Naomie Harris is easily the 10th-best thing about Ninja Assassin, given that her role is to be the "regular" girl thrown into these extraordinary circumstances, and all she gets to do is scream and look shocked and occasionally swap one-liners with Rain. But that hasn't stopped her from parlaying the role into what sounds like a much meatier one, playing Kenyan teacher Jane Obinchu, who winds up supporting a very, very unusual first-grader.
The film, in fact, is called The First Grader, and according to Variety it tells the true story of 84-year-old Kenyan man Kimani Ngang Margue, who wanted to take advantage of Kenya's new initiative to give free elementary education to all its citizens. At first they refused to let him sit in the classroom with 6-year-olds, but thanks to the support of Obinchu and others, he took the government to court to earn the right.
Sadly I've never seen Harris in anything other than Ninja Assassin, so I have no idea how well her real talents are suited to this kind of film. But hey, interesting story, heartwarming, all that, and not about white Americans! Nothing to complain about from where I stand.
