JayDoubleU84 "Life of a King" is a good movie with a great story, good actors and an excellent Cuba Gooding Jr. as main character. It's all about morals, ethics and the meaning of life and constantly reminds us that we are responsible for our own actions. Sure we've seen the same kind of movie before. "Dangerous Minds" for example to name just one. However, it does not get old and keeps you entertained the whole time. There was not one single boring moment. The chess "theme" I really liked. For once it's not football! And even as an experienced chess-player myself I can say that everything is totally legit and realistic.Nothing more to say. Watch it.

Tony Heck "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-.

Peter Pluymers Apparently "Life of a King" is the true story of the ex-detainee Eugene Brown who founded a chess club in the slums of Washington, to keep teenagers of the streets and to teach the philosophical significance of a game of chess. I say "apparently" because I read on the internet that the real Eugene Brown only gave chess lessons at an elementary school, and certainly not at a high school. Also he would be too afraid to hang around with teenagers driving fast cars, waving with guns and trade drugs. So this movie is 95% fiction. The idea to establish a chess club for underprivileged children came from one Sergeant Michael Brown (no relation incidentally) who served in the fire department in Washington D.C.Whether it is a slightly modified version of the real facts, actually isn't relevant. I thought it was a fascinating and poignant film about underprivileged kids who escape reality every day and don't think a descent education is important. They flee into the criminal world and turn against the social values. "Life of a King" belongs in a list of films that have appeared over the years. The content is twofold. On the one hand we have the rebellious youth rejecting any form of authority except that of a local criminal. On the other hand, we have some good Samaritan who believes that these young people do have a future and tries to help them. The subject is nothing new and there are a whole series of movies with a similar theme. From "Boys Town" and "Blackboard Jungle" to "Class of 1984" and "Dangerous Minds" . In all these movies a figure emerges who has the will and patience to put the derailed youth back on track. The biggest cliché in all these films is the fact there needs to happen a tragic accident before everyone comes to their senses.Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a wonderful part. I'm not a big fan of Cuba, but I thought this was a magnificent performance. He always has such a somber and sad look on his face that perfectly fits this role. A broken man after a long imprisonment who realizes that his only purpose, just like a pawn in a chess game, is to protect an important person and at the end gets sacrificed. That's the message he tries to convey to the young kids. Clifton (Carlton Byrd) is the leading figure of the young ones who's dealing for a local drugs lord. He's the only one who doesn't believe in the chessgame of Eugene but immediately realizes that the latter is not quickly intimidated. Tahime (Malcolm Mays) is the timid boy with family problems and follows Clifton blindly until the end. Peanut (Kevin Hendricks) is the soft hearted of the classroom and gets handed the role of victim.The message Eugene wants to tell, is that life is like a chess game. Once you understand and apply that to daily life, there are opportunities to escape the downward spiral. At times I found it very moving. But you have to admit that this is just an average movie with the usual clichés and predictable situations. This movie will finally end up on some TV channel that broadcasts more of this moralizing, with life stories filled, movies.A beautiful rendition in a well known framework.More reviews at http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be/

maxaira There are not many "feel good" movies out there today, but this one really counts among those that fill this category. Cuba Gooding has long been one of my favourite actors. He possesses a wide range of acting abilities as evidenced by "Snow Dogs" on one hand with his somewhat bland comedic style to "Gifted Hands" wherein he brings to the screen a dramatic style that is uniquely his own. It is this latter gift that he portrays in this feature as he moves from an ex-con to a giver that gives back to the community and its young confused residents, a new hope that most had never known. He portrays the real life story of Eugene Brown, a man who'd known nothing but crime for most of his life, but once he was through serving many years for armed robbery, he dedicated his life to helping other young men to see that there was more to life than crime. It's a good story made better by the fact that it was based on real life.