Queen of Katwe

Year: 2016

Director: Mira Nair

Starring: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Martin Kabanza
Tagline: One girl's triumphant path to becoming a chess champion
Synopsis: A girl from a Ugandan slum finds purpose and freedom through chess.

Review

Queen of Katwe is one of those films that, sadly, fell under the radar.  It didn't get much publicity.  Nor did it get a very wide release.  Which is too bad, because it is a beautiful and inspiring film.

If I had to describe the film in one word, it would be "humbling."

When we first meet Phiona, she is illiterate, peddling maize in the streets, and living in the slums with her mother, sister, and two brothers.  Soon she and her brother meet Robert Katenda, an educated man who works for a local mission teaching children chess.  He teaches them to make a plan: in chess and in life.  The grim realities of these children's lives is portrayed with honesty and dignity.  There are no charity cases here.  These are hungry minds (in hungry bodies) that latch onto a game that empowers them.

If I had to describe the film in a second word, it would be "empowering."

Chess, for the "Katwe Pioneers," does become empowering.  And it is beautiful to watch.  The kids are able to compete in a tournament and travel to a school.  In the morning, Robert goes to their dorm room and sees all their cots unslept in.  Instead, the children -- unaccustomed to such luxuries -- are sleeping together on the floor.  They then proceed to beat a number of the city kids.  And it's not just Phiona who wins.  This is her story mainly.  But it is also a journey for other kids as well.

If the film has a flaw, it is that it tries too hard to fit the "sports movie" mold.  Honestly, I find chess boring and the chess scenes are the weakest parts of the film.  There were also a few too many sports cliches thrown in.  The film was best when it was a story about people, not games.

What really elevates the story are the actors.  Lupita Nyong'o is fierce as Phiona's mother.  She is the most interesting character: protective, proud, stubborn, but eager to give her children a better life.  Her scenes with Robert are especially interesting as they both try to do what is best for Phiona.  The children all do a terrific job as well and (I believe) are all newcomers to acting.  They really ground the film in reality.

Which brings me to the best part of the film.  The Queen of Katwe is based on a true story ... a story which occurred only a few years ago (the climax takes place in 2011).  During the credits, each actor is shown and then is joined by their real life counterpart.  Seeing those actual children (now teenagers) and reading about the changes that have come into their lives is sobering, humbling, and empowering.  Because of chess (and people like Robert who believe in them), they have better lives, are gaining educations, and are finding their ways out of the slums.

I don't know how much longer Queen of Katwe will be in theaters.  So if you want to see it, you may have to wait until it is available on video or Netflix.  It is worth watching, not so much for the chess, but for the story of the very real humans -- children -- who play the game to better their lives.

Quotable Quotes

• "In chess, the small one can become the big one." -- Gloria to Phiona (explaining how a pawn can become a queen in chess)
• "Sometimes the place you are used to is not the place you belong.  You belong where you believe you belong." -- Robert to Phiona
• "What matters is when you reset the pieces ... and play again."  Robert to Phiona
• "Check mate." -- Phiona (repeated)

ISFS

Storks

Year: 2016

Director: Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland

Starring: Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, and Anton Starkman
Tagline: Find your flock
Synopsis: Instead of delivering babies, storks now deliver packages.  But when a baby is accidentally created, Junior (a stork) and Tulip (an orphan) must work together to get her to her proper home.

Review

Before the feature film, there was a Lego Ninjago short film.  It was amusing enough, involving a ninja master in an epic battle with a chicken as related by an increasingly flustered narrator.

When I saw the trailers for Storks, I thought it had potential for a few laughs.  But it also looked like it would have elements that would grow old very quickly.  And that's pretty much how the film plays out.  Some things work.  Some things don't.  Some gags made me chuckle.  Other gags made me roll my eyes.

The character Pigeon Toady fell into the latter category.  I was pretty much annoyed whenever he was on screen.  Is he a spoof of something?

The wolf pack, on the other hand, I found rather amusing.  The film is made by Warner Bros., and the wolf pack seems to hearken back to the zany antics of Looney Tunes characters.  Who knew wolves could form their pack into suspension bridges, submarines, and minivans (to name a few)?

Perhaps the funniest moment in the film comes when the baby is asleep and a fight to claim her takes place between Junior/Tulip and a waddle* of penguins.  So as not to wake the baby, they have a silent fight complete with muffled screams.  Again, it is very much in the vein of Bugs, Daffy, and Wile E. Coyote.

[* Yes, "waddle" is the collective noun for penguins on land.]

As for the plot itself, there's not a lot to it.  We mainly follow Junior and Tulip as they try to get the baby to her human family without the rest of the storks finding out, since storks now deliver packages and not babies.  The story goes at a reasonably good clip, but it still felt a bit slow because I didn't particularly like either of the main characters.

The human subplot was much more interesting and I think more relatable.  Nate is a lonely boy with workaholic parents.  So, he does the only logical thing: he writes a letter asking the storks to send him a baby brother (with ninja skills).  This ends up as a catalyst for his parents to start spending time with him and bonding as a family.  By the time they do get their bundle of joy, they are ready as a family to receive her.  (It's a kids movie; that shouldn't be much of a spoiler.)

As middling as the story and characters are, as I've thought about Storks, I've found myself liking it most of all for the message it contained.  (It could have done a lot more with it, but the message was there nonetheless.)  For thousands of years, storks delivered babies.  That was what they did.  Cue the modern day when baby delivery became viewed as being fraught with too many hazards and not enough profitability.  That's when storks decided to get out of the baby business and deliver easier, safer, more profitable packages instead.

As the film progresses, we get a sense that something is missing in the lives of the storks.  Their purpose has been lost.  They've sold their birthright for something easier.  They stopped filling the measure of their creation.  And when the storks again find their purpose, I felt a twinge of emotion, because right there, in the middle of this zany kids movie, is a nugget of truth.  Be who you were born to be, even when it is the more difficult path to follow.

While Storks is far from the best animated film I've seen this summer, it also isn't the worst.  [**cough** Ice Age 5 **cough**]  It has its moments that make it worth a Redbox or Netflix night.

Quotable Quotes

• "Orphan Tulip?" "Tulip is fine.  'Orphan' hurts my heart." -- Junior and Tulip
• "Wolf pack submarine!" [The wolves form themselves into a submarine.] "What is happening?" -- Alpha Wolf and Junior
• "Don't worry.  She's with penguins.  There are whole documentaries about how great they are at baby-sitting." -- Hunter

ISFS