Critical Thinking

John Leguizamo is already a legendary character actor too many times type cast in Latinx shady criminal roles, but he has shown so much more over the years. In this film in which he stars, produces and directs he shows the depth of his talent.

This is a real feel good film. It shows a true life story of triumph over adversity in a non-saccharin manner. The story telling avoids cliché and sentimentality. It does not dwell on the darkness of these young people's lives apart from when needed.

A truly remarkable film.

I've always liked movies about teachers fighting to bring out the best of their students. Most of these movies show very dedicated teachers who not only love their job, but go the extra mile for their students. There are a lot of these movies, Stand and Deliver, Good Will Hunting, Dangerous Minds, The Ron Clark Story, just to mention a few; but in this case it involves a game that many may play but not all fully understand its importance beyond the game.

It's great to see how they actually explained chess with historic facts and that the actors played the game for real. It's also important to mention that these kind of movies make a difference in reminding kids to pursue not only their dreams, but most importantly the opportunities that open up to them.

Everybody has a chance to shine in life no matter where you come from or your ethnicity, it's all about wanting it.

Chess. As a fan of the game I have watched many a movie that featured it, and have been disappointed several times when it became apparent that the movie makers had no intention of actually portraying the game as it is played. Instead, they usually content themselves with utilizing the game's mythos. We are given the impression that players of the game are very smart, they understand the "deep thinking" part of the game and live in a world far removed from the rest of us heathens, who don't know what the word "checkmate" means.

"Searching for Bobby Fisher" (1993) comes to mind as an example of one of those great movies that somehow disregarded the game entirely. I was horrified that they could make a movie about the game and purposely choose to remain ignorant of it, as if no one watching would notice. Yeah, guess who's gonna watch a movie about a famous chess player? Could it be.. other chess players?? I'm sure no one will notice that the games in the movie aren't real.

This movie is the first movie I've ever seen that uses actual historical games, play by play. It accurately uses the names of the openings, and has the actors playing the game for real as the viewer watches. The teacher talks about real historical chess players that shaped playing styles. That alone warrants 7 stars in my book.

The other two stars come from the quality of the film itself. This is not a movie about the game, it's about the people who played it. A group of "disadvantaged" kids who became winners. It's a great story. The actors did a great job. Character development was somewhat slim, but the viewer is carried along and learns to care about each of them. Their interplay is real, you really see that they are in touch with each other. John Leguizamo played a great part, I enjoyed it greatly.

The only reason I didn't give this a 10 was because I was put off just slightly by the "social justice" revising of history. José Raúl Capablanca didn't get marginalized and erased from history, that's a fabrication. He was world champion for 6 years and had a huge lasting influence on the game. Maybe the reason people don't know about him is because he was champion nearly 100 years ago. And Gabriel Maura from Puerto Rico? He did not "modernize" the game. He literally created a new version of it (called Modern Chess) which is popular in South America. That's why no one knows his name, it has nothing to do with his race. It has to do with the fact that these kids are living in the U.S. and don't play chess in South America. Shame shame people. -1 star.

Great movie, I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it.

A long time ago when he was "the next big thing," John Leguizamo did a 1-man show that picked up rave reviews. The problem with CRITICAL THINKING -- aside from the fact that few filmmakers have the guts these days to tackle a story with so much inherent "color" -- is that, even in its best moments, this film still feels like a 1-man show with every kid in the cast merely playing backup.

The film starts in a promising manner, as the teacher shows much passion and dedication. The latter half of the film is not so interesting for someone who doesn't know chess. I think some narration on what is going on would be useful. Overall, it's still an engaging film.