‘First Grader’ feel-good lesson

“The First Grader,” based on the true story of a Kenyan man who goes to school for the first time at age 84, hits all the feel-good notes you expect it to hit. Adversity is overcome and forgiveness is granted, lessons are learned and hearts are warmed.

But strong performances and a stripped-down visual aesthetic help mitigate some of the movie’s potential mawkishness.

The film follows the unlikely challenge Kimani N’gan’ga Maruge (Oliver Litondo) chooses for himself toward the end of his life. When he hears on the radio that the Kenyan government is offering free primary education, he walks to the tiny, rural schoolhouse near his remote village home to enroll.

He’s initially turned away but, quietly undaunted, returns and insists he needs to learn how to read. Jane Obinchu (Naomie Harris), the head teacher, reluctantly agrees to take a chance on Maruge and finds room for him in her already crowded classroom.

Jane and Maruge eventually form an easygoing friendship, with Maruge serving as a kind but reserved mentor to the children he towers over, all of which is sort of adorable. (The kids who occupy the classes actually attend school at the locations where the film was shot.)

But Jane’s decision and her steadfast loyalty to her elderly pupil are so unpopular with parents and community members, they place her own future in danger – both professionally and with her husband (Tony Kgoroge), an up-and-coming government official.

Harris, who’s had a strong presence in films including “28 Days Later,” is feisty and determined in all the requisite ways, but she dials down the delivery of many of her lines that could potentially be clunky and cloying.

Litondo, a former news reader appearing in his first lead role, gives a consistently dignified, restrained performance. Director Justin Chadwick depicts the decades-old experiences that shaped Maruge, who fought with the Mau Mau rebels in an uprising against the British, in intimate and harrowing flashbacks that help round out the character.

“The First Grader” tends to oversimplify good and bad without a whole lot of gray area or room for interpretation. That Maruge becomes an international media sensation seemingly overnight feels a bit far-fetched. But the simple fact that this is such an inspirational story makes it worth checking out.