The recent thread about Searching for Bobby Fischer made me think about other movies I've seen where the hero of the movie is someone gifted, and the drama of the movie revolves around how they deal with the gift and how others deal with it.
Other examples: Good Will Hunting Little Man Tate Finding Forrester
I've really enjoyed all of these movies. I was just wondering whether there are others that I haven't come across in this vein. Any suggestions?
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Glad you mentioned Little Man Tate. That was the first one that came to my mind when I read the thread title. I liked that movie.
Some could argue that Rainman qualifies -- he was very gifted in specifics ways, despite (or because of) the autism.
FG
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Though not EXACTLY the same in terms of plot, I think the elements are similar.
Awakenings: Robin Williams (in a serious role) and Robert DeNiro.
From Wikipedia: Awakenings is a 1990 drama film based on Oliver Sacks' memoir, Awakenings. It tells the real story of a doctor (Oliver Sacks, fictionalized as Malcolm Sayer) who, in 1969, discovers beneficial effects of the then-new drug L-Dopa. He applied it on catatonic patients who survived the 1917-1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica. The patients awaken after decades of catatonic state and have to deal with a new life in a new time.
Your question about movies where a genius awakes to his gift and has to decide how to use it just seem to reasonate with this movie as it is about normal people who have slept for decades who suddenly wake up and have to face reality and decide what they are going to do with their time.
The movie is really moving, if you have not seen it, I suggest you do. As a side note, the theme for the character Doctor Sayers is a wonderful song.
Still need to think about movies that actually fit your bill as you described it Lisa.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Sorry for double posting but have you seen "Amadeus?"
Its obviously based on Mozarts life but done with the some poetic licence. Still I think its a great movie, and it won quite a few deserved (IMO) Academy Awards.
When I was in 4th grade I read my first biography and it was a biography about Mozart. I loved it, so I guess it makes sense that I love this movie.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
The Mighty. Makes me cry every time.
(Although it's more about the relationship between a gifted boy and a "slow learner" and them against the world.)
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
What was that movie about the Rocket program developed by the kids in West Virginia's coal country? I read the book, but can't remember the name.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
October Sky?
--j_k, who added a question mark
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
That was a GREAT movie.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Would Phenomenon count? I'm not sure whether I'd call what he had a gift or not. But, as I recall, I really enjoyed this movie.
Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :
A Beautiful Mind I think is an awesome movie.
For some reason when I read this thread title I thought of The Emperor's Club. It isn't necessarily about gifted people - but it does seem to fit in a way (at least in my brain).
Posted by SoaPiNuReYe (Member # 9144) on :
shawshank u stole mine Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :
Sorry Soap.
Posted by Chanie (Member # 9544) on :
Billy Elliot Frida The Aviator Million Dollar Baby Walk the Line
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Chanie: Million Dollar Baby
Isn't that the one about the boxer?
Posted by Chanie (Member # 9544) on :
Yes, the movie is about her developing her boxing gift. Oh, was it only supposed to be academically gifted?
I'm also adding (assuming it doesn't have to just be academic): What's Love Got to Do With It The Sixth Sense
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Oh, I don't think it's just academic/intellectual. But I also don't consider being good at bashing someone's face in any kind of gift.
And I have huge issues with how that movie dealt with the notion of assisted suicide and related issues.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Ender's Game?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I think she wants movies she can watch now, Pop. Posted by Diana Bailey (Member # 8313) on :
I loved October Sky too, particularly after working with clients who are miners in WV.
I share Rivka's concerns about the way "Million Dollar Baby" dealt with assisted suicide...Clint Eastwood movies tend to be disturbing, although I thought the acting in "Mystic River was superb.
Posted by Chanie (Member # 9544) on :
There are a lot of things wrong with Million Dollar Baby. And I'm not going to argue whether boxing is a gift (I don't think I really have an opinion). But it was at least designed to be a movie about a woman who develops her gift by perservering.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Fair enough. Posted by Chanie (Member # 9544) on :
I should add that I haven't actually seen the movie, although I did follow the press hype. I had a cousin my age with a painful, terminal disease, so I have had several discussions about assisted suicide on a personal level.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: Oh, I don't think it's just academic/intellectual. But I also don't consider being good at bashing someone's face in any kind of gift.
And I have huge issues with how that movie dealt with the notion of assisted suicide and related issues.
I have those same issues. Plus the dippiness factors as well. I can't even think of a movie that isn't a superhero movie...
Posted by Kasie H (Member # 2120) on :
Superman.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
They're making Ender's Game into a movie!? WHEN!??!
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
As soon as Jake Lloyd signs the contract.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Wait, I thought they were getting Haley Joel Osment?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
They can't. He's 18 now. Alas!
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
I was kidding . . .
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Were you?
Oh.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Silly Rivka.
Can we still get the youngest Culkin kid?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Strider: Silly Rivka.
Where?
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
There!
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Wouldn't Serenity qualify?
Also:
Musically gifted
The Shine, with Geoffrey Rush Ray, with Jamie Foxx On a certain level, one might even argue Phantom of the Opera
Militarily/Politically Gifted-
MacAurther Rome, the Series (definately highlights Ceaser as one of the most brilliant leaders ever) Alexander
Intellect-
Proof, with Gwyneth Paltro (boring but stirring) The Royal Tenenbaums
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
Gattacca's sort of the opposite and the same -- he lacks the "gifts" of others, but rises above them all anyway. Perhaps Quills might count, with the Marquis de Sade outwitting every censorship the warden throws at him, but... not really.
Huh. The responses in this thread, including my own, kinda disappoint me. Lisa's right on with Good Will Hunting, but aren't there any other films out there featuring a brilliant, Loki-esque trickster outwitting his way to the top? One tires of Tom Cruise Everyman in every stinking film...
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:aren't there any other films out there featuring a brilliant, Loki-esque trickster outwitting his way to the top?
Hmmm. As my mom always said, "It's not how smart you are, it's what you do with it, and how you treat others, that matters."
I prefer movies about people, brilliant or not, who care for others and do good things.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
quote:The Royal Tenenbaums
That's a really good one. It deals w/ three people and their struggle to handle their special talents/gifts and their parents perception/use of those gifts. Good call T, and good movie.
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
TV movie, but does anybody else remember The Kid with the 200 IQ, starring Gary Coleman?
Posted by Kenif (Member # 9629) on :
There are too many movies to list to be honest.
Whilst there are loads of great movies with geniuses (like Good Will Hunting as mentioned), there are also loads of cheap pap films where they make their main characters "geniuses".
How many trailers begin with "She was the top <insert miscelleneous job> in her field but.. For example Gothika, complete and utter pap but we're told that Halle Berry is the top pychologist around..
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
How about Real Genius.
And, in the same vein, Space Camp.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
I loved October Sky!
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kenif: There are too many movies to list to be honest.
Whilst there are loads of great movies with geniuses (like Good Will Hunting as mentioned), there are also loads of cheap pap films where they make their main characters "geniuses".
I do remember The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes from back when I was a kid. Omigod. I just looked it up on IMdb. Not only was the kid played by Kurt Russell (how old do I feel?), but they did a made for TV remake in 1995. Eww.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Heres one that I remembered.
The Wizard. The one about the Super Mario 3 kid. Good movie.
I've been wanting to avoid going into the genre, but a really good example would be things like Star Wars I-III following Anakin's gifts in matters of the force.
Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :
Make fun of my choice if you want, but I would like to nominate 'Tuck Everlasting' for the list. Though the movie itself questions whether eternal life/immortality is really a gift (or more of a curse).
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Tuck Everlasting doesn't count by my definition of "gifted". When I hear "gifted" I'm thinking talented. In Tuck's case, it's more of a state of being, rather than a talent. Drinking water out of a spring for immortality, does not make one gifted, since in all technicality, anyone who could travel can accomplish it.
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
Donnie Darko, The Boy Who Could Fly, Stand by Me.
Isn't there a story about a kid who ran a marathon? I remember seeing a preview a few years ago, but I don't remember much about the movie.
As to "The Mighty," there is something about Kieran Culkin that's likable. It may be as minor as his pronounciation, but I like watching him on screen talking.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Niki watched Whale Rider last night for the first time, and she thought of this thread.
I'm not sure if I would consider Pai "gifted" in the way Lisa may mean it, but she is certainly a remarkable girl with many gifts.
At the very least, she was played by a gifted young actress .
Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :
What about Pay it Forward?
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
The ending of that movie was so deeply offensive and gratuitous that it cancelled out any goodness the rest of it may have had.
And btw, Spider Robinson wrote about paying it forward long before this movie ever existed.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong: Donnie Darko,
I love Donnie Darko, but I'm not sure how it fits. Or even comes close.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: The ending of that movie was so deeply offensive and gratuitous that it cancelled out any goodness the rest of it may have had.
I hate that movie because of the ending. I don't remember anything else about it other than that.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
The book of Pay it Forward was soooooo much better than the movie.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lalo: aren't there any other films out there featuring a brilliant, Loki-esque trickster outwitting his way to the top?
I haven't seen it, so I'm not utterly sure, but wouldn't Catch Me If You Can qualify?
Posted by mimsies (Member # 7418) on :
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