If Hollywood is intent on making movies based on board games, can there be more chess and less Battleship? In the same way that boxing films shine on the big screen, chess is a man-on-man clash of wills with keen strategy in place of right hooks. It rewards brutal precision, forward thinking, and knowledge of the opponent even better than oneself. It's no wonder the very best start practically right out of the womb, and all other concerns pale against the deep commitment it takes to become a master. Not everybody can hack it; many crack under the intense pressure. Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) is one of those who understood chess like few others ever have, and that level of genius inspires a kind of madness that is depicted in Ed Zwick's efficient chess drama, Pawn Sacrifice.
Ever since his days as Spider-Man ended, Maguire has been choosy about the roles he takes. Pawn Sacrifice is a passion project he's been developing for a while, and it's clear the devotion he has to the material. He plays Fischer, the Brooklyn kid who challenged the Russian chess champion Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) in the 1972 world championships in Reykjavik. That would be enough pressure for a couple of men, but there were bigger concerns than that; geopolitical concerns Fischer didn't give a care about but was part of nonetheless. With the Cold War at its peak, both America and the Soviet Union saw the match as a show of intellectual and ideological strength. It was up to Fischer to bring America the victory it sorely needed, the only question was whether his fragile psyche would survive the stress.
A game of speed chess can be lightning fast and hard to follow, but Pawn Sacrifice plays Fischer's story with calculated precision, at least initially. Raised by a Jewish Communist (Robin Weigert) who was always looking over her shoulder, Fischer knew paranoia from a young age and it colored every major decision of his life. These early chapters are a bit perfunctory and slow as Zwick and screenwriter Steven Knight skim over the details in order to get to the more interesting stuff. The chess talent Fischer showed as a child has blossomed with adulthood, leading to big wins over some of the world's greats. But he can't handle the stress alone, and is soon joined by celebrity lawyer Paul Marshall (Michael Stuhlbarg) and chess-playing priest Father Bill Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard) to break the Russian stranglehold on the chess world.
While the match with Spassky is the obvious centerpiece, the film is more concerned with Fischer's deteriorating mental state, and the effect his irascible personality has on the people around him. Fischer was, to put it mildly, a little tough to like. He was volatile, arrogant, finicky, prone to conjuring up outrageous demands before he would even compete. "People think there are all these options, " he says at one point, "But there's usually one right move." Being obsessed with making the right move all of the time is enough to break any person's mind. But there was more to Fischer than just paranoia, although that's the part of him that gets the most attention here. As he helped elevate chess to the heights of major sporting events, Fischer became a superstar himself, even though behind-the-scenes he was cracking under the weight being put on him by the media and the hyper-patriotic Marshall. It caused Fischer to see everyone as a potential conspirator against his success.
There's a lot of material to cover and not enough moves on the board to get to them all. The series against Spassky breezes through so quickly we never get a full sense of the stakes or the implications, both for Fischer and the United States. There's a big moment in match six that Zwick barely acknowledges, even though many consider it the defining moment of their contests. Maguire is an incredibly expressive and demonstrative actor and he gives a terrific performance as Fischer, but there's no question he bears little resemblance to the chess master. Schreiber growls effectively as Spassky, while Sarsgaard, who gravitates to every small-budget project out there, hasn't been this magnetic in ages. Even if you don't know a checkmate from a checkpoint, the chess matches are thrilling and easy to follow due to Zwick's clever editing. If you're looking for a more complete look at the Fischer/Spassky showdown, the documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World provides the most thorough examination. Searching for Bobby Fischer may be the best look at what growing up with such incredible chess skill can do to a child's psyche. Pawn Sacrifice is still an engaging and exciting chess drama, and while it's hardly at the level of a grandmaster, it manages to make most of the right moves to win.
Rating: 3 out of 5
