A Little Game

This is a light hearted wonderful family movie. The newcomer, Makenna Ballard, takes to the film like she has been on camera her whole life and without IMDb, it would not be easy to tell this is her first project. The cast is spot on for most of the characters and the heavy weights don't let you down, (F. Murray Abraham and Olympia Dukakis).

The fantasy elements seemed unnecessary and tripped up the pacing and impact of Abraham's lessons. If they would have just played it straight instead of the fantasy elements the story would have had a deeper impact with it's message of using your brain to find your way out of situations, but they relied on fantasy to help out her brain instead.

The childhood rivalries are familiar, but that's because they ring true, and what is more familiar than the truth?

It's a fun movie and many of the messages are good for kids and good to be reminded of for adults.

I know nothing about chess, but I still enjoyed watching every second of the movie. I wish I do because I know I will be able to enjoy the film even better. I saw the first few minutes on FB reels and got hooked. This movie is one of a few that I would re-watch. I love the little story of each character. I love Max's character and her development throughout the movie. I love how Max stayed true to her words. You don't have to defeat someone to prove that you are better. There is no drama. Watch it with a light heart, and you will feel fulfilled. The movie portrayed a peaceful city life. I wish the world would be safe enough for us to enjoy little things.

A Little Game is nice, family-friendly (for the most part) movie with quality acting. The young stage actress, Makenna Ballard makes her big screen debut as Max, a 10-year-old Manhattenite. Olympia Dukakis as her "Ya-Ya" and F.Murray Abraham as her reluctant mentor. I watched it with my own 10-year-old who was engaged watching Max maneuver school, family, and life in general. From a mom's perspective, I thought the movie delivered a wonderful glimpse of the world through a young girl's eyes which, realistically, would include the fantasies playing out in her mind. From a Christian perspective, I was taken by surprise by a scene in which the parents share a beer. This doesn't offend me; I'm just not used to seeing casual alcohol use in a family movie. Also, there is a very brief - almost subversive - mention of the neighbor boy's two moms, as well as a cutaway of Max picturing herself with two dads. Though a common theme today, I thought it should be mentioned for families that prefer to filter worldly ideals. Overall, the importance of family, friendship, and love was portrayed stronger than anything else.

My 4 year old son loved this movie so much, he wanted to learn how to play chess because of it! It captured his attention, as it was the first full length movie that held his attention from beginning to end. He now plays chess...at four! In addition, the way the main character carried herself and responded to opposition, meanness and being different was a good example for my son to see. The story was heart-warming, innocent and fun. It's a wonderful family movie. Disappointed to see IMDb relegate the main character to the 19th spot on their listing of characters (even after the bully of the movie). Shame on you. You should revise that IMDb. Makenna Ballard did a wonderful job and deserves the credit for her work. We loved this movie!

My perspective for full disclosure: I'm a NYC native who learned how the pieces move from my older brother in 1968 at age 6, improved my understanding of the game during the Fischer boom, and was a below-master level tournament player until I was 30. So I am familiar with the territory and wanted this to be good.

I totally get that this was made for an audience of children, so we need not have great expectations of it. The problem is writer/director Evan Oppenheimer is obviously enthralled by the metaphor of learning to navigate the chess board as a cognate of learning to navigate life itself; yet his portrayal of the games, and the teaching process of park hustler Abraham, suggests strongly he has never played the game himself, has little to no understanding of it, and did not bother to ask anyone qualified for help in that area. If his goal was to introduce a childhood audience to a beautiful strategy game, he wound up giving most of them at once both an overly simplistic and overly complicated, and ultimately just unrealistic idea of what playing and learning the game is really like. If his goal was something else entirely, he did not need to butcher the presentation of chess as a vehicle for whatever that goal may have been. If you're looking for a good (and far closer to realistic because it was a true story, written by someone who lived it) movie about a child chess prodigy, see "Searching for Bobby Fischer" instead.

The talents of Abraham, Dukakis and Garofalo were badly wasted on this silly script. At least new star Makenna Ballard made an auspicious debut as the protagonist, outshining the established adult actors.