Brooklyn Castle is a documentary about I.S. 318 - an inner-city school where more than 65 percent of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level - that also happens to have the best, most winning junior high school chess team in the country. (If Albert Einstein, who was rated 1800, were to join the team, he'd only rank fifth best). Chess has transformed the school from one cited in 2003 as a "school in need of improvement" to one of New York City's be... (Full plot summary below)
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Brooklyn Castle is a documentary about I.S. 318 - an inner-city school where more than 65 percent of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level - that also happens to have the best, most winning junior high school chess team in the country. (If Albert Einstein, who was rated 1800, were to join the team, he'd only rank fifth best). Chess has transformed the school from one cited in 2003 as a "school in need of improvement" to one of New York City's best. But a series of recession-driven pubic school budget cuts now threaten to undermine those hard-won successes.
Leave your thoughts about Brooklyn Castle.
| St. Paul Pioneer PressChris Hewitt (St. Paul)Great story, well-made, what's not to like? |
| Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSee it, and I dare you not to care about what happens to these kids, these Yankees of chess. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertKatie Dellamaggiore's inspiring documentary covers two years in the history of the school chess team, during which one team member, Rochelle Ballantyn, approaches her dream of becoming the first female African-American grandmaster in U.S history. |
| New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierA sweet testament to the power of intelligence to win over adversity - even in a Brooklyn middle school where the majority of students live below the poverty level. |
| The PlaylistKevin JagernauthIt subtly makes the connection between the simple equation that investment in our children will give dividends that go far beyond any sort of number on a balance sheet. |
| Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranIt's a wonderful documentary look at an astonishingly successful public-school chess program that manages to be more moving and heartening than you expect. Which is saying a lot. |
| The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe feel-good documentary is engaging enough to draw a respectable audience at arthouses, but distribs should work for exposure within communities like the ones this school serves. |
| Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumA great subject goes a long way in this standard but effective entry in the amazing-kids documentary category. |
| The New York TimesManohla DargisIt's deeply satisfying watching these public school, hard-knock kids win, and Ms. Dellamaggiore knows it. |
| Salon.comAndrew O'HehirIt honestly makes no difference if you don't even know the rules of chess and have never visited New York; this is a story about human potential and the lingering possibilities of the American dream. |
