Making chess cinematically thrilling is one huge mountain to climb for any filmmaker. Portraying mental illness battling genius on the big screen without it appearing flippant is traditionally a thankless task. Pawn Sacrifice screenwriter Steven Knight and director Edward Zwick have joined forces to achieve the impossible in their biographical look at chess whiz Bobby Fischer.
Having Tobey Maguire deliver the performance of his career also helps things immensely as the former Peter Parker/Spider-Man is downright sublime in his portrayal of the chess prodigy who grows up to become the champion of the world. In the ’70s, during the height of the Cold War, Fischer would miraculously defeat the Soviet champ (Boris Spassky, played by Liev Schreiber) and a chess program that were previously seen as unbeatable. Fischer would become a poster boy for the success of America in defeating its bitter enemy.
But for Fischer it was always just about chess and everything else simply clouded his already crowded mental space. In fact, the Cold War as the backdrop to his drive to be the world’s best would have him thinking that the CIA and the KGB were tapping his phones and bugging his hotel rooms and home. It’s amazing to think with all of that swirling around in his head, he was able to become the world’s best at a game that requires the utmost of focus, concentration and smarts.
Maguire was born to play Fischer and his role as co-producer also speaks volumes to how much this story is near and dear to the actor’s heart. His research and tenacious effort to capture not only the Fischer persona, but emotional and even political turmoil, is nothing short of miraculous. There are depths to which Maguire goes as Fischer that has us thinking that the actor’s best work is still to come, and given he could still delight audiences for decades to come, that is truly a gift.
Knight also turned in a script that is whip-smart and truly simultaneously suspenseful, emotionally compelling and completely global in its scope. As we get further away from the Cold War it is important for younger generations to be aware of how close two superpowers came to completely destroying each other and making every single thing they do a statement on the progress of the battle between them — even a game of chess.
The supporting cast is also stellar, particularly Peter Sarsgaard as Father Bill Lombardy, the priest who coached Fischer in the ways of chess and tried to tie in the ways of life. Also a standout is Michael Stuhlbarg as Fischer’s manager/lawyer, Paul Marshall. These two filled out the support network for Fischer as he ascended to the upper echelon of the chess and cultural world. And although it appeared necessary on many occasions to get their chess king help, both knew that tinkering with greatness could always come with a cost. Their struggle is real and it is indicative of anyone who has had to grapple with mental illness from a friend or family member.
Pawn Sacrifice is a solid and important film, but it needed a bit more in terms of portraying the chess brilliance of Fischer. There’s a moment in the film where his opponent gives him a standing ovation for a move he just completed. Even as aware of the game of chess as this writer is, there is no way of knowing why that move was so revolutionary. A little explanation could have gone a long way… especially given that that was supposed to be a turning point moment for the Soviet-American battle for supremacy and our protagonist himself.
Grade: B