Chess movie ‘Dark Horse’ has something for almost everyone

The actor with leading man looks — in good enough shape to play Jesus Christ later this year — gains untold weight and gets lost in the role of homeless former chess champion Genesis Potini.

James Napier Robertson directs, calling his shot early with a poetic first scene of Potini walking though a busy street in the rain, before detouring into an antique shop that displays a chessboard.

After getting his meds balanced, the bipolar former chess great starts bunking with his biker gang member brother, and bonds with a community center’s youth chess club.

The Maori biker gang isn’t a fun hang like the one in “Mask.”

Potini’s mental illness, and the challenges he faces acting as a father figure with his own struggles, is explored with nuance.

“The Dark Horse” isn’t gratuitous at any point, feeling like a PG-13 movie while earning an R rating.