The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I so LOVE this one. It has everything for a romantic feel good with intelligence: Sandrine B, who I adore ( see Un Ceour Simple, her role makes me cry every time), she is SO expressive, every nerve of her face can tickle , tremble, frown, an amazing aura. Will always love her ( just for comparison: J.Binoche is levels lower IMO, she's too manieristic ( and can't make me cry) . Stephane Audran is BTW another fab actress) All other actors are excellent, also the American who teaches her chess and stole her heart and mine too , only in THIS role....and oh......Jennifer Beale has a gorgeous (small) part !!! And yes,I love CHESS, watch all chess films available to me. Then we have the gorgeous countryside views and how the people talk and behave, it's just all these tiny things typical for provincial life in S-Europe, in this case France. SHE SO ROCKS. She bikes a lot, in simple but feminine skirts, over bridges , from one house to another, helping, working, meanwhile her typical FROWN shows that she has only the NEXT MOVE in her mind.....LOL . Watching her makes you feel stronger when you're in a down mood..... FEEL GOOD. I don't watch Pretty Woman. I watch this gorgeous chess lady on her bike................ ;) ;)

the premise is promising, the actors were great, the subject is deep. what could go wrong? well the script was at times either too much or predictable which turned me off. the characters were typical. when she had that argument with the Doctor, the scene is so random that it feels like they had to jeopardize the friendship right before the final act. the beginning was deceitful. the way she learns how to play chest is unrealistic. the outcome was deceitful. at the beginning, all the self-empowerment and self-fulfillement was all right, it's all inspiring until the main character decide to cheat her husband without guilt and consequences. just like that.

a game. refuge, ladder, clothe. a woman. and her sense. an isle, gray family and meeting. a victory. slices of a friendship. Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline in a charming movie.a fake tale about chess. strange love story with nuances of fairy tale. or only exercise to define importance of heart for a shadow. not a great film but one like a Chopin fragment. puzzle of small and not important pieces. few drops of sentimental perfume and crumbs of ordinaries lives. some drawing of feminism and work of good cast. a movie about nothing as many others. but just emotions, fragments of images, dust of memories are important. this is chess lesson. a long and tense chess match and look of a woman as fruit of desire of a passing ghost.

On some levels this movie works. Its' slow paced, languid, and the characters draw you in – particularly Sandrine Bonnaire. It's about the addiction of the game of chess and its appeal. So if you feel nothing for the game then you have been warned! The scenery on the island of Corsica is very colourful.However it's also a somewhat self-indulgent film – it's about addiction after all. There are many long and lingering shots of Sandrine and Kevin staring at each other and then at chess pieces. Sandrine's family is so very much accommodating to her new found passion. There is certain lack of logicality – it takes years with many different chess partners to become a solid player and then participate successfully in a tournament. Still the movie does dreamily captivate.