Movie Review: The First Grader

For this reviewer, The First Grader, produced by National Geographic Entertainment, promised to be a heartfelt story about overcoming many of the things that Americans take for granted, and there are many. Beyond what I expected to be a terrific story that would entice my political yearnings and interest, the tease that this story, based on the real life premise that no matter one’s age the promise of education in a country and political climate in constant turmoil is so desired and pure that the chance to achieve in spite of a persons past was possible, had me excited.

A relatively unknown cast, excluding the sensational actress Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, 28 Days Later) was not a concern. The male lead, Maruge (Oliver Litondo) plays an 80-something-year-old first grader who, upon hearing a radio news report that anyone that had a birth certificate can get a free education makes it his singular goal to take advantage of that offer in a Kenyan country that has literally tortured and repressed him the majority of his life, but as a new government takes root and the promise of a free education becomes a reality, Maruge makes it his sole focus and gains admittance to primary school where his desire to learn to read means everything to him even if it means sitting amongst six year olds while doing so.

The primary school principal Jane (Harris) finds Maruge’s passion and journey worthy and so begins what should have been a story of utter courage and an uplifting message. Sadly, even though the on location scenes were beautiful, the supporting cast consisting of local children was surreal, and the script actually quite good, director Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) never finds a way of telling the story that tugs at our emotions the way you both anticipate and expect. Much of the film utilizes flashbacks to help tell Maruge’s troubling and torturous past and although your investment in the relationship between the teacher and the older student is real, as the story unfolds with real life backlash; both parental and governmental, this is where the story should have elevated the viewer and played into what the reality was and is, and unfortunately this is where the narrative gets lost, and it’s a shame.

Often films of this kind suffer from limited distribution and struggle to find a domestic audience. When you have the beauty and backdrop of a majestic country and the reality of a true heart-pulling story and some terrific acting performances, including the cast of children who have no acting experience at all and, in fact, none of them have even seen a movie, you are left to wonder why this movie fails, and ultimately it just doesn’t deliver on any of the promises you feel were made.

I wouldn’t say The First Grader is a movie that would be a waste of your time, as it would not be. I also wouldn’t say that many of you won’t find it better than I do, but where it fails this reviewer is that I can clearly see in many scenes and in many of the story arcs that make a bad movie good or a good movie great are missing completely. As a story you do get the payoff, but as a complete work it failed me. Maybe this is one of those movies that needs more than one viewing to truly appreciate it, but like so many things in our lives these days, you only get one shot and for me that’s all I can give it.