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Her Nakku Harriet is requisitely tough, but what attracts you to her is Nyong’o’s ability to vividly expose her character’s vulnerability and stubbornness.
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Oscar-winner Nyong’o, last seen in full CGI mode as Maz Kanata in “The Force Awakens,” is back in full flesh-and-blood mode as Phiona’s disapproving mother who is also struggling to raise her other three children alone. Oyelowo (“Selma”) is a figure of inspiration as her coach, Robert Katende, a man also saddled with trying to provide for his own family.
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With exuberance and an irresistibly warm smile, she convincingly takes the film’s heroine, Phiona, on an eventful 5-year journey: From an illiterate 9-year-old novice peeking through a crack in the wall to view the children playing chess, to a 13-year-old savant who strategizes like no other. Nair, a Harvard grad, also uncovers a gem in Nalwanga. That sense of place helps immeasurably in shoring up Wheeler’s rote writing. Her camera captures the robust jewel tones and beats of daily life, the motorbikes zipping through traffic, the crowded markets with their exotic wares, children playing soccer and selling maize in the streets.
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Call me a cynic, but even though the effort is earnest and wholesome, it’s also tedious, especially clocking in at more than two hours.Ī plus is Nair’s vibrant depiction of the slums of Katwe. Accordingly, platitudes (“In chess, the small one can become the big one,” and “You must never surrender.”) abound.
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Just because the story is based on a true story doesn’t mean it has to be predictable.ĭirector Mira Nair, re-teaming with her “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” writer William Wheeler to adapt Tim Crothers’ book of the same name, work overtime reminding you that their movie is inspirational. They, along with a talented ensemble of child actors, hold the movie together in the face of a barrage of cliches and contrivances. It would be easy to checkmate its every move if not for the vigor of David Oyelowo, the elegance of Lupita Nyong’o and the charm of newcomer Madina Nalwanga. Given its predictability, the material feels rather over-stretched at 124 minutes, but the time passes easily enough.Although well intended, Disney’s uplifting “Queen of Katwe” is at heart just another formulaic “sports” movie about a decisive underdog beating all odds - in this case, a dirt-poor girl who escapes the slums of Uganda to become a chess prodigy.

Nalwanga dials back the sentiment and any overt emoting in her lead performance, though she still remains an empathetic and nobel heroine. Still, if the purpose of the film is to get kids to put down their Uzi 9mms and pick up some nice, hand-carved antique chess pieces, it certainly has merit on that level. Nair struggles to sex-up the highly unexciting game of chess as a spectator sport, and she doesn’t expend too much screen time explaining the rules in any detail. To her, facing life’s hardships head-on is a far better use of time than a stupid board game. There’s a soft tension with her mother, who resents that her daughter should have this way out when she was forced to spend much of her life desperately scrabbling for the next meal.

It’s not long before the film settles into a standard underdog sports movie mode, as Phiona must suppress her personal demons and comprehend that she does have the wherewithal to rise up out of the ghetto and disconnect from her past.

She quickly discovers that she’s rather handy at the game, while Katende offers much corny wisdom on how the strategy involved in chess actually has plenty of real-world applications. As a way to escape the drudgery and humiliation of her routine, she decides to give it a go. One day Phiona wanders into a shack in which local youth organiser Robert Katende (David Oyelowo, proving that even in a generic coach role, he’s willing to give it his everything) is teaching children to play chess.
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Queen of Katwe by for our #LWLiesWeekly Check out the new-look app for free at #design #illustration #artwork #portrait #magazine #movie #film #cinema #queenofkatwe #drama #chess #uganda #kampalaĪ photo posted by Little White Lies on at 10:17am PDT
