There are one or two first-act laughs and nice moments in this spirited heartwarmer from screenwriter Tom Flynn, once much admired in script form on the 2014 Black List of unproduced screenplays. Yet the interesting touches give way to unconvincing contrivances and a final copout. Marc Webb (of The Amazing Spider-Man and (500) Days of Summer) directs. Chris Evans plays Frank, a hunky, beardedly handsome single guy in Florida with the entirely preposterous Kevin-Costner-ish job of “fixing boats”. His former job is, incidentally, no less implausible – disillusioned college professor. Frank is now legal guardian to his orphaned niece, Mary, who at seven years old is a brilliant maths whiz, and so was her troubled mum whom we see in a photo with a super-brainy short haircut. Young Mary is played by newcomer Mckenna Grace, a nice if obviously drilled performance. But Frank’s emotionally frozen British mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) wants custody of Alice so that she can force her to attend a hothouse school for nerdy savant geniuses instead of the regular school where she is reasonably happy but undoubtedly unfulfilled. It’s a Kramer vs Kramer story that has a touch of Paper Moon, with Evans in the adorable single dad role. But it disappointingly gets tangled up in plot contrivances, and the real issue of gifted children is just a gooey fantasy.
