Gifted

Movie Review : Gifted

Director : Marc Webb

Genre : Drama

Starring : Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate
Released : 2017

My Rating : 8 out of 10

The economics of movies that fall under the “Drama” genre is quite different than a big budget action blockbuster. That sometimes results in a good drama flying under the radar, which happened with “Gifted” for me. Well, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise when I watched it at home.

Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single man living in Florida. His primary job involves repairing boats, but his goal in life is to give a “normal” childhood to his niece Mary (Mckenna Grace). As the movie progresses, his reasons for this desire become clearer and clearer to us. One reason is established right at the beginning of the movie, that Mary is exceptionally gifted at Math. Frank resists attempts by the local school to send Mary to a special school. It seems that he wants to keep a low profile, but his fears come true. His mother, and Mary’s grandmother, Evelyn Adler (Lindsay Duncan) learns about Mary being a prodigy and wants to take control of her upbringing. When Frank refuses, she takes the matter to the court.

Through the court proceedings and in the interactions between the characters, we start learning about the past. This slow unpeeling is one of the major strengths of the movie. The other is the interactions between the characters. These interactions are realistic and never over-the-top, and each has a unique shade. Frank and Mary, is not just a parent-child relationship, they are close friends too. Frank refers to his mom with her first name, and their interactions have an edge of bitterness, but they are not hostile. Frank and Mary have a great neighbor, Roberta (Octavia Spencer), and her love for Mary is genuine. Frank’s interactions with Mary’s teacher Bonnie (Jenny Slate) are more of a side story, but they add a nice warm hue to the picture.

Stories such as this, can drown into melodrama. Not here. Everyone, the director, writer and all the actors keep everything on realistic grounds. Director Marc Webb has a lot to his credit than the Spiderman movies, but for Chris Evans this is a different ball game than Captain America. They have teamed up well. Overall, the writing and direction is such that, in just a few strokes, each character comes out as a complete person rather than a caricature. It would have been easy to show Evelyn as a all controlling witch of a person, but then that would have been a cliche. I really like it when movies strike a balance between emotional impact and reality.

It would have also been a cliche, and an irritating one, if the portrait of Mary had come across as precocious. The script keeps her a normal child for the most part, and as an actress, the young Mckenna Grace is extra-ordinary. Even on the rare occasions where she gets dialogues that are beyond the age of the character, she makes it completely believable. She is indeed a gifted child.

This is a simple and heart warming movie. The story may feel generic based on reviews, and trailers, but the movie is definitely not. It may evoke memories of “Rainman” or “Kramer vs Kramer” or “Proof”, but it has an independent place of existence on its own. It’s correctly rated PG-13, and would be safe for most teenagers. I highly recommend it as a satisfying movie experience.

Golden

Book Review : Golden

Author : Marcus Thompson

My Rating : 3 out of 5

The complete title of the book is “Golden : The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry”.

Even though I am addicted to watching sports, reading about personal life of sports personalities, is something that I have absolutely no interest in. So I am not sure why I picked up this book. Perhaps I thought it will improve my understanding of the sport, that I have fallen in love with for last 10 years or so.

I didn’t grow up with Basketball around me, and I have never played the sport. Even after I moved to USA, I didn’t watch Basketball for many years. My interest grew when I started understanding the game a bit, started appreciating the fadeaway jump shots of Kobe, then the completeness of LeBron and now this jaw dropping shooting by Steph Curry. So when I read the title, I was intrigued.

Author Marcus Thompson is a sports columnist, which turns out to be a big plus as well as a big minus for this book. The entire book feels like a big newspaper column, and not in the best possible way. There is very detailed play-by-play description of many games. So many that I started just skipping these multi-page replays. I think this book would have been greatly benefited by a good editor who would have ruthlessly chopped down the running commentary of so many games.

In between these lengthy game recaps, there is good information and insight sprinkled in. You will learn about Steph’s childhood, his family, his values, his hard work and his determination. I would have preferred a better structure to this information, as it feels arranged a bit randomly in different chapters. You will also find some new information here that was never mentioned in sports columns before.

One thing that I would highlight is the candid discussion about race and privilege. Curry, unlike many other basketball players, did not have to battle financial adversity in his childhood. As a son of an NBA player, his childhood was comparatively comfortable. The adversity he has faced is due to his smaller relative size on the court, and he has overcome it with spades. Still, he is not “black enough” for many. This particular discussion was very illuminating me. I applaud the author for being very forthright and open about this issue.

The book is written from the point of view of a fan, so expect little criticism of Steph here. I am ok with it, as I was not looking for a bland balanced approach anyways. 

I can only offer a lukewarm recommendation. I have no idea how a die-hard Basketball fan, already with a lot of insight, will feel about this book. How much new would he or she find in this book, is something I cannot say. For a casual fan, this can be an interesting book to read.

Rubaai 11

रुबाई क्रमांक ११

मी कसे म्हणू की जग हे सारे स्वार्थी होते

वेळप्रसंगी आप्तही आले नाही होते

नियम हा विश्वाचा, येता सूर्य माथ्यावरती

गायब ती सावली देखील स्वतःची होते

Loose translation :

How can I say that the rest of the world is just selfish

When even my own friends didn’t offer help in time of need

When the scorching sun is at the highest in the sky

It’s a universal fact that even your own shadow deserts you