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Critical Thinking

The true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team which was the first inner city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship. The true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team which was the first inner city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship. The true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team which was the first inner city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.

• John Leguizamo
• Dito Montiel
• Rachel Bay Jones
• Michael Kenneth Williams
• 31 User reviews
• 20 Critic reviews
• 65 Metascore

• Mr. Martinez

• Principal Kestel

• Mr. Roundtree

• Sedrick Roundtree

• Oelmy 'Ito' Paniagua
• (as Jorge Lendeborg)

• Rodelay Medina
• (as Angel Bismark Curiel)

• Marcel Martinez

• Detective Ransone

• Detective Vargas
• Michael Rivera

• Jitney Driver

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Martinez started the after-school chess club in 1992 after his teacher's lounge rounds of chess with another teacher sparked student interest. His playing partner left the school that year and students began challenging him to matches so the club was born.
• Goofs During Ito's game at the regional tournament, both Ito and Martinez say that he is in "Zugzwang". However, in a real "Zugzwang" situation, a player loses only because he is forced to make a move, while Ito lose the same way even if it was his opponent's time to move, as he could take the pawn on d3 with the queen.

Mr. Martinez : All right, now, people, this is gonna be very basic for some of you, but for the fish, or the newbies as I like to call you, this is gonna be eye opening because what you've got is 64 squares, 32 pieces, it doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, what Ivy League school you may go or you may not go to, what prison you hopefully never set foot in, because chess is the great equalizer.

• Crazy credits Over the credits, there are interviews with the real people who the movie is based on.
• Soundtracks What Would You Do Written by Timothy McNealy Performed by Timothy McNealy Published by Afrika Kuruvilla Kurian, BMI

User reviews 31

• Top_Dawg_Critic
• Dec 4, 2020
• How long is Critical Thinking? Powered by Alexa
• September 4, 2020 (United States)
• United States
• Eleştirel Düşünme
• Miami, Florida, USA
• Critical thinking
• Cinema Veritas
• Hialeah Park Studios
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $3,000,000 (estimated)

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 57 minutes

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Critical Thinking

Where to watch.

Watch Critical Thinking with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Strategic in delivering all the feels, Critical Thinking is a good old-fashioned underdog story that marks a winning directorial debut for John Leguizamo.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

John Leguizamo

Mario Martinez

Rachel Bay Jones

Principal Kestel

Michael Kenneth Williams

Mr. Roundtree

Corwin C. Tuggles

Sedrick Roundtree

Jorge Lendeborg

Ito Paniagua

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, critical thinking.

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In the press materials for “Critical Thinking,” producer Carla Berkowitz drops this line about her reaction to reading the true story that inspired the film: “The image and story was haunting and I felt like I had a quantum shift in my perception of chess and who plays it.” The who in question are five Miami-area Black and Latino men who, along with their teacher, Mr. Martinez, brought back to their underprivileged Florida neighborhood the U.S. National Chess Championship. This happened in 1998. The film chronicles the loving camaraderie of the players and the events leading up to their victory.

In that same press release, acclaimed writer and actor John Leguizamo , who plays Martinez and also directs, states that he wanted to make this film because there were very few representations of Latin people on-screen when he was growing up. He also mentioned that the book The Bell Curve  harmfully depicted people of color as being mentally inferior due to our genetics. I wondered if, like me, Leguizamo grew up in an environment where the Black and brown people he knew played chess, so that it wouldn’t seem unusual nor an anomaly that they did. Because Berkowitz’s statement really made me consider what exactly the standard issue chess player was supposed to look like.

Chess has appeared in a lot of movies, from Boaz Yakin ’s “ Fresh ” to Steven Zaillian ’s “Searching for Bobby Fisher” to 2016’s superb Mira Nair film, “ Queen of Katwe .” I even remember it being prevalent in a crappy Gary Coleman TV movie about a smart Black kid. The game always carries the same symbolic qualifier: the person who plays it has a mental capacity for strategy and is intelligent. Chess is often employed to teach life lessons in these movies, to the point where it has become a cliché that just so happens to be used differently depending on who’s playing it. This difference is something that I admit often sticks in my craw, so I found myself wrestling a bit with this movie even though it seemed to be addressing my concern.

Unlike Zaillian’s film, which I guess answers my question of what a “standard issue” chess player is supposed to look like, the protagonists in the other films I’ve mentioned, and in “Critical Thinking,” are people of color whose economical circumstances are far from ideal. This tends to be the model when minorities are seen playing chess in films, which bends the cinematic chess player cliché toward making the ability to play the game the audience’s reason to offer empathy. Sure, they’re broke, probably in crime-ridden areas and may even do a crime or two, but see, they’re smart, so it’s OK to feel for them! This line of thinking has to do with who stereotypically plays chess and who does not.

Leguizamo’s Mr. Martinez speaks to this early in “Critical Thinking” by asking why chess is never associated with brown people despite a Latin man playing a major role in its evolution. “Why don’t you think we know about him?” he asks the students in his critical thinking class before delivering a great, pointed monologue that speaks about how history is taught in schools. The script by Dito Montiel has some sharp commentary about the education system, from what gets funded to the over-reliance on test scores to the differences between Martinez’s inner city school and the posh preppy institutions who fall victim to our heroes on the tournament circuit. There’s a bit more bite than you may be expecting, and the writing is just prickly enough to balance out the moments when the film dives headfirst into its tropes. And there are numerous tropes to swim in; not only is this a sports movie, it’s also an entry in the “Beloved Teacher” genre.

Our chess champion team is comprised of Sedrick Roundtree ( Corwin C. Tuggles ), Ito Paniagua (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), Gil Luna ( Will Hochman ), Rodelay Medina (Angel Curiel) and later, Marcel Martinez ( Jeffry Batista ) who joins the team after dispensing a hustler’s ass-whipping in a speed chess match. Their dialogue is peppered with the language the PG-13 won’t allow but realism will. Martinez is often telling them “watch your mouth” in his class, even if, in his less guarded moments, he’s prone to occasional profanity. Leguizamo gets good performances from each of them, especially in moments where you really feel the bond between teammates, both in the tournaments and in the streets. When they tell each other that they’ve got each other’s backs, there’s a real emotional pull that emanates straight from the actors.

Though this is an inspirational movie, Leguizamo and Montiel never sugarcoat the dangers of the environment their characters inhabit. The potential for violence, temporary homelessness, crime, and police harassment are always hovering in the margins, sometimes even invading the safe space of Martinez’s class or the school. An early sequence that shockingly ends in violence shows how good Leguizamo is at quickly establishing the audience’s tie to a character. When Rivera (Dre C) is thrown into critical thinking class after a disciplinary problem (“my class is not detention!” Martinez yells at frenemy Principal Kesler [ Rachel Bay Jones ]), he immediately runs afoul of Ito. Rivera’s lack of response is due to Spanish being his primary language, which may also have something to do with the infraction that got him sent to this class. Martinez talks to him in Spanish, lectures Ito and all seems well.

Rivera is then brutally assassinated in broad daylight after accidentally bumping into another person on the street. The film is barely 15 minutes old when this happens, but it immediately establishes that “Critical Thinking” has no plans of abandoning reality for its feel-good message. That sense of realism extends to the way the characters bond with, rib, and defend each other. Additionally, Leguizamo plays Martinez as someone who understands the temptations and frustrations of his students’ world. He challenges them to do for themselves because he knows all too well that the system has no intention of lending a helping hand.

Like Nair does in “Queen of Katwe,” Leguizamo also blatantly refuses to impose on poverty any notions of shame or requests for pity. “Chess is the great equalizer,” Martinez tells his team as they navigate snooty tournament heads and appearances against challengers from much posher ‘hoods. Even when things get expectedly dire for some of the characters, “Critical Thinking” remains focused on the characters’ response to the situation, never once stripping them of their dignity for cheap emotional manipulation.

Of all the team members, Sedrick has the most detailed arc. He has a girlfriend, Chanayah ( Zora Casebere ), who is supportive and tougher than she looks, and a father ( Michael Kenneth Williams ) whose sole job here is to fill that chess movie trope of the angry guy who uses chess as a means of brutal domination. Williams is an always welcome presence, but I could have done without him. Still, there is one very good moment where he shows some growth, and his son makes a snide comment that he silently acknowledges as being right.

The chess scenes are good even if you know nothing about chess. I’ve been playing since I was five, so of course I wanted more detailed representations than Leguizamo provides. I found his classroom lessons and the team’s banter about moves fascinating, and every time I was given a good look at a chessboard, I got closer to the screen to investigate. And yet, despite its acknowledgement of my aforementioned issues, I still felt a little itchy watching “Critical Thinking.” I am always game for a movie that makes me reckon with my personal feelings and biases, and I’m glad this one exists because representation will always speak volumes. If nothing else, “Critical Thinking” reminds you what a chess player can look like.

Odie Henderson

Odie "Odienator" Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire  here .

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Critical Thinking (2020)

117 minutes

John Leguizamo as Mario Martinez

Rachel Bay Jones as Principal Kestel

Michael Kenneth Williams as Mr. Roundtree

Corwin C. Tuggles as Sedrick Roundtree

Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Ito Paniagua

Angel Bismark Curiel as Rodelay Medina

Will Hochman as Gil Luna

Jeffry Batista as Marcel Martinez

Zora Casebere as Chanayah

• John Leguizamo
• Dito Montiel

Cinematographer

• Zach Zamboni
• Jamie Kirkpatrick
• Chris Hajian

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‘Critical Thinking’ Review: John Leguizamo’s Inspirational High-School Chess Drama

The true story of the Miami Jackson High chess team — five brainy wizards from the inner city — is told in a rousing but conventional way.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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“ Critical Thinking ” is one of those up-from-the-streets high-school competition movies where just mentioning the true story it’s based on kind of gives the game away. Set in 1998, it’s about the five chess wizards from Miami Jackson High who became the first inner-city chess team to win the National Championship. Boom! But, of course, it’s how they got there that matters, and even if this movie weren’t based on a true story, you’d know more or less know where it’s going. “Critical Thinking” has some appealing young actors, and it’s been directed, by John Leguizamo (who costars as the film’s tough-saint teacher), in a way that gives them the space to clown around and then get serious. It’s still, in the end, a bit of a connect-the-inspirational-dots movie, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be inspired.

Leguizamo plays Mario Martinez, who teaches an elective class in chess at Miami Jackson, where his students call him “Mr. T.” They’re a rowdy, bellicose, street-smart bunch, hard to control in class, so at first we think we’re seeing one of those movies, like “Stand and Deliver” or “To Sir, with Love,” about a captivatingly square gadfly instructor who shows a bunch of underprivileged kids how to transcend the expectations (or lack thereof) that have been thrust upon them.

In a way, “Critical Thinking” is one of those movies, though with a crucial caveat: The basic training — the intellectual whipping into shape — has all happened before the drama even starts. Martinez, in his thankless underpaid plaid-shirts-off-the-rack way, is beloved by his students, and he has taught them well; they’re chess players who’ve got the game in their blood. (It’s the only thing that gets them to settle down .) Leguizamo, who spent a number of his early one-man stage shows sketching in (often quite brilliantly) the lives of young people from a similar background, knows how to create scenes that bubble with spontaneity. And he himself plays Martinez with an effusive, slightly weary middle-aged demeanor that’s touching, because what he nails is the unabashed corniness of certain great high-school teachers — their willingness to put on a show for their kids, to turn the life of the mind into energized nerd theater.

At one point, using the magnetic chess board at the front of the class, he plays out a chess match authored (and recorded) by Paul Morphy in 1858, and he makes it sound as exciting as something on Roblox. He employs silly accents (Southern, French, Austrian) and puts on wigs and fake beards to enact the game, and he draws the kids into it, challenging them in his geek-with-cool-slang way (“Why is it a wack move, Sedrick? Don’t just talk to me, man, show me!”).

It’s one of the only scenes where we actually witness the mechanics of chess, and while that’s always a challenge for a chess drama (there’s only so much it can lure the lay audience into the heady intricacies of the game), I wish the students’ connection with chess were less of a given, and a little less abstract. Watching “Critical Thinking,” you’d never even know that the art of chess is rooted in thinking several moves ahead. Yet Leguizamo stages the matches with percussive power, the kids pounding their time clocks even as their eyes burrow into the board like lasers.

Much of the film’s appeal lies in the way it revels in chess as a pure symbol of leveling the playing field of opportunity. As Mr. T explains, chess is “the great equalizer.” It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, what Ivy League college or prison you’re in: The elemental nature of the game shears away everything but intellectual ability. So in a drama like “Critical Thinking,” where five students (four Latinx and one African-American) bust out of a high school with limited resources to attend a series of tournaments, there’s a democracy-in-action, anyone-can-win-in-America spirit.

The actors are terrific; the roles, as written, less so. Leguizamo is working from a script, by Dito Montiel, that walks the line between lived-in experience and overboiled cliché. Sedrick is played by Corwin Tuggles, who has a great pensive face, and he lends conviction to the character’s struggles at home. But it still feels like a contrivance that his father (Michael Kenneth Williams), an angry curmudgeon who treats his son’s chess victories as if they were beneath contempt, is also…the guy who plays chess with him every day! The other pivotal character is the canny hothead Ito (Jorge Lendeborg Jr,.), who begins to moonlight as a drug dealer, and though it’s not that we don’t buy it, it plays out like one of those obligatory flirtation-with-delinquency subplots from the 1980s.

There’s also a newly arrived immigrant from Cuba who joins the class — a sleek prodigy named Marcel (Jeffrey Batista), who can play (and win) four simultaneous games with his eyes closed. Always good to have someone like that on your team! As likable an actor as Leguizamo is, “Critical Thinking” never generates the teacher/student face-off intensity that “Stand and Deliver” did. The issue of how the team members fund their trips, with Martinez having to win over a skeptical principal (Rachel Bay Jones), creates some tension along the sidelines, yet once these kids start to win their tournaments it seems like they can do no wrong. The picture is pleasant enough, but watching it you’re always one or two moves ahead.

Related: 

Reviewed online, Aug. 31, 2020. MPAA Rating: Not rated. Running time: 113 MIN.

• Production: A Vertical Entertainment release of a Chaplin/Berkowitz production, in association with NRSP, Cinema Veritas. Producers: Scott Rosenfelt, Jason Mandl. Executive producers: Harvey R. Chaplin, Carla Berkowitz, Emilio Estefan Jr.
• Crew: Director: John Leguizamo. Screenplay: Dito Montiel. Camera: Zach Zambone. Editor: Jamie Kirkpatrick. Music: Chris Hajian.
• With: John Leguizamo, Corwin Tuggles, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Will Hochman, Angel Curiel, Jeffrey Batista, Michael Kenneth Williams, Rachel Bay Jones, Zora Casebere.

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‘Critical Thinking’ Review: All the Right Moves

John Leguizamo directs and stars in this warmhearted drama about underprivileged teenagers who enter a national chess championship.

• Share full article

By Jeannette Catsoulis

Whether championing math, poetry, or just how to be a decent human being , the inspirational teacher is as familiar to movie audiences as the class stoner. “Critical Thinking” does little to detach itself from genre cliché; yet this heartfelt drama about a rough-and-tumble group of high-schoolers who claw their way to a national chess tournament has a sweetness that softens its flaws.

Based on a true story and set in an underserved Miami neighborhood in 1998, the movie drops us into the boisterous classroom of Mr. Martinez (played by the director, John Leguizamo).

“Chess is the great equalizer,” he tells his multiethnic students, using the game to teach his critical thinking elective — with a side of racial history discouraged by his school board. The principal (Rachel Bay Jones) might treat his classroom like a dumping ground for miscreants, but Martinez, assisted by wigs and funny accents, explains complicated chess moves with a deftness that cuts through their indifference.

With goals as modest as the lives of its characters, “Critical Thinking” follows the predictable arc of the underdog drama as the chess team overcomes troubled home situations and other setbacks on the road to a Beverly Hills-set finale. Slow and straightforward, the movie knows that a chess match is hardly a barnburner; but its lively young performers and their eventual triumph are easy to warm to. Drugs and gangs might beckon — and immigration officers hover just outside the frame — but they’re no match for the values of sportsmanship and teamwork. And Mr. Martinez’s pep talks.

Critical Thinking Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas, or rent or buy on iTunes , Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.

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Critical Thinking: Is the 2020 Movie Based on Real Chess Players?

Directed by John Leguizamo, ‘Critical Thinking’ is a 2020 sports film that follows a group of kids from Miami Jackson High School trying to win the National Chess Championship. Led by Mario Martinez, the team comprises Sedrick Roundtree, Marcel Martinez, Gilbert Luna, Rodelay Medina, and Olemy Paniagua. The five boys come from the inner parts of Miami, where the families strive daily for necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing. Coach Mario Martinez sees their interest in chess as an opportunity for growth and sets out on a quest to create history.

Set in 1998, the film portrays what it’s like to come from underprivileged backgrounds and how classism deprives poor people of great opportunities. In addition, the narrative tackles subjects such as racism and juvenile crimes and depicts how the latter results from several other factors in a system that doesn’t uplift the downtrodden. The various characters and backdrops feel authentic and allow the audience to empathize with the people they see onscreen. The compelling performances and organic character journeys have made many wonder if the the story is rooted in reality. Well, allow us to shed some light on the matter.

Critical Thinking: Based on True Events

Yes, ‘Critical Thinking’ is a true story. Written by Dito Montiel and directed by John Leguizamo, the movie captures the events leading up to the 1998 National Chess Championship. It showcases how Mario Martinez and his team of boys from Miami Jackson High School won the title. The group is also the first-ever team from Miami to win the national title in chess . Executive producer, Carla Berkowitz, came up with this idea when she read an article in 1997 about the boys of Miami Jackson. She wanted to tell the story of all these boys doing such incredible things in the chess world with Mario Martinez’s help.

Interestingly the movie is quite close to how the events unfolded in real life. All 5 players in the movie are based on real-life chess players. Even the character of Coach Mario Martinez in the film has a real-life counterpart, who is a chess teacher . The real-life figures also played a significant role in the filming process. In an interview with CineMovie, Carla Berkowitz said , “All the boys that were portrayed and Mario obviously were the consultants in the chess movie.”

Another fascinating aspect is that Berkowitz wanted to make the movie for about two decades. Although filming began in 2018, Carla Berkowitz has been in touch with all players and Mario Martinez since 1997. While describing the movie’s accuracy, the real Mario Martinez and Carla Berkowitz mentioned a few things. First, all games we see the players play in the movie were played by their real-life counterparts. Second, Marcel’s book of chess moves also existed in real life. Third, the scene where Marcel plays with Mario, Sedrick, Roddy, and Gil, with his eyes closed, happened in reality too.

Numerous events in the movie mirror circumstances that transpired in reality, which elevates the narrative’s authenticity. ‘Critical Thinking’ is far more than a chess championship for Mario Martinez and the boys. The group comes from a place where they have nothing but want to create a better life for themselves. However, the boys do not get a fair shot at anything due to racial discrimination and financial circumstances. Coach Martinez sees chess as an opportunity and a metaphor for their life.

At the film’s beginning, Martinez says that chess is an equalizer that puts everyone on a level playing field. In fact, the teacher solves almost every problem with a chess move because he considers the game symbolic of life. The ideology comes from the real-life coach. In an interview with Orlando Sentinel, he said , “Chess is a way of looking at choices and realizing, ‘If I do this, then this will happen. If I do that, then that will happen,'” Martinez deduced, “Choices have consequences. That’s critical thinking. That’s analytical. And that’s life.”

The coach always applies this philosophy in the movie, which leads the boys to bag the national title. Marcel wins the title for the individuals’ category, and Miami Jackson High School wins in the teams’ category. In real-life, Coach Martinez didn’t stop with the 1998 championship title. The teacher went on to win several more via kids who developed an interest in the sport. In the next four years, he offered his guidance to various teams comprising different players representing Miami Jackson and won 4 more national championship titles.

In 2000, Rodelay Medina became the national champion in the expert division. Marcel played three opponents simultaneously while being blindfolded. Therefore, to reiterate, ‘Critical Thinking’ is a true story of a group of boys and their coach from Miami Jackson. It essays how Martinez and his team become the first from Miami to win the National Chess Championship. The narrative also portrays how the boys overcome several struggles and move toward a hopeful future.

Read More: Is Mario Martinez Based on a Real-Life Coach? Where is He Now?

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Critical thinking, common sense media reviewers.

Underdog chess team defies odds but plays into stereotypes.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Positive themes of teamwork and defiance against t

Main characters are depicted as underdogs whose su

Frequent gun use. One character is abruptly shot a

Occasional kissing.

Frequent use of the words "f--k," "s--t," and "ass

Adults get drunk. Underage characters smoke cigare

Parents need to know that Critical Thinking is a fact-based drama about a high school chess team from an underserved community that defies the odds to make it to the U.S. National Chess Championship. Directed by and starring John Leguizamo, the movie has frequent swearing ("f--k," "s--t," etc.), underage…

Positive Messages

Positive themes of teamwork and defiance against the odds are prevalent. While it exposes some of the broken systems in public education, it fails to fully portray its teen characters' humanity, contributing to problematic stereotypes.

Positive Role Models

Main characters are depicted as underdogs whose success goes against everyone's expectations. Some show determination, but most play into stereotypes associated with Black and Latinx teens from under-resourced communities -- i.e., unmotivated, unintelligent jokesters. That makes it seem like their success is because of some paradoxical talent instead of their strength of character. Failure to see these kids' humanity contributes to their stereotyping, on-screen and off.

Violence & Scariness

Frequent gun use. One character is abruptly shot and killed. Another character is punched and strangled to death. Parents emotionally abuse children.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent use of the words "f--k," "s--t," and "ass."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults get drunk. Underage characters smoke cigarettes. Drug dealing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Critical Thinking is a fact-based drama about a high school chess team from an underserved community that defies the odds to make it to the U.S. National Chess Championship. Directed by and starring John Leguizamo , the movie has frequent swearing ("f--k," "s--t," etc.), underage cigarette smoking, drug dealing, punching, strangling, and gun violence that results in death. Parents emotionally abuse children. While positive themes of teamwork and overcoming challenges are prevalent, the movie's Black and Latinx teens are stereotypically depicted as unintelligent with little work ethic and their success as an anomaly. Rachel Bay Jones and Michael Kenneth Williams co-star. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In CRITICAL THINKING, teacher Mr. T ( John Leguizamo ) oversees an unofficial detention hall at Miami Jackson Senior High School, where students are sent if they're deemed troublesome. Mr. T seizes the opportunity to start a chess team, all while navigating limited resources, a school with little faith in his students' abilities, and the stressors of his students' turbulent personal lives. When the team starts to succeed, the students come up with creative fundraisers to pay for travel and lodging at their competitions. But none of this is easy. One teen faces pressures at home from an emotionally abusive father who resents his son's talents. Another is pulled into dealing drugs to make ends meet. All the while, Mr. T is the loving, encouraging adult they crave.

Is It Any Good?

This drama is the classic story of an underdog team overcoming the odds and making it all the way; unfortunately, it falls back on stereotypical characterizations to tell its tale. The Miami Jackson team seems to be in this position because its members -- Black and Latinx teens from under-resourced communities -- have historically underestimated identities. The film plays on the biases that are often held about these identities by depicting the teens as shiftless and unfocused. They're careless in their fundraising efforts, they try to pass notes during tournaments, and they use the threat of physical violence to intimidate their opponents.

Their chess skills are an afterthought, making their success feel like an anomaly. And it certainly doesn't help that a White teen joins the team as they gain momentum and becomes their shining star -- teaching the other kids new chess moves and giving them vocabulary lessons. He's the only teen character whose background, personal life, and stressors aren't explored. So while Critical Thinking is diverse in its casting and exposes some of the broken systems in public education, it misses the mark in humanizing its characters. The failure to see these kids' humanity contributes to their stereotyping, on-screen and off.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Critical Thinking handles stereotypes and biases. Can media offer positive representations while still promoting stereotypical characterizations?

What does Critical Thinking teach viewers about student engagement and the importance of teaching things in a fun way?

What role does teamwork play in Critical Thinking ? Why is it an important character strength ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 4, 2020
• On DVD or streaming : September 4, 2020
• Cast : John Leguizamo , Rachel Bay Jones , Michael Kenneth Williams
• Director : John Leguizamo
• Inclusion Information : Latino directors, Latino actors, Female actors
• Studio : Vertical Entertainment
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : High School
• Character Strengths : Teamwork
• Run time : 117 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 19, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

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Critical Thinking

• Credits 
• Trailers  [1]
• Image gallery  [2]

All images are copyrighted by their respective copyright holders and/or producers/distributors.

• Rachel Bay Jones

• Corwin C. Tuggles

• Jeffry Batista
• Zora Casebere
• Ramses Jimenez

• See all credits
• "'Critical Thinking' shows that Leguizamo makes a good teacher on screen and behind the camera (...) A story that is truly inspiring and educational"  Joe Blessing : The Playlist
• "The picture is pleasant enough, but watching it you’re always one or two moves ahead."  Owen Gleiberman : Variety
• "Leguizamo has delivered an outstanding directorial achievement"  Ethan Anderton : SlashFilm
• "'Critical Thinking' does little to detach itself from genre cliché; yet this heartfelt drama (...) has a sweetness that softens its flaws."  Jeannette Catsoulis : The New York Times
• "The script by Dito Montiel has some sharp commentary about the education system (...) Leguizamo and Montiel never sugarcoat the dangers of the environment their characters inhabit (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"  Odie Henderson : rogerebert.com
• "The beauty of Leguizamo's film is that the filmmaker never tries to outmaneuver the viewer. This may be a textbook case of an inspirational teacher/underdog sports drama, but it surehandedly delivers the feels"  Gary M. Kramer : Salon
• "This inspirational sports drama has a worthy message (...) but viewers may ultimately prefer to have seen a documentary about the real-life participants rather than this earnest, conventional dramatisation."  Tim Grierson : Screendaily

All copyrighted material (movie posters, DVD covers, stills, trailers) and trademarks belong to their respective producers and/or distributors.

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