This was my first chess movie. There was chess. There was good acting. There was decent drama and character development. And there was hope.
You'd think a movie about competition would mirror sports films, and there was a section of the movie that acted a lot like sports films, but in the end, this film wasn't about having heart to compete where you're out of your league (Rocky, Rudy), but it was about not letting the drive to win overshadow your humanity. (And still somehow winning anyway.) Still, some of the characterizations were too simple for a movie that aimed to be as complex as this film (especially those of the "villain" characters--the antagonist chess player was utterly despicable, which makes you wonder why the writer(s) chose to develop the protagonists so evenly).
It's a decent film and you can't really go wrong watching it (unless your expectations are completely off). It's charming. And not a whole lot more. But that's okay, the film really lives up to its potential and doesn't ask to be more than that. And consequently does its job well. 6/10.
You'd think a movie about competition would mirror sports films, and there was a section of the movie that acted a lot like sports films, but in the end, this film wasn't about having heart to compete where you're out of your league (Rocky, Rudy), but it was about not letting the drive to win overshadow your humanity. (And still somehow winning anyway.) Still, some of the characterizations were too simple for a movie that aimed to be as complex as this film (especially those of the "villain" characters--the antagonist chess player was utterly despicable, which makes you wonder why the writer(s) chose to develop the protagonists so evenly).
It's a decent film and you can't really go wrong watching it (unless your expectations are completely off). It's charming. And not a whole lot more. But that's okay, the film really lives up to its potential and doesn't ask to be more than that. And consequently does its job well. 6/10.