"Pawn Sacrifice" Review

Title: Pawn Sacrifice

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Screenplay by: Steven Knight

Year: 2015


Bobby Fischer has been the subject of several films over the years, mostly documentaries. But now we have a biopic starring Tobey Maguire and Liev Schreiber that details Fischer's rise to fame as well as his mental breakdown. Is this film a checkmate on all accounts, or simply a string of impressive moves that fail to pull out a victory?

Bobby Fischer is an American chess prodigy that realizes his talent at a very young age. Growing confident, he feels he can take on the best players in the world: the Russians. Fischer plans to become the best player in the world, but along the way, he is battling a mental battle of both genius and madness, and at times, it seems that one is in more control than the other.

Maguire's performance as Bobby Fischer is outstanding. He gives equal validity to both the genius behind the legend, as well as the madness that haunted him. Maguire disappears into his role and especially nails the scenes where he must sell the madness. Schreiber does a fine job for his relatively smaller role as Fischer's opponent, Boris Spassky. The rest of the cast does their job well, but I would like to bring mention to Peter Sarsgaard. He plays a priest who acts as a sort of mentor to Fischer. I feel his performance was truly great and should not be overlooked.

The story covers quite a broad scope, as it begins with Fischer as a young boy and follows him all the way through his famous match against Spassky. The general structure of the plot is well designed, but I feel too much time was devoted to certain aspects, leaving others lacking. I understand that the film is more about the player than the game, but the chess sequences were so well done that it feels that they should have been a bit more focused on. The film tends to focus more on the character's descent into madness, which is admittedly very interesting, but the execution is not as engaging as the chess scenes. As a result, the pacing feels very off at times. Some parts begin to drag as you are waiting for the next chess game to be shown.

Speaking of the chess sequences, they highlight the film. During these scenes, it is hard not to be as worried as the characters are on the outcome of the game. The stress the characters are feeling is effectively projected onto the audience. You will be gripping your arm rest with every patient move the players make. It is a shame that these scenes are not longer and do not take up a good portion of the movie. The remainder of the movie is centered on Fischer's dramatic life. His relationship with his sister, his manager, and his friend the priest. The drama is good and there are some examples of really fantastic dialogue, but there are also moments that either seem dull or unnecessary for the movie.

Another thing with the film is that the colors are very muted. Rarely is there an array of beautiful colors. The entire film has been dipped in gray, and while it makes some scenes more effective, it makes others hard to watch as they come across as quite dull. I also noticed something with the sound editing. The lip syncing was a bit off. Characters were saying and doing things a split second before the audio for it kicked in. I am not sure whether the theatre or the film is to blame, but I thought I would mention it all the same.

Pawn Sacrifice is one of the quieter entries of 2015, in that this movie is not being talked about at all. I feel that it does deserve some recognition. It is a nice addition to the number of films that cover the same figure and features a truly remarkable performance by Tobey Maguire. There are a number of moments where the emotion hits its mark, but the unbalanced pace leaves the movie very uneven overall. The film does its job well, in that it garners the audience's interest and makes you want to learn more about Fischer. After watching the film, I did some research on my own, particularly about the famous "Game 6." The film does the true story justice, and is a good, if not great picture.

Grade: B