Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking (film)
| Critical Thinking | |
|---|---|
 Official Poster | |
| Directed by | John Leguizamo |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Dito Montiel |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Chris Hajian |
| Cinematography | Zach Zamboni |
| Edited by | Jamie Kirkpatrick |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Vertical Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 117 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~$3 Million [2] |
Critical Thinking is a 2020 American biographical drama film based on the true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team, the first inner city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship. The movie was directed by John Leguizamo, written by Dito Montiel, and stars actors John Leguizamo, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Angel Bismark Curiel, Will Hochman, Corwin Tuggles, Jeffry Batista, Ramses Jimenez, Rachel Bay Jones and Michael K. Williams.
It was released on September 4, 2020 by Vertical Entertainment.[3]
Plot[edit]
Set in 1998, Critical Thinking tells the true story of a Cuban-American teacher named Mario Martinez (known to his students as Mr. T) and his national championship-winning chess club at Miami Jackson High School. Sedrick, an African-American student, living in a single-parent household, takes up chess as an elective and meets Mr. T along with Ito, a student who works after school to support his education. The class also includes Rodelay, the class clown, and Gil, who is of Spanish descent. Mr. T deals with interference from Principal Kestel, who believes that the class is made up of academic misfits. Kestel believes that the Chess Club brings little to no glory to the school. Principal Kestel threatens to cut funding from the chess club and use it to fund the school's football team. To offset the registration ticket for the Regionals, Mr. T. uses his personal savings. At the end of the road trip, Sedrick happily tells his dad about his victory. Sedrick's father tells him to get his life straight and decide on his future rather than waste his time on chess. Ito loses his job and his mother throws him out of her apartment, leading him to quit the chess team. The rest of the team realizes that they need money to register for the State Championship. They also need Ito, who previously qualified for the regionals. If they can't achieve both, they risk forfeiting.
The boys face interrogation from police officers who believe that their friend Andre murdered another student. Soon thereafter, Ito, dealing with financial troubles, is recruited by a street drug kingpin for his knack with numbers. The boys raise funds for the state championships by washing cars. They also recruit a new super player, Marcel, whom Mr. T calls Duchamp. At the last minute, Ito changes his mind and travels with the boys to the tournament. An airline company had promised free flight tickets via sponsorship for them if they made it to the Nationals, which they narrowly qualify for due to Rodelay's refusal to accept a draw, after which he loses due to a Zugzwang. He stays at home to fix his life, with a drug dealer, Andre, threatening to hand him over to the police if he tries to quit.
The boys progress with good numbers to be pitted against Akopyan, the three-time, back-to-back reigning champion. Akopyan plays individually against Marcel, who has the best record on the team. At some point in the game, Akopyan, who is having a difficult time beating Marcel, decides to take a bathroom break and suggests that Marcel should do the same, while mistakenly leaving his clock timer running. In the bathroom, Akopyan tries to talk Marcel into accepting a draw, who replies that a win is all his team needs to win the tournament. When the game resumes, Akopyan is upset to find his clock running, which puts Marcel up in time advantage. However, Marcel waits five minutes without a move to level the game time, and the two finalists resume the game on an equal footing. Eventually, Marcel checkmates Akopyan and he is crowned as the new champion alongside the boys and Mr. T.
Back home, Ito invites Donny and Andre under the pretense of talking about business, but Andre suspects something to be off about the meeting. He seizes Ito's Walkman and forbids him from answering the phone, talks about Sedrick and his girl Chanakya and what he might do to them. Ito gets angry and grabs Andre, bashing his head on the refrigerator glass until Andre is unconscious, and then leaves the store and walks into the street. During the end credits, the movie returns to modern-day Ito and Marcel.
Cast[edit]
- John Leguizamo as Mario Martinez
- Michael K. Williams as Mr. Roundtree
- Rachel Bay Jones as Principal Kestel
- Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Ito Paniagua
- Angel Bismark Curiel as Rodelay Medina
- Will Hochman as Gil Luna
- Corwin Tuggles as Sedrick Roundtree
- Jeffry Batista as Marcel Martinez
- Zora Casebere as Chanayah
- Ramses Jimenez as Andre Lamar
- Todd Allen Durkin as Detective Ransone[4]
Production[edit]
In November 2015, it was announced that John Leguizamo, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Michael K. Williams, Angel Bismark Curiel, Will Hochman, Jeffrey Battista, Corwin Tuggles, and Rachel Bay Jones had joined the cast of the film, with Leguizamo directing from a screenplay written by Dito Montiel.[5]
Principal photography began in November 2018.[6]
Release[edit]
Critical Thinking was scheduled to have its world premiere at South by Southwest in March 2020.[7] However, the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] Shortly after, Vertical Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film.[9] It was released on September 4, 2020.[10]
Critical reception[edit]
Critical Thinking holds a 93% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 30 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.23/10.[11]
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