Mira Nair's Queen of Katwe is one of those inspirational underdog stories set in the slums of Uganda. A feel good triumph over adversity film.

Based on true facts it tells the tale of 10 year old Phiona Mutesi who sells maize with her siblings and her devoutly religious single mother Nakku (Lupita Nyong'o.) Phiona may not have a formal education but when she joins a chess club organised by football coach Robert Katende (David Oyelowo.) she shows her competitive and combative spirit as well as a natural talent for chess.

The film uses many amateur actors who have a intuitive spark but sometimes lack emotional depth. However the biggest problem was Mira Nair's direction and the script. The film is too long and predictable. For every triumph Phiona has is later met with disaster such as her brother getting involved in a traffic accident.

It is a film that follows a formula like it was an IKEA instructional manual for some flat pack furniture.

Mira Nair previously focused on Uganda in 1991's "Mississippi Masala" (about an Indian family forced into exile by Idi Amin). "Queen of Katwe" is the true story of Phiona Mutesi, who started playing chess to get out of Kampala's slums. Katwe is the sort of place where you have to bribe people to do even minimal tasks. Lupita Nyong'o plays Phiona's mother, the sort of person who knows the slums all too well and isn't thrilled with her daughter's goal.

One of the most effective scenes is when the Katwe children compete against the students of King's College: the Katwe children wear the traditional Ugandan attire while the rich children wear western clothes, showing the disconnect between the social classes (a scene towards the end of "Mississippi Masala" showed something similar: when the father returns to Uganda, he looks westernized while the Ugandans wear the traditional clothes).

Admittedly, I don't know how accurate the movie is, especially since I had never heard of the story before the movie's release. Nonetheless, it's a powerful, uplifting story. The people involved in this movie deserve ample recognition for their contributions, and I hope that it draws more attention to Phiona Mutesi's achievements.

. . . left over after THE BIRTH OF THE NATION runs the table. The Disney Megacorp. cleverly follows up FROZEN with their newest Disney Princess, Phiona (aka, THE QUEEN OF KATWE). Ice is nowhere in sight as Disney colors around Idi Amin to present THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF UGANDA. What NFL football is to America, soccer to South America, cricket to Asia, and Bocci to Europe, the Game of Chess is to Africa, Disney documents. The World's Grandmasters are no match here for young African girls, and Bobby Fishcher should be thankful that he croaked before Phiona came along (as her finger-snapping would have driven him crazy). Maybe Major League Baseball sticks to a "No shirt, no shoes, no service" Policy, but Phiona follows in the footsteps of her fellow African Zola Budd to prove that Real Champs Win Barefoot. If it were not for all the local guys trying to pimp out Phiona, her mom, and her sister, it's likely that there would not be ANY chess trophies left over for the six benighted continents @Grandmasterssoblack.