Queen to Play
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: April 1, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 31, 2011
In small but significant ways, Queen to Play defies expectations. It dangles the possibility of an affair between Hélène and Kröger in games that the film likens to courtship rituals in a classic screwball comedy. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 31, 2011
It's the best kind of unforced filmmaking, able to make its points with delicacy and tact. And the best thing about it is that it is Bottaro's feature directing debut. We have a lot to look forward to. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJun 16, 2011
Bonnaire, whose films include "Vagabond" and "Monsieur Hire," gets Helene just right, registering her joys and disappointments with finesse. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMay 4, 2011
What I enjoyed was the way the film summons up the pure obsessive passion that chess stirs in some people. Read full review
80
VarietyRonnie ScheibMar 28, 2011
Like Sebastian Silva's "The Maid," Queen posits a radically different approach to class and gender empowerment. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 5, 2011
Bottaro finds ways to dramatize chess, and the environments are fascinating throughout. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickApr 1, 2011
Queen To Play is ultimately about people's capacity for emotional and intellectual growth at any age. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 30, 2011
Queen to Play falls somewhat into the "Pygmalion" template, but watching Bonnaire's Helene find herself makes it worthy in its own right. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesMay 5, 2011
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 when the woman dares to compete in a tournament against a succession of smug bourgeois men. Read full review
70
NPRElla TaylorApr 1, 2011
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 full review
70
Village VoiceErnest HardyMar 29, 2011
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 full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 1, 2011
Kline, who has done a lot of chewy character roles after several stage ­triumphs, is as sly and leonine as ever. His performance here obliterates that phony accent he used in "French Kiss." Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayMar 31, 2011
Queen To Play has a winning heroine, who fantasizes about being special and then works hard to make it happen. Too bad the rest of the movie is so common. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 5, 2011
For all the talk, there's not a lot of chess here, and the game remains stubbornly on the level of metaphor. You don't feel rooked, exactly, but by movie's end you're more than ready for the check. Read full review
50
Boxoffice MagazineBarbara GoslawskiApr 12, 2011
While it matches "Pygmalion" and "Educating Rita" in topic and pedigree, Queen to Play merely hints at plot points and character development, which leaves it to coasts on the reputations of its stars. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMar 28, 2011
That the film works to the degree that it does is largely due to the sensitive performances. Bonnaire delivers a beautifully modulated turn. Read full review
40
Time OutNick SchagerMar 29, 2011
Queen to Play does slightly buck convention by depicting intellectual development (rather than lovey-dovey triumph) as the key to reshaping identity, as well as a form of class advancement and spiritual enlightenment. Such notions, however, are drowned out by deafeningly creaky conventions of cutesy self-discovery. Read full review
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