348:-cookies goes awry, Mr. T uses his personal savings to register the team in the regional chess tournament. The team wins the tournament to advance to the state championship, and 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 because of his decision to go out of town to the tournament 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.
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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.
31:
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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
351:
The boys face interrogation from police officers who believe that they have information about the murder of another student by a local drug dealer. 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
356:. 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 make 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
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and forbids him from answering the phone, and talks about
Sedrick and his girl Chanakya and what he might do to them. Ito gets angry and grabs Andre, bashing his head on a freezer until Andre is unconscious. Ito then leaves the store and walks into the street.
332:
teacher Mario
Martinez, known to his students as Mr. T. In the class, he also meets Ito, a student who works long hours after school to support his single mother; the class includes class clown Roddy, and Gil, who is of
344:, threatens to redirect funding from the club to the school's football team; however, she decides to offer the team an opportunity to fundraise by selling candy bars. When the boys scheme to convert the candy bars into
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Ito invites Donny and Andre over under the pretense of talking about business, but Andre suspects something to be off about the meeting. He seizes Ito's
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324:, Sedrick is an African-American student living with his widowed father, a knowledgeable chess player. He decides to take chess as an "easy"
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599:"John Leguizamo, 'Bumblebee's Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Michael K. Williams To Star In 'Critical Thinking'; Leguizamo Directing"
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505:. Shortly after, Vertical Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on September 4, 2020.
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681:"SXSW Sets Judd Apatow's 'The King Of Staten Island' As Opening-Night Film, Unveils Features And Episodics Lineups"
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653:"Shot In Liberty City, 'Critical Thinking,' A John Leguizamo Film Proves To Be Heartfelt & Inspirational"
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Principal Kestel, who does not see the value of the chess club at the school and views it as a de facto
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report a score of 65 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
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championship by washing cars. They also recruit a new member, Marcel, whom Mr. T calls
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During the end credits, the real-life chess team and coach are shown.
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began in
November 2018 and was filmed over 20 days, on a budget of
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in March 2020. However, the festival was cancelled due to the
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holds a 94% approval rating on review aggregator website
626:"John Leguizamo's 'Critical Thinking' Open Casting Call"
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270:team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.
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497:was scheduled to have its world premiere at
856:
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706:"City of Austin Cancels SXSW March Events"
308:. It was released on September 4, 2020 by
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1022:English-language biographical drama films
262:film based on the true story of the 1998
444:In November 2015, it was announced that
571:D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 27, 2020).
533:
472:directing from a screenplay written by
280:(in his directorial debut), written by
468:had joined the cast of the film, with
432:Todd Allen Durkin as Detective Ransone
651:Petrillo, Lisa (September 16, 2020).
7:
679:Ray-Ramos, Dino (January 15, 2020).
597:N'Duka, Amanda (November 16, 2018).
566:
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264:Miami Jackson High School chess team
1027:English-language independent films
972:Drama films based on actual events
878:A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
460:, Will Hochman, Jeffrey Battista,
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967:American biographical drama films
423:Jeffry Batista as Marcel Martinez
435:Ziggy Marley as Elizabeth Reagan
292:, and stars Leguizamo alongside
1:
962:2020 biographical drama films
429:Ramses Jimenez as Andre Lamar
164:Chaplin/Berkowitz Productions
1012:2020s English-language films
1007:2020 directorial debut films
997:Vertical Entertainment films
733:Kay, Jeremy (June 2, 2020).
173:Shrodinger’s Cat Productions
793:"Critical Thinking Reviews"
387:as Mario Martinez aka Mr. T
200:September 4, 2020
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762:"Critical Thinking (2020)"
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426:Zora Casebere as Chanayah
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420:Will Hochman as Gil Luna
284:, executive produced by
1002:2020 independent films
310:Vertical Entertainment
186:Vertical Entertainment
982:Films about educators
480:Principal photography
1017:2020s American films
740:Screen International
458:Angel Bismark Curiel
415:Angel Bismark Curiel
405:as Sedrick Roundtree
298:Angel Bismark Curiel
170:Hialeah Park Studios
98:Angel Bismark Curiel
658:CBS Miami (WFOR-TV)
632:. November 18, 2018
542:"Critical Thinking"
454:Michael K. Williams
450:Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
409:Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
399:as Principal Kestel
391:Michael K. Williams
320:In 1998 inner-city
306:Michael K. Williams
294:Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
255:is a 2020 American
120:Michael K. Williams
93:Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
992:Films set in Miami
864:Films directed by
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685:Deadline Hollywood
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509:Critical reception
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18:2020 American film
987:Films set in 1998
977:Films about chess
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894:The Son of No One
824:Critical Thinking
514:Critical Thinking
503:COVID-19 pandemic
495:Critical Thinking
417:as Rodelay Medina
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252:Critical Thinking
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804:December 17,
802:. Retrieved
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282:Dito Montiel
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266:, the first
257:biographical
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244:~$ 3 Million
216:Running time
193:Release date
148:Chris Hajian
132:Zach Zamboni
102:Will Hochman
55:Dito Montiel
15:
926:The Clapper
777:October 30,
486:3 million.
220:117 minutes
73:Jason Mandl
61:Produced by
41:Directed by
957:2020 films
951:Categories
798:Metacritic
664:January 9,
528:References
522:Metacritic
440:Production
328:and meets
268:inner-city
204:2020-09-04
154:Production
51:Written by
934:Riff Raff
910:Boulevard
470:Leguizamo
337:descent.
156:companies
137:Edited by
918:Man Down
886:Fighting
772:Fandango
746:June 25,
718:June 25,
690:June 25,
636:June 25,
610:June 25,
582:July 27,
553:June 25,
358:zugzwang
326:elective
233:Language
145:Music by
81:Starring
490:Release
365:Walkman
354:Duchamp
335:Spanish
236:English
225:Country
202: (
937:(2024)
929:(2017)
921:(2015)
913:(2014)
905:(2013)
897:(2011)
889:(2009)
881:(2006)
241:Budget
322:Miami
260:drama
829:IMDb
806:2020
779:2021
748:2020
720:2020
692:2020
666:2021
638:2020
612:2020
584:2020
555:2020
484:US$
464:and
379:Cast
316:Plot
304:and
288:and
827:at
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206:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
