Starring Makenna Ballard in her first credited role ever apparently, she stands out among a heavy hitting cast that are clearly enjoying themselves. A little Game tells the story of Max a 10 year old city girl growing up in NYC with ethnic parents who work hard at jobs that don't pay nearly as well as they should. Max is a gifted student who is not challenged by her current school and her parents sacrifice to get her into a special private school for others like her.
Told from within the bubble of Max's understanding of normal, challenging, right & wrong, the film follows her experiences as she seeks to find her own place when she asks one of the old men playing chess in the park to teach her the game. Her family and friends drift in and out of the story as they intrude on her private thoughts and immediate life.
Olympia Dukakis as Max's grandmother sets the tone when she tells her not to let life happen to her but that she should happen to life.
An interesting insulated slice of life in New York, the movie shines a light on the more imaginative escapist life of a gifted child with great accuracy and gentleness without ever wandering into the darker corners that would have changed the light nature of this wonderful film. Suitable for both children an adults, A little game compares favourably with The World of Henry Orient. Some of the fantasy elements do interfere with the narrative, but not so much as to ruin the story.
I'll gladly watch this one again any time it comes up.
Told from within the bubble of Max's understanding of normal, challenging, right & wrong, the film follows her experiences as she seeks to find her own place when she asks one of the old men playing chess in the park to teach her the game. Her family and friends drift in and out of the story as they intrude on her private thoughts and immediate life.
Olympia Dukakis as Max's grandmother sets the tone when she tells her not to let life happen to her but that she should happen to life.
An interesting insulated slice of life in New York, the movie shines a light on the more imaginative escapist life of a gifted child with great accuracy and gentleness without ever wandering into the darker corners that would have changed the light nature of this wonderful film. Suitable for both children an adults, A little game compares favourably with The World of Henry Orient. Some of the fantasy elements do interfere with the narrative, but not so much as to ruin the story.
I'll gladly watch this one again any time it comes up.