Life of a King
| Life of a King | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jake Goldberger |
| Produced by | Tatiana Kelly Jim Young |
| Written by | Jake Goldberger David Scott Dan Wetzel |
| Starring |
Cuba Gooding Jr. Dennis Haysbert Lisa Gay Hamilton |
| Music by | Eric V. Hachikian |
| Cinematography | Mark Schwartzbard |
| Edited by | Julie Garces |
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Production
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Release date
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $6,547 |
Life of a King is a 2013 American drama film directed by Jake Goldberger. The film stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Dennis Haysbert, and Lisa Gay Hamilton.
The film tells the true story of Eugene Brown (Cuba Gooding Jr.), an ex-convict who starts the Big Chair Chess Club for inner-city youths in Washington, D.C..
Eugene is in prison where "Chess Man" gambles cigarettes with him over chess games. When Eugene is ready to be released he confides that he is concerned about not having many friends on the outside any more. He receives a wooden king chess piece from Chess Man and is told "Take care of the King, everything else follows". On the outside Eugene looks for work and has trouble finding it due to his ex-con status. He attempts to reconnect with his daughter Katrina (Trini) who rebuffs his attempts but informs him that his son Marco is in Juvenile Hall for selling drugs. His friend Billy connects him with a job at a local high school working as a janitor. Eugene gets a visit from his former lieutenant Perry who is now prosperous and the man in charge. The lure to return to his former ways is strong. At the local high school, the students are unruly and dealing drugs in detention and scare off the detention monitor. The principal Sheila King asks Eugene to fill in as detention monitor for a few minutes. He proves to be unexpectedly persuasive at getting the students to sit down and follow the rules. He is allowed to return as the detention monitor until a replacement can be found. Eugene bets on a game of cards with a student and wins, the prize being that the students will learn to play chess.
Two of the students Tahime Sanders and Clifton are dealing drugs and contemplating armed robbery. Eugene draws a parallel comparing Clifton to a pawn working for a king he calls refers to as "King Perry". Clifton tells Perry that Eugene is running detention and preventing the sell of weed there, leading to reduced profits for Perry. Tahime proves to be an excellent strategist on the Chess board. Tahime invites another student (Peanut) in on the crimes they are engaged in. The principal receives an anonymous tip (from Perry) that Eugene is an ex-con and she is forced to fire him.
Eugene visits Perry who offers him cash. Mean Gene does not accept the money and walks away. Eugene attempts to restart the chess club by driving to the local hang out joint for the teenagers, but they refuse to play outside of detention. Peanut changes his mind and goes with Eugene who makes him president of the chess club by giving him the wooden king piece. Eugene rents a run down house in Washington D.C. for the chess club. Clifton and Tahime come to the chess house to get Peanut and take him to rip off some dealers. Peanut is shot and killed in the course of the robbery. While Eugene goes to comfort Tahime the chess house is vandalized.
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