I wanted to but couldn't!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I am not a big fan of Mira Nair. But I like some of her films, particularly 'Amelia'. Because she usually prefers India and Indian subjects and cast as what she's. Outside that circle, she was not that successful, until now. It was a sport film, that revolved around chess game. Inspired by an incredible true story from the dark continent. It all happened less than ten years ago. Disney and ESPN together produced it. So when these two productions come together, you would know what to expect.Seeing the opening few minutes, it reminded me the recent New Zealand film 'The Dark Horse'. Kind of a similar film, but I was not that impressed with that. But this one was awesome. Simply a miracle. Like any fairy-tale from the Disney. She was not a princess, but in a way she turns to be one. Years ago when I reviewed 'Searching for Bobby Fischer', I said that was the film should be shown in the schools. Now add this title as well to the list.The opening was the ending. Then followed the flashback, which went to the 4 years ago. Living in a slum of Katwe, a single mother raising her children, but not without their contribution to the family. Now the focus shifts to one of the family members, Phiona. Curiosity on her brother who disappears every day after sold out his goods leads her to a new path. That's when she discovers a game she had never heard of before. After learning the basics, she quickly picks up the rest of the game on her own and becomes a prodigy.❝Losing teaches me how to play better.❞This is like most of the true stories you have seen, but that's the truth as well in here. What might come later could impress you. Because it was not like she has a superpower, so she can clear her life path just like that. Honestly, the real test begins now for her, how she uses her gift. But it was her coach who understood the situation, and tried his best to push her further with the big tournaments, in the national and the international level. Not just her, there has been a team behind her. So the remaining is to reveal how far she would go, as well as the story of her struggling family.They have got the cast perfectly. Everyone was brilliant. David Oyelowo was amazing, surely one of my favourite British actors for now. This is the second consecutive time he's making a such impression. Not long ago with 'A United Kingdom'. Definitely the Oscars is just a corner. And then Lupita Nyong'o, she was not the centre of the story, but had enough part and she excelled every bit of it. The rest of the actors, including the one who played Phiona was amazing. At the end credit, both the cinematic and the real life characters appeared. I felt that was a result of excitement, but liked it.The sad part was why such films were ignored at the big stages! This is a must see film, especially if you have a kid(s) in the home, show it to them. Being the parents, uncle and aunt, that's one of the best thing you would do for them. Because no one knows when and where kids gets their confidence boost, inspiration or discovering a new path. You can't compare films with real life, even it was a biopic. But still the true story always remains a true story, even after they're compressed to 120 minutes. Particularly the Disney film gets rid of harsh parts, making a family friendly film. So watch it for a change, you have no other reasons, you could be impressed!8/10

This is the story of Phiona Mutesi, an accomplished young Ugandan chess player. The story follows the standard script of inspiring sports story where the underdog meets competition and succeeds, but not without overcoming many obstacles. One of the biggest obstacles Phiona had to overcome, and what makes this a remarkable story, is her having been born and raised in Katwe, a slum in the City of Kampala.The dialog offers little by way of surprise. After Phiona loses a crucial match she expresses self-doubt and questions whether she should go on. Interacting with her coach after the loss, in a scene with a strong emotional buildup, her coach delivers the tired line, "You must never surrender." I appreciated this having been filmed on location in Uganda. The bright colors are a delight to the eye. The costumes make a vivid impression, from the women's dresses to the more subtle intricate designs and colors of the men's shirts. The little insight into what life looks like in a Kampala slum is something I would never otherwise have gotten. I would like to have seen more of the daily life in Katwe.Using non-professional actors for many of the roles worked two ways for me, it added authenticity at the expense of stilted acting.In all movies "based on a true story" I always have a question as to just how many liberties were taken for audience appeal. This movie may have pushed the envelop--it tries to extract every last drop of emotion. The overt attempt to manipulate drains the true emotional content. A little research reveals that Mutesi's chess playing is not of the prodigy caliber as portrayed; her ranking by the World Chess Federation among active players is around 90,000. Her apparent financial success, as represented by her buying a nice house for her mother, could not have come from her chess wins, since any major money from tournament wins is awarded only to the very top players. The celebration of her last win make it look like it was for a national holiday. Is chess really that popular in Uganda? All of the exaggeration is not to take away from Mutesi's achievements that are extraordinary given her background and living conditions.There are lots of chess-related movies out there (Google "chess movies") and, of the half dozen or so I have seen, my favorite is "Searching for Bobby Fischer."

Hi folks, as some of U know, Disney is notorious for taking an event, and drastically changing and bending what actually occurred, often to the point of making a movie that really has little to do with the event or story they claim to be representing --The actual background for this movie is as followsFIDE awarded Phiona a women's IM title. Their requirements are that a woman must have had a peak rating of at least 2000 elo and scored at least 50% in a qualifying tourney. Apparently they bent the rules a lot to grant Phiona a WIM (women International master) title. Her peak rating was about 1650 elo (350 below the requirement) and she scored only one win (against a 1542 player), three draws and lost three games in the 2012 Olympiad--So this is basically a fiction movie =Its affirmative action in the world of FIDE, I'm sure there are a LOT of chess players fuming over this, I know of at least one young woman who tried to get an WIM in the USA and peaked at around 1950, and was not awarded the title --guess she is in the wrong country --One very good chess movie starring minorities that really is true is called 'Brooklyn Castle', --A very good fiction chess movie is 'Queen to Play', about as true as this movie is when you get right down to it

"Sometimes the place you are used to is not the place you belong." Phiona (Nalwanga) is having a hard time trying to find a place where she feels like she fits in. Like most Ugandan families she is struggling. When she attends a chess class with her brother she meets Robert (Oyelowo) who teaches her chess, and changes her life. This is a movie I was really looking forward to. I love true stories, and movies about an underprivileged child finding a way to improve her life are usually wonderful and inspiring. This movie is no exception. The story really sucks you in and you connect with Phiona in a way you don't with many characters and find yourself actively rooting for her. The acting is really good but the drama and heart is the real reason to watch this. I highly recommend this and its a great family movie. It is a little too Disney at some points, but in a movie like this that is not a bad thing. Overall, inspiring and one I highly recommend. Stay through the credits, they have the actors standing along side the actual people they played in the movie. I wish more true stories would do something like this. I give this an A-.