Escola de Campeões

I had never heard of this movie until last Saturday when it was playing on one of my movie channels. A quick trip to IMDb.com produced a rating of 6.3/10 and only 72 votes. The user comments gave me hope, however, and I decided to give it a try. Once again, a low budget Canadian movie has proved to be a quirky little gem of a movie. We laughed all the way through this movie (Canadians might have a strange sense of humour though - I am not sure). The acting and writing were solid and music was used in a way that added a lot of humour to the movie. This movie is a satire of other movies (typical high school sports movies or new kid in town movies) but it is not just full of superficial jokes - it has more depth to it because of the real issues that it addresses. Mostly, though, it is just very funny. The fact that no one has heard of this movie but everyone has probably heard of White Chicks (No, I have not seen it but I am pretty sure it is not nearly as funny as this movie - probably not even 10% as funny) just proves to me again that star power still beats quality in the film industry. I hope that their next collaborations (15/Love and House) are just as good.

Now, are you done listening to me? Good - now go out and rent this movie! :)

I liked this movie, as most Canadian movies tend to be less commercial and aesthetically cleaner as a consequence. It somehow manages to make dorks look cool, if only life were like that... The movie had a lot of potential, and it could have been a lot better. It starts off good then it falls into "head of the class"/ sitcom clichés with the chess plot the focus of the film, and it loses all its smarts. A shame because the kids seem smart and the lead is cute. I liked the soundtrack, it sounds like some gawky teenager in an arts highschool put it together on his synth alone in his garage, with mac and cheese in his braces and dressed in black (visualize bad skin), you can't tell if its crap or cool, but I really like it, it sounds a bit techno in an eighties depeche mode-esque. Does anyone know who is on the soundtrack?

This movie about, which is about a boy who moves to a new town and is good at chess, is pretty fun and amusing. The storyline and characters are well done and they are all likable. There is also some sentimentality to it, which I found to be a good factor instead of the same old cliché that a lot of movies like this have. The comedy part of it is also well done. Its not LOL material, but its still funny and quirky. Even the romance is not bad. Its different from some of the main teen comedies. And lastly, I am glad this wasn't the usual sex comedy. It is a pretty clean, and for the most part a family (sort of). I rate it 7/10. (my rating) PG-13 for language including sex and drug references, and for some sexual content

In the town of North Hatley, chess mania has taken over the local high school. New student Tommy Linklater likes to do his magic tricks. He is recruited for the chess team, The Knights, due to his late mother's legendary chess skills. Hyacinthe Marquez (Rachelle Lefevre) is the head cheerleader and honor student.

This has a fun satire premise of switching the coolness factor between jocks and the chess club. It's kinda funny for a little while but it gets repetitive. The writing is not funny enough. Other than Lefevre, the cast isn't good enough. It's got one good idea but it fails to build on it.

I often see teen movies and they usually provide a chuckle. Some are so awful, that they are instant eject button. Sometimes they just force me to keep my finger on the fast forward button. Hatley High was an absolutely GREAT movie. There were many depths and subtleties underneath a movie that kept my undivided interest every step along the way and provided many laughs as well. The chemistry between all the characters is great and there are several interesting relationships that develop. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is young at heart wants to see a good movie with some chuckles along the way. I am so glad that I stumbled upon it.