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Critical Thinking
Where to watch.
Watch Critical Thinking with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.
What to Know
Strategic in delivering all the feels, Critical Thinking is a good old-fashioned underdog story that marks a winning directorial debut for John Leguizamo.
Critics Reviews
Audience reviews, cast & crew.
John Leguizamo
Mario Martinez
Rachel Bay Jones
Principal Kestel
Michael Kenneth Williams
Mr. Roundtree
Corwin C. Tuggles
Sedrick Roundtree
Jorge Lendeborg
Ito Paniagua
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Critical Thinking (2020)
Not Rated | Drama
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‘Critical Thinking’ Review: All the Right Moves
John Leguizamo directs and stars in this warmhearted drama about underprivileged teenagers who enter a national chess championship.
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By Jeannette Catsoulis
Whether championing math, poetry, or just how to be a decent human being , the inspirational teacher is as familiar to movie audiences as the class stoner. “Critical Thinking” does little to detach itself from genre cliché; yet this heartfelt drama about a rough-and-tumble group of high-schoolers who claw their way to a national chess tournament has a sweetness that softens its flaws.
Based on a true story and set in an underserved Miami neighborhood in 1998, the movie drops us into the boisterous classroom of Mr. Martinez (played by the director, John Leguizamo).
“Chess is the great equalizer,” he tells his multiethnic students, using the game to teach his critical thinking elective — with a side of racial history discouraged by his school board. The principal (Rachel Bay Jones) might treat his classroom like a dumping ground for miscreants, but Martinez, assisted by wigs and funny accents, explains complicated chess moves with a deftness that cuts through their indifference.
With goals as modest as the lives of its characters, “Critical Thinking” follows the predictable arc of the underdog drama as the chess team overcomes troubled home situations and other setbacks on the road to a Beverly Hills-set finale. Slow and straightforward, the movie knows that a chess match is hardly a barnburner; but its lively young performers and their eventual triumph are easy to warm to. Drugs and gangs might beckon — and immigration officers hover just outside the frame — but they’re no match for the values of sportsmanship and teamwork. And Mr. Martinez’s pep talks.
Critical Thinking Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas, or rent or buy on iTunes , Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
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‘Critical Thinking’ Review: John Leguizamo’s Inspirational High-School Chess Drama
The true story of the Miami Jackson High chess team — five brainy wizards from the inner city — is told in a rousing but conventional way.
By Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Chief Film Critic
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“ Critical Thinking ” is one of those up-from-the-streets high-school competition movies where just mentioning the true story it’s based on kind of gives the game away. Set in 1998, it’s about the five chess wizards from Miami Jackson High who became the first inner-city chess team to win the National Championship. Boom! But, of course, it’s how they got there that matters, and even if this movie weren’t based on a true story, you’d know more or less know where it’s going. “Critical Thinking” has some appealing young actors, and it’s been directed, by John Leguizamo (who costars as the film’s tough-saint teacher), in a way that gives them the space to clown around and then get serious. It’s still, in the end, a bit of a connect-the-inspirational-dots movie, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be inspired.
Leguizamo plays Mario Martinez, who teaches an elective class in chess at Miami Jackson, where his students call him “Mr. T.” They’re a rowdy, bellicose, street-smart bunch, hard to control in class, so at first we think we’re seeing one of those movies, like “Stand and Deliver” or “To Sir, with Love,” about a captivatingly square gadfly instructor who shows a bunch of underprivileged kids how to transcend the expectations (or lack thereof) that have been thrust upon them.
In a way, “Critical Thinking” is one of those movies, though with a crucial caveat: The basic training — the intellectual whipping into shape — has all happened before the drama even starts. Martinez, in his thankless underpaid plaid-shirts-off-the-rack way, is beloved by his students, and he has taught them well; they’re chess players who’ve got the game in their blood. (It’s the only thing that gets them to settle down .) Leguizamo, who spent a number of his early one-man stage shows sketching in (often quite brilliantly) the lives of young people from a similar background, knows how to create scenes that bubble with spontaneity. And he himself plays Martinez with an effusive, slightly weary middle-aged demeanor that’s touching, because what he nails is the unabashed corniness of certain great high-school teachers — their willingness to put on a show for their kids, to turn the life of the mind into energized nerd theater.
At one point, using the magnetic chess board at the front of the class, he plays out a chess match authored (and recorded) by Paul Morphy in 1858, and he makes it sound as exciting as something on Roblox. He employs silly accents (Southern, French, Austrian) and puts on wigs and fake beards to enact the game, and he draws the kids into it, challenging them in his geek-with-cool-slang way (“Why is it a wack move, Sedrick? Don’t just talk to me, man, show me!”).
It’s one of the only scenes where we actually witness the mechanics of chess, and while that’s always a challenge for a chess drama (there’s only so much it can lure the lay audience into the heady intricacies of the game), I wish the students’ connection with chess were less of a given, and a little less abstract. Watching “Critical Thinking,” you’d never even know that the art of chess is rooted in thinking several moves ahead. Yet Leguizamo stages the matches with percussive power, the kids pounding their time clocks even as their eyes burrow into the board like lasers.
Much of the film’s appeal lies in the way it revels in chess as a pure symbol of leveling the playing field of opportunity. As Mr. T explains, chess is “the great equalizer.” It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, what Ivy League college or prison you’re in: The elemental nature of the game shears away everything but intellectual ability. So in a drama like “Critical Thinking,” where five students (four Latinx and one African-American) bust out of a high school with limited resources to attend a series of tournaments, there’s a democracy-in-action, anyone-can-win-in-America spirit.
The actors are terrific; the roles, as written, less so. Leguizamo is working from a script, by Dito Montiel, that walks the line between lived-in experience and overboiled cliché. Sedrick is played by Corwin Tuggles, who has a great pensive face, and he lends conviction to the character’s struggles at home. But it still feels like a contrivance that his father (Michael Kenneth Williams), an angry curmudgeon who treats his son’s chess victories as if they were beneath contempt, is also…the guy who plays chess with him every day! The other pivotal character is the canny hothead Ito (Jorge Lendeborg Jr,.), who begins to moonlight as a drug dealer, and though it’s not that we don’t buy it, it plays out like one of those obligatory flirtation-with-delinquency subplots from the 1980s.
There’s also a newly arrived immigrant from Cuba who joins the class — a sleek prodigy named Marcel (Jeffrey Batista), who can play (and win) four simultaneous games with his eyes closed. Always good to have someone like that on your team! As likable an actor as Leguizamo is, “Critical Thinking” never generates the teacher/student face-off intensity that “Stand and Deliver” did. The issue of how the team members fund their trips, with Martinez having to win over a skeptical principal (Rachel Bay Jones), creates some tension along the sidelines, yet once these kids start to win their tournaments it seems like they can do no wrong. The picture is pleasant enough, but watching it you’re always one or two moves ahead.
Related:
Reviewed online, Aug. 31, 2020. MPAA Rating: Not rated. Running time: 113 MIN.
- Production: A Vertical Entertainment release of a Chaplin/Berkowitz production, in association with NRSP, Cinema Veritas. Producers: Scott Rosenfelt, Jason Mandl. Executive producers: Harvey R. Chaplin, Carla Berkowitz, Emilio Estefan Jr.
- Crew: Director: John Leguizamo. Screenplay: Dito Montiel. Camera: Zach Zambone. Editor: Jamie Kirkpatrick. Music: Chris Hajian.
- With: John Leguizamo, Corwin Tuggles, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Will Hochman, Angel Curiel, Jeffrey Batista, Michael Kenneth Williams, Rachel Bay Jones, Zora Casebere.
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Movie Reviews
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In the press materials for “Critical Thinking,” producer Carla Berkowitz drops this line about her reaction to reading the true story that inspired the film: “The image and story was haunting and I felt like I had a quantum shift in my perception of chess and who plays it.” The who in question are five Miami-area Black and Latino men who, along with their teacher, Mr. Martinez, brought back to their underprivileged Florida neighborhood the U.S. National Chess Championship. This happened in 1998. The film chronicles the loving camaraderie of the players and the events leading up to their victory.
In that same press release, acclaimed writer and actor John Leguizamo , who plays Martinez and also directs, states that he wanted to make this film because there were very few representations of Latin people on-screen when he was growing up. He also mentioned that the book The Bell Curve harmfully depicted people of color as being mentally inferior due to our genetics. I wondered if, like me, Leguizamo grew up in an environment where the Black and brown people he knew played chess, so that it wouldn’t seem unusual nor an anomaly that they did. Because Berkowitz’s statement really made me consider what exactly the standard issue chess player was supposed to look like.
Chess has appeared in a lot of movies, from Boaz Yakin ’s “ Fresh ” to Steven Zaillian ’s “Searching for Bobby Fisher” to 2016’s superb Mira Nair film, “ Queen of Katwe .” I even remember it being prevalent in a crappy Gary Coleman TV movie about a smart Black kid. The game always carries the same symbolic qualifier: the person who plays it has a mental capacity for strategy and is intelligent. Chess is often employed to teach life lessons in these movies, to the point where it has become a cliché that just so happens to be used differently depending on who’s playing it. This difference is something that I admit often sticks in my craw, so I found myself wrestling a bit with this movie even though it seemed to be addressing my concern.
Unlike Zaillian’s film, which I guess answers my question of what a “standard issue” chess player is supposed to look like, the protagonists in the other films I’ve mentioned, and in “Critical Thinking,” are people of color whose economical circumstances are far from ideal. This tends to be the model when minorities are seen playing chess in films, which bends the cinematic chess player cliché toward making the ability to play the game the audience’s reason to offer empathy. Sure, they’re broke, probably in crime-ridden areas and may even do a crime or two, but see, they’re smart, so it’s OK to feel for them! This line of thinking has to do with who stereotypically plays chess and who does not.
Leguizamo’s Mr. Martinez speaks to this early in “Critical Thinking” by asking why chess is never associated with brown people despite a Latin man playing a major role in its evolution. “Why don’t you think we know about him?” he asks the students in his critical thinking class before delivering a great, pointed monologue that speaks about how history is taught in schools. The script by Dito Montiel has some sharp commentary about the education system, from what gets funded to the over-reliance on test scores to the differences between Martinez’s inner city school and the posh preppy institutions who fall victim to our heroes on the tournament circuit. There’s a bit more bite than you may be expecting, and the writing is just prickly enough to balance out the moments when the film dives headfirst into its tropes. And there are numerous tropes to swim in; not only is this a sports movie, it’s also an entry in the “Beloved Teacher” genre.
Our chess champion team is comprised of Sedrick Roundtree ( Corwin C. Tuggles ), Ito Paniagua (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), Gil Luna ( Will Hochman ), Rodelay Medina (Angel Curiel) and later, Marcel Martinez ( Jeffry Batista ) who joins the team after dispensing a hustler’s ass-whipping in a speed chess match. Their dialogue is peppered with the language the PG-13 won’t allow but realism will. Martinez is often telling them “watch your mouth” in his class, even if, in his less guarded moments, he’s prone to occasional profanity. Leguizamo gets good performances from each of them, especially in moments where you really feel the bond between teammates, both in the tournaments and in the streets. When they tell each other that they’ve got each other’s backs, there’s a real emotional pull that emanates straight from the actors.
Though this is an inspirational movie, Leguizamo and Montiel never sugarcoat the dangers of the environment their characters inhabit. The potential for violence, temporary homelessness, crime, and police harassment are always hovering in the margins, sometimes even invading the safe space of Martinez’s class or the school. An early sequence that shockingly ends in violence shows how good Leguizamo is at quickly establishing the audience’s tie to a character. When Rivera (Dre C) is thrown into critical thinking class after a disciplinary problem (“my class is not detention!” Martinez yells at frenemy Principal Kesler [ Rachel Bay Jones ]), he immediately runs afoul of Ito. Rivera’s lack of response is due to Spanish being his primary language, which may also have something to do with the infraction that got him sent to this class. Martinez talks to him in Spanish, lectures Ito and all seems well.
Rivera is then brutally assassinated in broad daylight after accidentally bumping into another person on the street. The film is barely 15 minutes old when this happens, but it immediately establishes that “Critical Thinking” has no plans of abandoning reality for its feel-good message. That sense of realism extends to the way the characters bond with, rib, and defend each other. Additionally, Leguizamo plays Martinez as someone who understands the temptations and frustrations of his students’ world. He challenges them to do for themselves because he knows all too well that the system has no intention of lending a helping hand.
Like Nair does in “Queen of Katwe,” Leguizamo also blatantly refuses to impose on poverty any notions of shame or requests for pity. “Chess is the great equalizer,” Martinez tells his team as they navigate snooty tournament heads and appearances against challengers from much posher ‘hoods. Even when things get expectedly dire for some of the characters, “Critical Thinking” remains focused on the characters’ response to the situation, never once stripping them of their dignity for cheap emotional manipulation.
Of all the team members, Sedrick has the most detailed arc. He has a girlfriend, Chanayah ( Zora Casebere ), who is supportive and tougher than she looks, and a father ( Michael Kenneth Williams ) whose sole job here is to fill that chess movie trope of the angry guy who uses chess as a means of brutal domination. Williams is an always welcome presence, but I could have done without him. Still, there is one very good moment where he shows some growth, and his son makes a snide comment that he silently acknowledges as being right.
The chess scenes are good even if you know nothing about chess. I’ve been playing since I was five, so of course I wanted more detailed representations than Leguizamo provides. I found his classroom lessons and the team’s banter about moves fascinating, and every time I was given a good look at a chessboard, I got closer to the screen to investigate. And yet, despite its acknowledgement of my aforementioned issues, I still felt a little itchy watching “Critical Thinking.” I am always game for a movie that makes me reckon with my personal feelings and biases, and I’m glad this one exists because representation will always speak volumes. If nothing else, “Critical Thinking” reminds you what a chess player can look like.
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Odie Henderson
Odie "Odienator" Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .
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Critical Thinking (2020)
117 minutes
John Leguizamo as Mario Martinez
Rachel Bay Jones as Principal Kestel
Michael Kenneth Williams as Mr. Roundtree
Corwin C. Tuggles as Sedrick Roundtree
Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Ito Paniagua
Angel Bismark Curiel as Rodelay Medina
Will Hochman as Gil Luna
Jeffry Batista as Marcel Martinez
Zora Casebere as Chanayah
- John Leguizamo
- Dito Montiel
Cinematographer
- Zach Zamboni
- Jamie Kirkpatrick
- Chris Hajian
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'Critical Thinking' Trailer: John Leguizamo Tries To Inspire A High School Chess Team In A Troubled Neighborhood
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Critical Thinking should have made a triumphant debut at the South by Southwest film festival earlier this year, but the coronavirus pandemic ruined all that. The movie tells the true story of a group of Latinx and Black teens living in the toughest under-served ghetto in Miami who strive towards becoming national chess champions. But as the first Critical Thinking trailer shows, this movie directed by and starring John Leguizamo is much more than an average underdog sports drama.
Critical Thinking Trailer
Led by John Leguizamo as their inspiring teacher, these kids have an opportunity to make something of themselves instead of falling victim to the world of crime and drugs around them. It's a story that could have easily been a little hokey, but Leguizamo grounds it firmly in the harsh realities of a struggling Miami neighborhood, and it makes the proceedings feel that much more genuine and harrowing.
Corwin Tuggles , Jorge Lendeborg Jr. , Angel Bismark Curiel , Will Hochman , and Jeffry Batista all give breakthrough performances as the chess team at the center of this story, not to mention Leguizamo doing some fine work himself. If this movie had a chance to play on the big screen at film festivals, I feel like it would have made some big waves, especially in our current social climate.
Even though Critical Thinking didn't play SXSW, I still got a chance to check it out, and I wrote in my review :
"Critical Thinking could easily be described as Dangerous Minds meets Searching for Bobby Fischer , but it brings so much more to the table. John Leguizamo also directs this movie, and he's not shy about being blunt when it comes to these issues facing inner-city kids. That might be because he spent his formative years in areas like this, with kids like this, in New York City. But it's also because the script from Dito Montiel ( A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints ) doesn't bring heavy sentimentality to these proceedings."
There's something special in this movie, and since it's only getting a debut on virtual cinema, VOD and digital, I hope it manages to find an audience. It's inspiring and powerful, and it lets the underrated John Leguizamo show his passion, both as a storyteller and an actor. I cannot implore you enough to seek this one out when it arrives on September 4, 2020 .
Here's the official synopsis from when the film was meant to debut at SXSW earlier this year:
It's 1998 in Miami. Rampant poverty, broken families, and a prejudiced system push underprivileged youth to the fringes of society. But for a magnetic group of teens, there's a reprieve. A game where it's not about where you come from, but how you play. That equalizer is chess. Mr. "T" Martinez (John Leguizamo), a chess militant and passionate coach, leads them to a completely foreign field of battle: the National Chess Championship. With an underfunded school district, Martinez and his team can't just waltz into the arena. They have to fight for it. Chess runs parallel to their own experiences as Martinez teaches them that the power of Critical Thinking can not only save their kings, but also their lives.
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Where to watch
Critical thinking.
Directed by John Leguizamo
Chess is the great equalizer
Based on a true story from 1998, five Latino and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher.
John Leguizamo Rachel Bay Jones Michael Kenneth Williams Corwin C. Tuggles Jorge Lendeborg Jr. Angel Bismark Curiel Will Hochman Jeffry Batista Zora Casebere Ramses Jimenez Todd Allen Durkin Brandon Somers Isaac Beverly Ruben E. A. Brown Sydney Arroyo Carlos Guerrero Michele Lepe Tatum Price
Director Director
John Leguizamo
Producers Producers
Scott M. Rosenfelt Elayne Schneiderman Schmidt Jason Mandl Joseph Krutel John J. Brunetti Jr.
Writer Writer
Dito Montiel
Casting Casting
Avy Kaufman
Editor Editor
Jamie Kirkpatrick
Cinematography Cinematography
Zach Zamboni
Executive Producers Exec. Producers
John Leguizamo Emilio Estefan Jr. Carla Berkowitz Harvey Chaplin
Production Design Production Design
J. Mark Harrington
Art Direction Art Direction
Lewis Zucker
Set Decoration Set Decoration
Composer composer.
Chris Hajian
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Costume Design Costume Design
Danny Santiago
Hairstyling Hairstyling
Carol Raskin
Cinema Veritas NRSP Perfect Balance
Primary Language
Spoken languages.
English Spanish
Releases by Date
18 dec 2020, 21 jan 2021, 04 sep 2020, 05 may 2021, releases by country, russian federation.
- Theatrical 18+
- Theatrical 輔12級
117 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page
Popular reviews
![critical thinking (film) trailer Dave Taylor](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9afef91849da27cbfcc333e0723f4660?rating=PG&size=80&border=&default=https%3A%2F%2Fs.ltrbxd.com%2Fstatic%2Fimg%2Favatar80.74798e0d.png)
Review by Dave Taylor ★★½ 5
I know nothing about chess, but based on the overview given in this movie, it is the most random game in the whole world.
I think therein lies the problem for casual viewers checking this out. I watch hockey about as much as I play chess, but I know if the puck goes in the net, the team that put the puck in the net gets a point. They try to film the chess matches in a similar fashion to your standard sports movies, but I didn’t feel any tension mount (except for the last match) because there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to what pieces were being moved. I only knew the good guys won after…
![critical thinking (film) trailer JBird](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/1/1/5/7/0/0/5/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=fa54ae7fa4)
Review by JBird ★★★
Leguizamo wants his students to Critical Think, Like how to draw or come back from the brink. Although no one planned it, The year of the Gambit, With two chess submissions that don't stink.
![critical thinking (film) trailer Joshua Arispe](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/2/3/5/6/0/8/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=d71f88c248)
Review by Joshua Arispe ★★★ 4
I should probably start off by mentioning that I’m an avid chess player. Chess is the greatest game ever invented and I play it quite often. Some friends of mine also worked on this movie, which I think is pretty cool. So I had many reasons to give Critical Thinking a watch.
It clicked with me right away. Not as inspiring as it tries to be (thanks to some lame subplots and side characters) but I enjoyed the in-depth look at chess and John Leguizamo as the instantly likeable teacher. Reminded me a lot of Edward James Olmos’ Jaime Escalante from Stand and Deliver . He nails the role and made me wish I had a teacher like him. Hell, I…
![critical thinking (film) trailer Karl](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/1/9/5/8/4/3/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=aebf8fa115)
Review by Karl ★★★
The true story of a chess team from an underfunded, underserved Florida public high school. Fortunately they have a passionate teacher, Mr. Martinez, who will do whatever it takes to get them to the chess finals in Beverly Hills. Sure it's cliche and you've seen variations of this underdog can-do spirit/inspirational story before, but when it's done right it can be among the most rewarding of viewings.
It's the kind of film that feels great while watching it, but won't likely stay with you, preventing from transcending the formula. The young actors make things worthwhile, particularly Jorge Lendeborg Jr., who has it the roughest of the five players. Also on hand is the late Michael Kenneth Williams. John Leguizamo, who…
![critical thinking (film) trailer Luke Robertson](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/twitter/9/8/9/5/3/9/shard/http___pbs.twimg.com_profile_images_1220637461723762688_0RXFkj52-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=f13cc466cd)
Review by Luke Robertson ★★★½
I love this genre of movie. Underdog sports team come together to completely overcome the odds. It’s not my favourite in the genre but it is still a good movie. The cast are decent as well. If you are a fan of high school dramas then I think you’ll enjoy this.
![critical thinking (film) trailer danielle ⚡](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/twitter/2/6/9/0/5/1/shard/blob-0-80-0-80-crop.png?v=9c12c947e6)
Review by danielle ⚡ ★★ 1
movies can't be formulaic and long like pick a struggle
![critical thinking (film) trailer Tim McClelland](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/twitter/5/0/0/5/6/6/shard/http___pbs.twimg.com_profile_images_892159666293268482_21EYf_6_-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=48bfd1e408)
Review by Tim McClelland ★★★½ 1
There are many films of this type. We've seen the inspirational teacher with the underdog students fighting for their time to shine. When you start watching a film that follows that formula, it will need something special to help it stand out. This movie has cliched elements, but it also has heart and it had me on edge even though I knew the outcome. It took a little time to get me invested, but once I was, I was all in on the movie. It is a great true story so to see it made into a pretty decent film is awesome. I really enjoyed watching this. There is a great story here that has some wonderful characters and it will leave you feeling good. If a movie like this leaves me with a smile on my face, I'd say it did its job just fine.
![critical thinking (film) trailer Justin Decloux](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/twitter/9/9/0/4/7/shard/http___pbs.twimg.com_profile_images_1211349930062823425_XgXElDlG-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=a9f4332417)
Review by Justin Decloux ★★★½
I am a sucker for an 'Based on a True Story' underdog sports movie, and the fact that this is about chess (a game I have no interest in playing, but I love due to ti's simple complexity), and stars (and was directed by) John Leguizamo makes this even more my kind of thing. It hits all the expected beats, kind of muddles it's finale (Oh, that's it?), and is directed in a workman like fashion, but I still found it a thrill.
I will continue to not play chess.
Watched for The Bay Street Video Podcast :https://soundcloud.com/thebaystreetvideopodcast
![critical thinking (film) trailer Nicholas Faron](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/5/1/4/0/5/8/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=f6b4fa8c1c)
Review by Nicholas Faron ★★★½
I've never understood chess, but hot damn is it exciting to watch (on screen that is).
![critical thinking (film) trailer Jacob Knight](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/twitter/1/5/7/3/1/9/shard/http___pbs.twimg.com_profile_images_536054934425198592_1GZlLkZQ-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=ba310d571c)
Review by Jacob Knight ★★★
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
John Leguizamo’s feature directorial debut is an R-rated, Dito Montiel scripted after school special about inner city Miami kids winning the US National Chess Championship in ‘98. It hits every beat you expect it to, including Leguizamo (who plays the boys’ coach/teacher/mentor) reading poetry to his class, and even has one of the would-be champs return to the streets to sell drugs for a local assassin after he loses his job. And you know what? That’s fine, because even though Leguizamo isn’t a born filmmaker (the direction here is the very definition of “workmanlike”) he injects street smarts and a POV that, when combined with the troupe young/non-actors, makes it all feel lived-in as opposed to schmaltzy (which, I mean, it still totally is). Maybe I’m just a sucker for this sort of thing, but the amount of screen time devoted to the strategic history of chess alone made the dorkier parts of my brain light up.
![critical thinking (film) trailer waz](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/3/0/7/4/4/8/6/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=5b99117788)
Review by waz ★★★½ 2
Coach Carter meets Fresh meets The Queen’s Gambit . There’s truly nothing more exhilarating than seeing two individuals duke it out on one of the most ancient boardgames in history.
With the release of The Queens Gambit as well as the sudden surge by many popular Twitch streamers, 2020 was a great year for chess that brought hundreds of newcomers to the game. Although this film in particular may have slipped under the radar during the chess boom, it has plenty of heart to it and finishes on a strong, inspirational note. There’s a bit of something for all chess players to be able to relate to or enjoy here whether it’s seeing the camaraderie within a tight-knit team or the familiar intrigue of…
![critical thinking (film) trailer Jeremy Kremser](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/3/5/1/7/1/7/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=279c040c7c)
Review by Jeremy Kremser ★★★
My dad didn’t make a single racially charged comment during this whole movie it’s a Christmas miracle
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Critical thinking, common sense media reviewers.
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Underdog chess team defies odds but plays into stereotypes.
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A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
Positive themes of teamwork and defiance against t
Main characters are depicted as underdogs whose su
Frequent gun use. One character is abruptly shot a
Occasional kissing.
Frequent use of the words "f--k," "s--t," and "ass
Adults get drunk. Underage characters smoke cigare
Parents need to know that Critical Thinking is a fact-based drama about a high school chess team from an underserved community that defies the odds to make it to the U.S. National Chess Championship. Directed by and starring John Leguizamo, the movie has frequent swearing ("f--k," "s--t," etc.), underage…
Positive Messages
Positive themes of teamwork and defiance against the odds are prevalent. While it exposes some of the broken systems in public education, it fails to fully portray its teen characters' humanity, contributing to problematic stereotypes.
Positive Role Models
Main characters are depicted as underdogs whose success goes against everyone's expectations. Some show determination, but most play into stereotypes associated with Black and Latinx teens from under-resourced communities -- i.e., unmotivated, unintelligent jokesters. That makes it seem like their success is because of some paradoxical talent instead of their strength of character. Failure to see these kids' humanity contributes to their stereotyping, on-screen and off.
Violence & Scariness
Frequent gun use. One character is abruptly shot and killed. Another character is punched and strangled to death. Parents emotionally abuse children.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Sex, Romance & Nudity
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Frequent use of the words "f--k," "s--t," and "ass."
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
Adults get drunk. Underage characters smoke cigarettes. Drug dealing.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Critical Thinking is a fact-based drama about a high school chess team from an underserved community that defies the odds to make it to the U.S. National Chess Championship. Directed by and starring John Leguizamo , the movie has frequent swearing ("f--k," "s--t," etc.), underage cigarette smoking, drug dealing, punching, strangling, and gun violence that results in death. Parents emotionally abuse children. While positive themes of teamwork and overcoming challenges are prevalent, the movie's Black and Latinx teens are stereotypically depicted as unintelligent with little work ethic and their success as an anomaly. Rachel Bay Jones and Michael Kenneth Williams co-star. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .
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What's the Story?
In CRITICAL THINKING, teacher Mr. T ( John Leguizamo ) oversees an unofficial detention hall at Miami Jackson Senior High School, where students are sent if they're deemed troublesome. Mr. T seizes the opportunity to start a chess team, all while navigating limited resources, a school with little faith in his students' abilities, and the stressors of his students' turbulent personal lives. When the team starts to succeed, the students come up with creative fundraisers to pay for travel and lodging at their competitions. But none of this is easy. One teen faces pressures at home from an emotionally abusive father who resents his son's talents. Another is pulled into dealing drugs to make ends meet. All the while, Mr. T is the loving, encouraging adult they crave.
Is It Any Good?
This drama is the classic story of an underdog team overcoming the odds and making it all the way; unfortunately, it falls back on stereotypical characterizations to tell its tale. The Miami Jackson team seems to be in this position because its members -- Black and Latinx teens from under-resourced communities -- have historically underestimated identities. The film plays on the biases that are often held about these identities by depicting the teens as shiftless and unfocused. They're careless in their fundraising efforts, they try to pass notes during tournaments, and they use the threat of physical violence to intimidate their opponents.
Their chess skills are an afterthought, making their success feel like an anomaly. And it certainly doesn't help that a White teen joins the team as they gain momentum and becomes their shining star -- teaching the other kids new chess moves and giving them vocabulary lessons. He's the only teen character whose background, personal life, and stressors aren't explored. So while Critical Thinking is diverse in its casting and exposes some of the broken systems in public education, it misses the mark in humanizing its characters. The failure to see these kids' humanity contributes to their stereotyping, on-screen and off.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Critical Thinking handles stereotypes and biases. Can media offer positive representations while still promoting stereotypical characterizations?
What does Critical Thinking teach viewers about student engagement and the importance of teaching things in a fun way?
What role does teamwork play in Critical Thinking ? Why is it an important character strength ?
Movie Details
- In theaters : September 4, 2020
- On DVD or streaming : September 4, 2020
- Cast : John Leguizamo , Rachel Bay Jones , Michael Kenneth Williams
- Director : John Leguizamo
- Inclusion Information : Latino directors, Latino actors, Female actors
- Studio : Vertical Entertainment
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : High School
- Character Strengths : Teamwork
- Run time : 117 minutes
- MPAA rating : NR
- Last updated : February 19, 2023
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
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COMMENTS
Check out the official Critical Thinking Trailer starring John Leguizamo! Let us know what you think in the comments below. Watch on FandangoNOW: https://ww...
Based on a true story from 1998, five LatinX and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Champi...
CRITICAL THINKING Trailer (2020) John Leguizamo, Michael Kenneth Williams, Chess Drama Movie© 2020 - Vertical Entertainment
Critical Thinking: Directed by John Leguizamo. With John Leguizamo, Rachel Bay Jones, Michael Kenneth Williams, Corwin C. Tuggles. The true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team which was the first inner city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.
Critical Thinking is a 2020 American biographical drama film based on the true story of the 1998 Miami Jackson High School chess team, the first inner-city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.. Critical Thinking was directed by John Leguizamo (in his directorial debut), written by Dito Montiel, and stars Leguizamo alongside Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Angel Bismark Curiel, Will Hochman ...
Released Sep 4, 2020 1h 57m Drama TRAILER for Critical Thinking: Trailer 1 List Critical Thinking: Trailer 1 Critical Thinking: Trailer 1 2:04 View more videos 94% Tomatometer 35 Reviews Miami ...
Official Trailer. Based on a true story from 1998, five LatinX and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher. Based on a true story from 1998, five LatinX and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ...
Q / A. Vertical Entertainment has unveiled official trailer for Critical Thinking (2020). Based on a true story from 1998, five LatinX and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher. Watch official trailer ...
Across the Web. Critical Thinking in US theaters September 4, 2020 starring John Leguizamo, Rachel Bay Jones, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jorge Lendeborg Jr.. Based on a true story from 1998, five LatinX and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the Nati.
Critical Thinking Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas, or rent or buy on iTunes , Google Play and other streaming platforms ...
Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment/YouTube. " Critical Thinking " is one of those up-from-the-streets high-school competition movies where just mentioning the true story it's based on kind ...
CRITICAL THINKING Trailer (2020)Based on a true story from 1998, five LatinX and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their wa...
An unwavering teacher and his students must overcome the perils in their underserved community as they compete in a national chess tournament. Watch trailers & learn more.
1 h 57 m. Summary Based on a true story from 1998, five LatinX and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher. Drama. Directed By: John Leguizamo. Written By: Dito Montiel.
The film is barely 15 minutes old when this happens, but it immediately establishes that "Critical Thinking" has no plans of abandoning reality for its feel-good message. That sense of realism extends to the way the characters bond with, rib, and defend each other. Additionally, Leguizamo plays Martinez as someone who understands the ...
Critical Thinking should have made a triumphant debut at the South by Southwest film festival earlier this year, but the coronavirus pandemic ruined all that. The movie tells the true story of a ...
John Leguizamo Rachel Bay Jones Michael Kenneth Williams Corwin C. Tuggles Jorge Lendeborg Jr. Angel Bismark Curiel Will Hochman Jeffry Batista Zora Casebere Ramses Jimenez Todd Allen Durkin Brandon Somers Isaac Beverly Ruben E. A. Brown Sydney Arroyo Carlos Guerrero Michele Lepe Tatum Price. 117 mins More at IMDb TMDb.
Check out the official Critical Thinking Trailer starring John Leguizamo, Rachel Bay Jones, Michael Kenneth Williams Let us know what you think in the commen...
Parents need to know that Critical Thinking is a fact-based drama about a high school chess team from an underserved community that defies the odds to make it to the U.S. National Chess Championship. Directed by and starring John Leguizamo, the movie has frequent swearing ("f--k," "s--t," etc.), underage cigarette smoking, drug dealing, punching, strangling, and gun violence that results in death.
Critical Thinking (2020) movie trailers: Official Trailer. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an commission. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Chess is the great equaliser in this true story out of Miami, 1988. Five Latino and Black teenagers, inspired by their legendary teacher, compete nationally....
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