Joueuse 2009

Stephen Holden, New York Times: In small but significant ways, "Queen to Play" defies expectations. Read more

Nick Schager, Time Out: [Its intriguing] notions are drowned out by deafeningly creaky conventions of cutesy self-discovery. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Bonnaire beautifully captures her character's simmering intelligence and vague discontent; Kline, performing his entire role in French for the first time, again proves himself a master of the raised eyebrow. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Bottaro adapted her screenplay from a novel by Bertina Henrichs, and though the premise is original, the trajectory of the plot feels pretty second-hand. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Queen to Play" falls somewhat into the "Pygmalion" template, but watching Bonnaire's Helene find herself makes it worthy in its own right. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: If you've been dying to see Kevin Kline in his first French-speaking role or Jennifer Beals in her first chess-playing one, here it is. Your move. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Subplots involving the heroine's resentful husband and rebellious teenage daughter never amount to much, though the story builds toward a satisfactory, if formulaic, climax. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: [A] gentle tale of chess and midlife emotions from debut writer-director Caroline Bottaro. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Though Kline handles his role expertly, "Queen to Play" succeeds as well as it does because of Bonnaire. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A film about steady pleasures, not grand passions. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Relaxed and goofy in Dave, A Fish Called Wanda and a host of other comedies, Kevin Kline has an endearing way of subverting his own grandee impulses when he's being funny. Give the actor a dramatic role, though, and he comes on all Shakespeare in the Park Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: There isn't much more than that, except two masterful turns by Kline and Bonnaire and an appreciation for how games of strategy are bigger than the boards they're played on. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: "Queen To Play" is ultimately about people's capacity for emotional and intellectual growth at any age. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: What I enjoyed was the way the film summons up the pure obsessive passion that chess stirs in some people. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's almost necessary to see it twice to really appreciate fully what's going on between Kline and Bonnaire's characters over the course of the film. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Dull hokum. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Maintains a wonderful balance between grit and grace. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: [A] clever feel-good lark. Read more

Ernest Hardy, Village Voice: The supporting cast is uniformly fine, but the film rests on the delicate shoulders of Bonnaire, who carries it with a soulful, magnetic presence. Read more

Jen Chaney, Washington Post: There's something particularly enjoyable about settling into a film whose pleasures reside in quiet moments, understated performances and the reading of subtitles. Read more