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Take care of the king first. A ‘Life Of A King’ Movie Review
This movie revolves around Eugene as he is leaving the prison where he has served 17 years. It seems as though this movie takes place sometime in the 70s or 80s maybe even early 90s, due to the costume and set design.
Eugene meets up with his daughter and finds out that his son Marco is locked up since he has been away, and we can see that he is clearly disturbed by the news. Eugene meets up with his old buddy who helps him get a job at a school.
This shows to me that world is not always about what you know but who you know! As Eugene is trying get into his halfway home he comes into contact with Perry who seems to have taken up Eugene’s mantle since he’s been gone. We then see a typical after school detention with some delinquent kids, and there is a tense scene with the teacher and who subsequently leaves to get the principal. When the principal comes back she is very surprised how the kids are acting after being with Eugene. Afterwards we can see the struggle of Eugene trying to build a relationship with his estranged daughter. I really liked how the game of chess can be applied to real life situations, as presented by this movie.
Shortly after, we see Eugene in a detention facility trying to reach out to his son. Which didn’t work out so good. The character T is an interesting character due to his mother situation and his unstable lifestyle. But there is a scene where T comes and plays for peanut and he beats the guy masterfully. T refuses to believe that the game of chess presents any opportunities. As Eugene is doing well, Perry guys drops some info to Eugene’s employer and Eugene is fired. Eugene comes back to Perry. Perry is actually an interesting character because he really reminds me of an ENTJ in his mannerisms. Cuba Gooding plays the role of Eugen Brown very well, and really makes you feel the frustration for the character and his situation. There is a saying when you live in the hood. You are always choosing between bad and worse decisions. The kids T, Peanut and Clifton go to a back alley deal and things go wrong. One of the kids is shot, it is definitely an emotional scene. We then see from the devastation of that Eugene was able to rebuild the chess club with the help from the kids of the neighborhood. There is even a scene where the principal comes by the house and was impressed. We can see that the chess club is doing well, and is actually making a difference. Throughout the film you can tell this is a multi-layered storyline. Overall I would have to say that this film was enjoyable and it gives you an uplifting haze after watching it. What do you think about the film?