Capsule reviews for Sept. 4

Critical Thinking

Navigating familiar territory with crowd-pleasing flair, this true-life chess drama makes the right moves. It marks a confident directorial debut for John Leguizamo, who also stars as a teacher and coach of the ragtag chess team at an urban Miami high school. As his students cope with a variety of personal obstacles, they find common ground on a squad destined for unprecedented heights — as long as they can stay out of trouble. The film captures the appeal of chess across cultural and socioeconomic boundaries, emphasizing its life lessons without turning heavy-handed. Meanwhile, the endearing cast generates hard-earned sympathy to keep the underdog clichés in check. (Not rated, 117 minutes).

Measure for Measure

Although adapted from an obscure Shakespeare play, this lackluster Australian melodrama feels more influenced by the sort of derivative crime thrillers it resembles. It’s set in contemporary Melbourne, where a young working-class musician (Harrison Gilbertson) falls in love with a Muslim immigrant (Megan Smart). But their star-crossed relationship is threatened by intolerant gangsters and drug dealers in the local housing project, including a crime boss (Hugo Weaving) who perpetuates the rampant violence. While ambitious, the deliberately paced result is a muddled mishmash of subplots in which themes of redemption and cultural acceptance are shoved aside by formulaic tendencies. By any measure, the Bard would not approve. (Not rated, 107 minutes).

The Owners

By unspooling its most clever twists early on, this British home-invasion thriller about dishonor among thieves struggles to sustain its tension. It follows a trio of boorish burglars and their getaway driver (Maisie Williams) who make themselves at home in a lavish house with a giant safe. However, their efforts to escape with the loot are thwarted by their own bickering and by the arrival home of an elderly doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and his wife, who have sinister plans for the boorish burglars to get their comeuppance. Despite some attempts to subvert genre expectations, it’s difficult to find a rooting interest amid the ensuing bloodbath. (Not rated, 92 minutes).