Pawn Sacrifice (2015)

Tobey Maguire is a very fine actor. Regrettably, he is not cast very frequently and since the failure of "Spider-Man 3" in 2007, his fans have not seen very much of him. With "Pawn Sacrifice", however, he once again showed his talent, depicting American chess genius and grandmaster Bobby Fischer from his childhood years up to the famous World Chess Championship in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1972. Co-starring Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard and Michael Stuhlbarg, the film has no lack of good acting.

Despite the fact that I can't play chess worth a lick (and haven't really even given it all that much of an effort), I've always found the game to be fascinating as the ultimate test of mental acuity. It has been said that just four moves into a match, there are 288 billion permutations thereafter. Wow! "Pawn Sacrifice" is the story of perhaps the greatest chess player of all time, Bobby Fischer, and his tumultuous battle both with the Soviet Union's best chess players and his own inner demons.For a basic plot summary, this movie begins with Fischer (Tobey Maguire) not showing up to his promoted matched with Russian Grand Master Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber). It is clear that Fischer is not well. The film then flashes back to scenes from earlier in Bobby's life, where he is managed by Paul Marshall (Michael Stuhlbarg) and mentored by Father Bill Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard). Despite being a chess genius, without a doubt, there is always the chance that Bobby will dive off the deep end at any second. As his stature grows, he catches the eye of the Soviet Union (locked in the heart of the Cold War with America), who will stop at nothing to make sure their champion, Spassky, is seen as superior. This sets up the epic clash between Spassky and Fischer, where a good deal more than chess is on the line."Pawn Sacrifice" is a great film primarily because of the superb acting performances all around. This is the type of movie that needs simmering drama and sustained emotion to succeed (can't rely on special effects or action/adventure), and all those things are provided. Particularly noteworthy is Maguire as Fischer. It's the type of performance that, had the film succeeded a bit more financial, could have garnered him some awards. All the auxiliary cast are spot-on as well.It's also quite a feat to take a movie that primarily consists of two people staring at a board contemplating seem drama-filled. Obviously, the backstory of everything else going on is what creates the majority of the drama, but even the chess scenes themselves are fraught with tension and suspense. For those who think chess is "boring", they might have a different view after watching "Pawn Sacrifice".Probably the only thing keeping the picture from being truly great is that a bit more development could have been given to the Spassky character. The story of Fischer is intriguing, to be sure, but for every "hero" there must be equal shrift given to the "villain", and sometimes that fails to happen here. The scenes where Spassky is given some development are great and Schreiber shines, but they just seem a bit few and far between.All told, "Pawn Sacrifice" is a great movie for those who like historical biopics or are interested in Bobby Fischer's story or chess in general. The acting performances carry the way, and there is a sense of tension right up to and even through the final credits. You'll never believe that chess can be this exciting!

This is the ultimate problem of historical or biographical films. Films exist on a scale, realistic on one end and Hollywood on the other. Most based on a true story films try to be in the middle. This one went too far the Hollywood side. Notice I didn't say "entertaining" - films can be completely realistic and entertaining and completely unrealistic and still be boring.The real Fischer is so interesting, so there was no need to reinvent a new person to tell the story. Fischer had a father figure who was in his life, he just didn't know it was his actual father. Fischer was interested in languages and learned them to read chess periodicals and was not one to go around saying "Speak American" to people. The film has Fischer choosing to lose his virginity to a prostitute, picking the person, time and place. He's completely in control. Even though in this same film he can barely control his emotions. In real life he met a girl during the tournament and he got "caught up in women and sex" to the point where it cost him the tournament, the only tournament failure in his career. Isn't that interesting enough to make a film out of it? Why change the story for change's sake?Anyway, other than random script issues, which later become editing issues, the story is the weakest part of this film.The rest is top notch. Production quality is high. Liev Schreiber, bravo, bravo, sir, on your Russian.The film, overall, is a highly polished, professionally produced mediocre picture. There is no reason to see it again and it's difficult to recommend to anyone but serious chess or Fischer fans.

During the height of the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire. With an impressive performance by Tobey Maguire Pawn Sacrifice is a film with a lot of tension mostly every time there's a chess scene between Fischer and his other opponents as for negatives the rest of the cast is just there and it's pacing is kinda moody and that ruined the whole film for me a bit and i'm gonna give it an 7.0 out of 10. It's still worth your time just for Maguire's performance but if you except something way more you will probably be left disappointed.