A Little Game

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A Little Game

PG

2014

1h 32m

Kids & Family

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

40%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Ostracized at her new school and grief-stricken over her grandmother's death, a 10-year-old girl (Makenna Ballard) learns about persevering in the face of inevitable change from an irascible chessmaster (F. Murray Abraham).

Ben Kenigsberg

New York Times

Nothing in the film charms like a closing credit: "Filmed entirely in New York City. Obviously."

Dec 11, 2014

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Chris Packham

Village Voice

An OK children's movie that can only be appreciated by kids, who have not yet been callused by the awfulness of both chess metaphors and the old ladies in films who are always spouting gauzy generalities about the magic of life.

Dec 9, 2014

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John Noonan

FILMINK (Australia)

A Little Game does feel light enough to be carried away with the next breeze, but it's hard to fault its charm and its young cast.

Aug 12, 2015

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Renee Schonfeld

Common Sense Media

Earnest coming-of-age film uses chess as a metaphor.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 21, 2015

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Frank Lovece

Film Journal International

This is [director Evan Oppenheimer's] fifth film. He should have the basics down by now.

Dec 11, 2014

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Audience Member

The movie is cute and may appeal to some kids bored with nothing to do but there’s better chess movies out there. The movie has a cheap feel to it, very stagy and predictable with no surprises. It feels like a cheap made for TV movie which is essentially what it is.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/10/18

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Audience Member

What if we made Karate Kid but with a girl learning chess instead, and ironically her father is played by Ralph Machio? This is that movie.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

A cute and interesting movie. Reminds me when I was a kid learning how to play chess.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

A LITTLE GAME is the NEXT KARATE KID of chess. It is interesting to note that the one who played the original Karate Kid, Daniel, is now a handsome father in this film. Ralph Macchio plays Max's dad and a handsome one at that. It's not as spectacular as Bobby Fischer's story, but it does pull some heartstrings. I sort of related with young Max because even if I have already let go of my loved ones that went ahead, I still miss them terribly. Sigh. Would I watch it again? I think not, but it's OK for at least one viewing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

An oscar winner and the karate kid cant save this drivel.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Evan Oppenheimer

Director

F. Murray Abraham

Norman Wallach

Ralph Macchio

Tom

Olympia Dukakis

YaYa

Janeane Garofalo

Sarah Kuftinec

Makenna Ballard

Max

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Synopsis

Ostracized at her new school and grief-stricken over her grandmother's death, a 10-year-old girl (Makenna Ballard) learns about persevering in the face of inevitable change from an irascible chessmaster (F. Murray Abraham).

Director: Evan Oppenheimer
Producer: Michael Mailer, Sammy Silver, Dennis Turcinovic
Screenwriter: Evan Oppenheimer
Production Co: Michael Mailer Films, A Little Game, Black Sand Pictures
Rating: PG (Mild Language|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Kids & Family, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 5, 2016
Runtime: 1h 32m