not have a chance at a "normal" childhood.
It emerges that Mary's mother, Diane, had been a promising mathematician, dedicated to the Navier–Stokes problem (one of the unsolved Millennium Prize Problems) before taking her own life when Mary was six months old. Mary has lived with Frank, a former college professor turned boat repairman, ever since.
Frank's estranged mother and Mary's maternal grandmother, Evelyn, seeks to gain custody of Mary and move her to Massachusetts, believing that Mary is a "one-in-a-billion" mathematical prodigy who should be specially tutored in preparation for a life devoted to mathematics, much as Diane was. However, Frank is adamant that his sister would want Mary to be in a normal public school and have the childhood she didn't have. Worried that the judge will rule against him and he will lose Mary completely, Frank accepts a compromise brokered by his lawyer Greg Cullen that sees Mary placed in foster care and attend the private school where Evelyn wants to have her enrolled. The foster parents live 25 minutes from Frank's home, Frank will be entitled to scheduled visits, and Mary will be able to decide where she wants to live after her 12th birthday.
Mary is devastated at being placed in foster care, and her foster father says she refuses to see Frank. When Bonnie sees a picture of Fred up for adoption, she alerts Frank. Frank retrieves the cat from the pound and, learning that Fred was brought in due to allergy issues, realizes that Evelyn, who is allergic to cats, is overseeing Mary's education in the guest house of Mary's foster home. He then reveals to Evelyn, who had been a mathematician herself, that Diane had solved the Navier–Stokes problem but stipulated that the solution was to be withheld until Evelyn's death. Knowing that it meant everything to Evelyn to see Diane solve the problem, Frank offers Evelyn the opportunity to publish Diane's work if she drops her objection to his having custody of Mary. Evelyn agrees.
The film ends with Mary back in the custody of Frank, returning to public school while taking college-level courses in the mornings.
CAST
Chris Evans as Frank Adler, the uncle of Mary
Mckenna Grace as Mary Adler, the gifted niece of Frank
Lindsay Duncan as Evelyn Adler, Mary's grandmother and Frank's mother
Jenny Slate as Bonnie Stevenson, Mary's teacher
Octavia Spencer as Roberta Taylor, Mary and Frank's neighbor
Glenn Plummer as Greg Cullen, Frank's attorney
John Finn as Aubrey Highsmith
Elizabeth Marvel as Gloria Davis, the school principal and Bonnie's boss
Jon Sklaroff as Seymour Shankland, the head of MIT's math department
Jona Xiao as Lijuan, a background character in the university scene who critiques the professor's equation
Julie Ann Emery as Pat Golding
Keir O'Donnell as Bradley Pollard
John M. Jackson as Edward Nichols, the judge of Mary's custody trial
PRODUCTION
In August 2015, it was announced Chris Evans had been cast in the film, with Marc Webb directing from a screenplay by Tom Flynn.[3] In September 2015, Mckenna Grace, Octavia Spencer, Lindsay Duncan and Jenny Slate joined the cast,[4][5] and in November 2015, Julie Ann Emery was also added.[6]
Filming began in October 2015 in Savannah, Georgia, as well as in Tybee Island, Georgia.[7] and finished Nov 20, 2015.
RELEASE
The film was scheduled to be released on April 12, 2017, but was pushed up to April 7, 2017.[8]
BOX OFFICE
Gifted grossed $24.8 million in the United States and Canada and $17.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $42.6 million, against a production budget of $7 million.[2]
The film went wide on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, and in its opening weekend grossed $3.1 million, finishing 6th at the box office. In its second weekend of wide expansion, it added more screens, and made $4.6 million, an increase of 47.5% from the previous week.[9]
CRITCAL RESPONSE
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Gifted has an approval rating of 73% based on 163 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Gifted isn't quite as bright as its pint-sized protagonist, but a charming cast wrings respectably engaging drama out of a fairly predictable premise."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[12]
Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film 3/4 stars, saying, "Sure, it's a simple, straightforward film, but sometimes that's all you need as long as its heart is true."[13] Richard Roeper gave the film 4 out of 4 stars and said, "Gifted isn't the best or most sophisticated or most original film of the year so far – but it just might be my favorite."[14]
Press release
LOS ANGELES, CA, October 14, 2015 – Fox Searchlight Pictures President of Production Claudia Lewis announced that principal photography has started in Savannah and on Tybee Island, GA on the drama GIFTED, starring Chris Evans (CAPTAIN AMERICA, SNOWPIERCER), Tony Award winner Lindsay Duncan (BIRDMAN, LE WEEKEND), Mckenna Grace (INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE), Jenny Slate (OBVIOUS CHILD, “Parks and Recreation”) and Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer (THE HELP, INSURGENT). Marc Webb ((500) DAYS OF SUMMER, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) directs from an original screenplay by Tom Flynn. Karen Lunder and Andy Cohen are producing.
“I’m incredibly excited to begin principal photography on ‘Gifted.’ I’m psyched to be working with this awesome cast that has come on board to make this beautiful film with me. Chris Evans, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer and Mckenna Grace are a wonderful rich ensemble that is both hilarious and sincere. Tom Flynn’s sensitive and thoughtful script strikes the heart in a way that felt very personal. Plus it is great to be back with Searchlight again,” says Webb.
“Marc is well-loved at Searchlight and we’re thrilled to have him back, along with Chris Evans and the rest of the extraordinary cast. We’re convinced that this uniquely funny and emotional film will touch all those who care about family and finding one’s place in the world,” says Lewis.
“It is a rare thing in this business to fall in love with a script and actually get to make it. When Marc Webb came on to direct Tom Flynn’s incredibly moving screenplay we knew we had the makings of a special film. Augmented by the caliber of the cast Marc has assembled and the incomparable support from the team at Fox Searchlight, we couldn’t be more thrilled,” say Lunder and Cohen.
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.
Executive Vice President of Production David Greenbaum and Director of Production Taylor Freidman are overseeing the project for Fox Searchlight Pictures. The director of photography is Stuart Dryburgh (THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS), the production designer is Laura Fox ((500) DAYS OF SUMMER, PARADISE), the costume designer is Abby O’Sullivan (FROZEN RIVER, EMPIRE STATE), the casting director is David Rubin (WILD, GRAVITY, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL) and the editor is Bill Pankow (CARLITO’S WAY, AMERICAN ULTRA). The executive producers are Molly Allen, Glen Basner and Ben Browning.
Fox Searchlight Pictures is a specialty film company that both finances and acquires motion pictures. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and its films are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of 21st Century Fox.
