As a director, Marc Webb doesn’t nearly get the credit he deserves. His (500) Days of Summer is a damn near perfect dramedy (a curious hybrid of a comedy and a drama, which in the recent past were simply called ‘movies’). 

The problem is that he also directed The Amazing Spider-Man 2, though if we were honest–with ourselves, if not anyone else–the greatest problem with that movie was less Webb’s direction than the writing by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and their ham-fisted attempt at building a cinematic universe with Spider-Man at its center.

Though Webb directed it, so when all is said and done, he receives the kudos if it’s a success–no matter how many hundreds of people it actually took–and the opprobrium if it isn’t (it’s worth mentioning that while The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was by no means a failure, having earned almost $709 million though it did earn less than the AMSM, on what was probably a larger production budget.  This decline is most likely what pushed Sony Pictures into hitching their star to Marvel Studios). 

Besides, it was always apparent to me that Webb was never a big enough name–nor, I suspect did he particularly understand the character–enough to influence what was going on around him. 

But he’s back with Gifted, and while it looks a bit formulaic it also looks like it might tug at more than a few heartstrings. 

In fact, the whole dynamic from the trailer reminds me somewhat of Searching For Bobby Fisher, which means it might leave you a bit teary-eyed. 

Then again, anything that  takes you out if yourself and lets you feel a little bit can’t be all bad.