Ex-felon, Eugene Brown, establishes a Chess Club for inner city teenagers in Washington, D.C.
Director:
Jake Goldberger
From metacritic.com
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Title: Life of a King (2013)
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1 nomination.
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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 | |
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Plot Summary
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Add Synopsis
Storyline
Ex-felon, Eugene Brown, establishes a Chess Club for inner city teenagers in Washington, D.C.
Taglines:
Think before you move.Genres:
DramaMotion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug content and brief violent images - all involving teens | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
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.
See more »
Written by Bernard Harrison
Performed by Bernard Harrison (as Spider Harrison)
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Real life Eugene Brown has cameo at registration desk in final tournament sequence. See more »Goofs
After Tee wins his first tournament in a library, The moderator declares that he has been disqualified because the parent signature was obviously forged by a child. It is impossible to tell the signature of a 16 year old or older teen from a 45 year old parent let alone one who was possibly illiterate and clearly drug addicted as Tee's mother was. While the Moderator could have made his claim, it is unlikely that 20 seconds would not be put forth by someone challenging the faulty logic. In fact, this immediately caused questions by 50% of viewers in one random screening. See more »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.
See more »
Soundtracks
Beautiful DayWritten by Bernard Harrison
Performed by Bernard Harrison (as Spider Harrison)
See more »
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
22 June 2013 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Jogada de Rei See more »Edit
Box Office
Opening Weekend USA:
$4,231, 19 January 2014Gross USA:
$6,547Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$44,161Company Credits
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Technical Specs
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Eugene Brown (Cuba Gooding Jr.) just got out of prison. His daughter Katrina doesn't want to deal with him and he's desperate to prove his worth to her. He gets a job as a janitor at an inner city D.C. school. The kids chase out the teacher monitoring detention and Sheila King (LisaGay Hamilton) puts Eugene in charge for a minute. He does such a great job that she puts him in charge permanently. He starts teaching them to play chess. The effort is opposed by drug lord Perry.
It's yet another 'teach inner city kids something different'. It takes a few different turns than the usual genre movie. The hurdles are a little different. Cuba is relatively good. The young kids are all great. Jake Goldberger's directing is not terribly inventive. It's more of a solid TV movie that is slightly better than the average movie in the genre.