FilmZap

The tale of a rancorous battle for custody of a motherless 6-year-old mathematical prodigy, " Gifted " manages, for the most part, to rise above not only the "Kramer vs. Kramer" dynamic of a kindhearted man facing off against a coldly manipulative woman in the fight to control the destiny of an innocent child, but the inevitable histrionics, both inside the courtroom and out. If the movie stumbles over its own feet from time to time - tripped up by such emotionally manipulative plot points as the threat of euthanization leveled against a beloved, one-eyed pet cat - it is redeemed by an appealing cast, tart dialogue and the preponderance of genuine emotion over the manufactured variety. " Gifted" tells the story of Mary (Mckenna Grace), a little girl who has been raised - and so far home-schooled - by her uncle Frank (Chris Evans), after the death of her mother, Frank's sister, a promising mathematician who killed herself when Mary was an inf...