Absolutely brilliant

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I really loved this movie. One of the best "feel-good" movies I've seen. Loved the cheesiness, and the synth-y music used. Also how it was in Canada! I liked how there were no overly dramatic emotional scenes. This made it feel like I was on vacation. It was relaxing, and very funny. Nicholas Wright was engaging and endearing, and I especially liked the British guy Trevor and his mute "best mate" Darryl. The only thing I disliked was Hyachinth - she seemed forced and character too good to be true. I wish more people knew about this movie. There's not even a Facebook fan page for it!Anyway - watch 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.

This is a great movie, long overlooked. A small town high school is nuts about chess and everybody plays The big showdown comes when a team from the Soviet Union is flown in to play the big match. The coach for Hatley High is a Soviet defector who defected during the last chess match between the two teams. The new Russian coach is a Russian nationalist, and the rivalry is personal.On the night before the big showdown, the Russian team captain, Anya Petrovich, played by Ilona Elkin, seduces the Hatley High captain, played by James A. Woods, and tricks him by putting handcuffs on him and locking in the principal's office. When the Hatley High Captain does not appear for the big final match, the Hatley High team will be forfeited unless somebody can be pulled off the bench to play the big final game.The creators of this movie could have used a real chess consultant. Many of the moves shown on the chess board are illegal. Black moves first in the first game and, although they use chess terms like Sicilian Defense and Budapest Defense, the moves shown on the board are nothing like those openings.However, we can overlook these defects because this movie teaches us chess players important lessons about how a movie about a high school chess match can be made exciting and interesting to the general non-chess playing audience.Sam Sloan

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?