Life of a King (2013)

Ex-felon, Eugene Brown, establishes a Chess Club for inner city teenagers in Washington, D.C.

Director:

Jake Goldberger

Writers:

Jake Goldberger, David Scott

Stars:

Cuba Gooding Jr., Dennis Haysbert, George Dick

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Eugene
Dennis Haysbert	...	Searcy
George Dick	...	Jamal
Thurston Hill III	...	Henry
J.D. Walsh	...	Fritz
Rachae Thomas	...	Katrina
Derrick L. McMillon	...	Billy West (as Derrick McMillon)
LisaGay Hamilton	...	Sheila King
Richard T. Jones	...	Perry
Meakil Bell	...	Darius
Lyn Alicia Henderson	...	Ms. Gadbaw
Carlton Byrd	...	Clifton
Kevin Hendricks	...	Peanut
Malcolm M. Mays	...	Tahime
Hammerton Killick	...	Derek

Storyline

Ex-felon, Eugene Brown, establishes a Chess Club for inner city teenagers in Washington, D.C.

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Plot Keywords:

chess | 

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Taglines:

Think before you move.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug content and brief violent images - all involving teens

Did You Know?

Trivia

Big Chair Chess Club has captured five city titles in four national championships, prompting the mayor of Washington D.C. To proclaim June 15th as The Big Chair Chess Club Day.

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Goofs

When Eugene and Taheme are being interviewed at the radio station Taheme storms out of the session and throws his headphones on the floor. In the next shot the headphones appear perfectly arranged on the table.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Searcy: [knocking over the king] Wanna play again? Chance to get those cigarettes back.
Eugene: I'm scared, man. I don't got too many friends on the outside. Not any more.
Searcy: Just keep your eye on the end game. Everything'll fall into place.
Eugene: I'm gonna miss you chess man.
Searcy: Listen to me, Eugene. Every day you out there, you out there for me, and every other brother in here. 'Cuz I'm never gonna be out there again.

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Soundtracks

"I Cant Let You Go'
Written by David Mindel (as David Richard Mindel)

User Reviews

Different enough from the previous "helping inner city kids" movies to make it interesting and worth seeing. Never went cheesy.

"This is a king. This is your life. One mistake and it can be taken away." Eugene Brown (Gooding Jr.) is an ex-felon who is struggling to find a job and relate to his kids. After finding a job as a high school janitor he is asked to watch the detention kids one day until they can find a replacement. When he brings up the topic of chess he begins to change the lives of the "troubled kids" forever. I love movies based on true stories, but I was worried about seeing this going in. One one hand a true story with Cuba Gooding Jr, that is good. On the other hand though I thought how many times can they remake Lean On Me? After movies like that one and Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, Fame, etc... I wondered how different can this one be. While I have to admit it wasn't 100% different it was very very good and much much better then I was expecting. The best part about this movie is that it stayed just a step or two away from being way to cheesy to be enjoyed but it did a good job of changing things just enough to keep it feeling real while keeping the emotion that it needed. Different enough from the previous "helping inner city kids" movies to make it interesting and worth seeing. Overall, very good and never took the over-the-top cheesy way out that so many of these types of movies do. That is a good thing and because of that I highly recommend the movie. I give this an A-.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 June 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Life of a King

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,231, 19 January 2014

Gross USA:

$6,547

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$44,161

Company Credits

Production Co:

Animus Films, Serena Films, Steakhaus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color