Taglines: Chess is the great equalizer.
Critical Thinking is based on the story of the 1998 Miami Jackson Senior High School chess team that defied the odds and overcame incredible adversity to become the first urban high school to win the U.S. Chess National Championship. John Leguizamo stars as Mario Martinez, the determined high school teacher who’s unwavering belief in his students set in motion the rise of the Miami Jackson chess team from the city streets of1998 Miami, to the spotlight as national champions.
Critical Thinking is a 2020 American biographical drama film directed by John Leguizamo, from a screenplay by Dito Montiel. It stars Leguizamo, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Angel Bismark Curiel, Will Hochman, Corwin Tuggles, Jeffry Batista, Ramses Jimenez, Rachel Bay Jones and Michael K. Williams. The film was released on September 4, 2020, by Vertical Entertainment.
About the Story
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 opposition from Principal Kestel, who believes that the class is made up of academic misfits and that the chess club brings little to no glory to the school. Kestel threatens to redirect funding from the chess club to the school’s football team. To offset the price of the registration for the regional competition, 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 regional. 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 after, Ito, dealing with financial troubles, is recruited by a drug kingpin because of his knack with numbers. The boys raise funds for the state championship by washing cars. They also recruit a new member, 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 tickets via sponsorship for them if they made it to the nationals, which they narrowly qualify for due to Ito’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 well and are 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. However, Akopyan mistakenly leaves his clock timer running.
In the bathroom, Akopyan tries to talk Marcel into accepting a draw, and Marcel 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 a time advantage. However, Marcel waits about three minutes and a half without a move to level the game time, and the two finalists resume the game on an equal footing. Eventually, Akopyan has to resign as his position is obviously losing. Marcel is crowned as the new champion alongside the boys and Mr. T.
Critical Thinking (2020)
Directed by: John Leguizamo
Starring: John Leguizamo, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Angel Bismark Curiel, Will Hochman, Corwin Tuggles, Jeffry Batista, Ramses Jimenez, Rachel Bay Jones, Michael K. Williams, Sydney Arroyo
Screenplay by: Dito Montiel
Production Design by: J. Mark Harrington
Cinematography by: Zach Zamboni
Film Editing by: Jamie Kirkpatrick
Costume Design by: Danny Santiago
Set Decoration by: Mark Dane
Art Direction by: Lewis Zucker
Music by: Chris Hajian
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment
Release Date: September 4, 2020
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