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QUEEN OF KATWE 2016 HOW TO
The result is a winning underdog pic where newcomer Madina Nalwanga shines as the girl who's raised by a single mother (a terrific Lupita Nyong'o) and finds herself tutored by a young coach (David Oyelowo) who's hoping to land an engineering job while otherwise working for a sports outreach mission teaching local kids how to play chess. Whereas Danny Boyle's terrific (and Oscar-winning) film starts near the end and then rewinds and goes back and forth through time to show the unlikely journey, however, screenwriter William Wheeler and director Mira Nair start near the beginning and then depict young Phiona's unlikely rise toward the top of her chosen game. In a way, it's something of a cinematic cousin to "Slumdog Millionaire" in that it features a character who grew up in the slums, had little education and seemed to have everything in place to go against them, yet managed to be poised for success and resultant fame. The latest such example of that is Disney's "Queen of Katwe." Based on Tim Crothers' 2012 book "The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster," the pic is all about young Phiona Mutesi, one of the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history. That's why most films that revolve around the sport must focus more on the participants than the actual games.
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Accordingly, it's not that exciting to watch - at least for those who aren't huge fans of the game - if one only considers the actual board play. While chess obviously has some of those attributes, most of the battles take place inside the players' heads, with only a tiny bit of involved physical movement. After all, the likes of football, baseball, boxing and plenty of others have an obvious physicality to them that's easy to recreate on film, and the opponents who are pitted against each other must contend with that, the involved strategy and one's mental mindset. OUR TAKE: 6.5 out of 10 Let's face it - if you're going to make a sports drama and can choose any sport and its participants to portray on the big screen, chess isn't likely going to be at the top of most people's lists. But as Phiona increases her skills as the years pass by, Robert convinces Nakku to allow him to enter the girl into increasingly competitive chess tournaments, realizing that winning those could be her ticket out of the slums. Robert sees that as well and pushes her to get better, something that doesn't sit well with Nakku who sees no future in that and believes it's a waste of Phiona's time when she should be working. Phiona initially clashes with another kid there, Ivan (RONALD SSEMAGANDA), but quickly takes to the game and shows she's a natural talent. While he dreams of getting hired as an engineer, he's taken a job as a sports ministry coach where he teaches kids how to play chess. That mom also becomes concerned when Phiona and Brian start spending time with Robert Katende (DAVID OYELOWO), a former soccer player and husband to Sarah (ESTHER TEBANDEKE). Her older sister, Night (TARYN "KAY" KYAZE), isn't interested in that life and has taken up with a young man, much to Nakku's dismay.
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Along with her brother, Mugabi Brian (MARTIN KABANZA), and widowed mother, Nakku Harriet (LUPITA NYONG'O), Phiona sells vegetables to support her family and her youngest sibling. PLOT: It's 2007 and Phiona Mutesi (MADINA NALWANGA) is a young girl growing up in the slums of Katwe near Kampala, Uganda. QUICK TAKE: Drama: A young girl hopes to escape the slums and poverty of her Ugandan town by becoming an international chess champion. (2016) (Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo) (PG)