Knights of the South Bronx is based on the story of David MacEnulty, one of the first coaches in New York City's Chess-in-the-Schools program. Ted Danson plays the MacEnulty character, named Richard Mason in the movie.
Danson's character, a fired corporate whistle-blower, takes a job as a substitute teacher in an elementary school in an economically depressed neighborhood. A chess expert, he finds that is the one way he can bond with his class and get them to learn.
A motivated teacher can change the world, and it seems some of the best have come from corporate backgrounds and have made teaching a second career. Jaime Escalante of Stand and Deliver fame was a Silicon Valley executive before finding his true calling teaching math to inner-city youths. Danson is believable and as always, likable as Mason/MacEnulty. The four children with the biggest roles are charmers. Keke Palmer, a 12-year-old beauty who made a big impression playing opposite William H. Macy in The Wool Cap is every bit as impressive as Kenya Russell, a girl who refuses to let her crack head mother destroy her future. Malcolm David Kelley is Jimmy Washington, a kid who refuses to be daunted or cowed by beatings administered by the local gang toughs. Yucini Diaz is Renee Soto, who has the job of looking after her kindergärtner brother, Dawson, who turns out to be the true chess prodigy. The exuberant Dawson is played to perfection by Antonio Ortiz.
Many of MacEnulty's original students are now in college because chess broadened their horizons beyond the South Bronx. MacEnulty himself has become a successful author of chess books for kids.
While the movie is predictable and formulaic, the story is real. You could do a lot worse things with two hours than watch Knights of the South Bronx. 7/10
Danson's character, a fired corporate whistle-blower, takes a job as a substitute teacher in an elementary school in an economically depressed neighborhood. A chess expert, he finds that is the one way he can bond with his class and get them to learn.
A motivated teacher can change the world, and it seems some of the best have come from corporate backgrounds and have made teaching a second career. Jaime Escalante of Stand and Deliver fame was a Silicon Valley executive before finding his true calling teaching math to inner-city youths. Danson is believable and as always, likable as Mason/MacEnulty. The four children with the biggest roles are charmers. Keke Palmer, a 12-year-old beauty who made a big impression playing opposite William H. Macy in The Wool Cap is every bit as impressive as Kenya Russell, a girl who refuses to let her crack head mother destroy her future. Malcolm David Kelley is Jimmy Washington, a kid who refuses to be daunted or cowed by beatings administered by the local gang toughs. Yucini Diaz is Renee Soto, who has the job of looking after her kindergärtner brother, Dawson, who turns out to be the true chess prodigy. The exuberant Dawson is played to perfection by Antonio Ortiz.
Many of MacEnulty's original students are now in college because chess broadened their horizons beyond the South Bronx. MacEnulty himself has become a successful author of chess books for kids.
While the movie is predictable and formulaic, the story is real. You could do a lot worse things with two hours than watch Knights of the South Bronx. 7/10