Gifted - The equation of a life

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Gifted - The equation of a life
Original title Gifted
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 101 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
JMK 10
Rod
Director Marc Webb
script Tom Flynn
production Andy Cohen ,
Karen Lunder
music Rob Simonsen
camera Stuart Dryburgh
cut Bill Pankow
occupation

Gifted - The Equation of a Life (Original title: Gifted ) is an American drama directed by Marc Webb from 2017 . It is about a gifted seven-year-old who gets caught between the conflicting interests of her uncle, who is raising her, and her grandmother.

action

Seven year old Mary is raised by her uncle Frank. She likes her one-eyed cat Fred and gets on very well with the neighbor Roberta, who often takes care of her. Her mother Diane committed suicide shortly after Mary's birth suicide . She was a mathematician and, it initially seems, was about to solve the Navier-Stokes problem , one of the so-called Millennium Problems . Mary is also extremely intelligent. Although Frank is aware of her giftedness , he wants her to have a normal childhood and make friends of the same age. That is why she goes to the local elementary school, where she is noticed on the first day for the effortless solving of complicated arithmetic problems. Her teacher Bonnie Stevenson and the school principal try in vain to persuade Frank to send her to a renowned school where her talents can be encouraged. The headmistress then locates Frank's mother Evelyn. Although she doesn't know her granddaughter, she arrives and wants to take Mary to her home. During a two-day visit to Evelyn in Boston, where she can also demonstrate her knowledge to a math professor, Mary is taken with the environment, but she doesn't want to live with her resolute grandmother.

There is a legal battle over custody. Frank's main problem is that he has never been officially granted personal custody of Mary. Evelyn's lawyer tries to portray Frank's living conditions as unsanitary and unsuitable for children. An incident when Mary defended a classmate against a 12-year-old and broke his nose is interpreted as negative for her development. Mary's biological father is also presented, but Frank's lawyer Cullen can prove that he has never shown interest in Mary. Cullen uses an example to demonstrate that Evelyn is not interested in the child's needs. When Diane secretly went skiing with her boyfriend as a 17-year-old, Evelyn reported him for kidnapping and forbade her to deal with him. The result was a first suicide attempt. Evelyn indignantly rejects the allegations that the uniqueness of her daughter should not have been endangered. Finally, the parties agree on a settlement . Mary comes to a foster family who lives half an hour away, while the grandmother returns to Boston. Mary could visit Frank regularly. When she turns twelve, another court date could be requested, at which Mary's own request would be taken into account. At the tearful farewell, Mary reproaches Frank for breaking his promise that she never has to leave him.

On a first visit, Frank is turned away because Mary has had a "kind of nervous breakdown". Bonnie, with whom Frank is now friends, sees Mary's cat Fred on a poster advertised for "adoption" and informs Frank. He picks up the cat shortly before it is to be euthanized. She had been given by a "cat allergic person". Since Frank knows that Evelyn is allergic to cats, he and Roberta immediately go to Mary's foster family. It turns out that Evelyn has quartered in their guest house and Mary is tutored there by private tutors. Due to the deception by Evelyn (contrary to the agreement, she does not renounce to see and influence Mary daily) Frank shows Evelyn the work of Diane, which he has kept hidden until now, with which she succeeded in solving the Navier-Stokes problem was. She gave it to Frank with the condition that it could only be published after Evelyn's death. In order to accommodate his mother, Frank disregarded Diane's wish and expressed his conviction to Evelyn that she was predestined to present her daughter's work and to defend it against skeptics. Evelyn no longer has a motive to have her daughter and later her granddaughter finish the work that she wanted for herself and that she had renounced because of her children. Evelyn hesitates at first, but then agrees to take on this task and give Mary back into Frank's hands. Mary returns to Frank and henceforth attends a school that is appropriate to her talents.

reception

At a production cost of $ 7 million, the film grossed around $ 20 million in the United States after a month.

Antje Wessels from Filmstarts.de thinks the film is “too predictable” and is of the opinion that the director hardly deals with the “personal needs of the little heroine”. Also, the basically realistic and film-worthy topic of the conflict between the demands of a “well-protected childhood” and the desire for optimal intellectual advancement would not be “weighed up in a differentiated way, but rather pointed out rather schematically to the point of absolute incompatibility”, whereby clichés would be sought.

Maria Engler from Kino-Zeit.de is of the opinion that the “all too familiar pressing the right buttons to trigger sadness and joy in the audience as desired” is paired with a “less than imaginative plot and an absolutely interchangeable staging”. An "exciting and current topic and a capable cast" would tear the film out of it.

The Movijones portal, however, considers the drama to be a "heartwarming" film. The performance of Mckenna Grace, who plays "many a seasoned actor on the wall", is highlighted. In spite of all the exuberance, you can feel “every second their vulnerability and their lust for life”.

Martin Schwickert from the Evangelical Press Service (epd) puts the question of the child's wellbeing in the foreground: It is unclear whether Mary is really better with the “relaxed” “under the Florida sun”, “warm-hearted” dropout Frank or with the “gray” Boston ”living,“ elitist ”“ nerdy grandma ”who (like the reviewer)“ sees Mary's feeling of happiness when solving complex mathematical problems ”. In defense of the grandmother, it must be argued that for her "the achievements of feminism of the 70s and 80s came too late".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Certificate of Release for Gifted - The Equation of a Life . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Age indicator for gifted - the equation of a life . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ a b Antje Wessels: Review on Filmstarts.de , accessed on July 15, 2017.
  4. ↑ Maria Engler: Review on Kino-Zeit.de , accessed on July 15, 2017.
  5. ↑ criticism Moviejones.de , accessed on 15 July 2017th
  6. ↑ Martin Schwickert: Review on epd-film.de , accessed on September 7, 2017.