chas437 I suppose this is a nice story and the cast is top notch, but the film bares little resemblance to actual people and events. But what is unforgivable, the film gets Bobby Fischer completely wrong, and in doing so, attempts to sanitize the man's legacy.Tobey McGuire is a talented actor, but this was a terrible casting choice. His mannerisms, speaking style and physical appearance are way, way off. The real Fischer was a tall, dark, brooding, anti-social figure. His ugliness on the inside manifested itself in his outward appearance. Tobey McGuire is simply too likeable to play such a role. He tries really hard, but its just not believable.I'm old enough to remember the World Championship match in Iceland in 1972. It captivated the world and made chess popular in the mainstream. Fischer's victory gave America a much needed morale boost during the depths of the Cold War.So, while it was a triumphant moment for America, it was the beginning of a long, painful descent into madness and infamy for Bobby Fischer. The film portrays Fischer as a somewhat lovable eccentric with a paranoid personality. In reality, Fischer was almost certainly somewhere high on the Autistic spectrum. He had other serious mental disorders as well. None of this was clinically diagnosed, but was evident in his actions over the years. He was a loner who treated people very badly. He died penniless, friendless, as an international criminal. His was not a life to be celebrated.A much better film on the subject is the 2011 documentary "Bobby Fischer Against the World". Even the early-90s film "Searching for Bobby Fischer" tells us more about the man, and the phenomenon than "Pawn Sacrifice" does."Pawn Sacrifice" is really a big waste of time and resources. The producers badly missed the mark here. The one bright spot is Liev Schreiber who is a perfect Boris Spassky. Frankly, they should have just made a film about Spassky with Schreiber in the lead. Schreiber is one of our very best actors.What is most troubling about this film, as well as many films these days, its attempting to revise history in a way that is most palatable to the masses. This film really misses the point of Bobby Fischer's' life.

Desertman84 Pawn Sacrifice is a biographical film based on the true story of US Chess Grand Master(GM) Bobby Fischer particularly his experiences leading to his match with Russian GM Boris Spassky during the 1972 World Chess Championships. It stars Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer and Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky together with Lily Rabe and Peter Sarsgaard. The story starts when Bobby Fischer was a young child at age 6 who feels that he is being watched by Russian spies.Then,we get to see him develop into becoming a great player of chess after he immerses himself into the sport.This leads him to becoming the youngest Grandmaster in the world.Cold War is ongoing and Russians apparently have dominated the sport.This leads Fischer have more determination to become better in the sport and to win against the Russian grandmasters for the sake of his country.His efforts leads him to meet GM Boris Spassky in the 1972 World Chess Championship in the championship match and become fortunate enough to beat him. Well,it was nice to see this film. Tobey Maguire did well in his portrayal of Fischer.He definitely remains one of the better actors we have in Hollywood today.Too bad that it does not really dig deep into the subject particularly Fischer's life and the Russian dominance in chess.A better research on the topic could have made it a better film.In the end,it just became a watchable movie that a viewer will surely enjoy.

Danusha_Goska Save Send Delete For much of its runtime, watching "Pawn Sacrifice" is a grueling experience. Young Bobby Fischer is growing up fearing being spied on by government agents. His mother, Regina, (Robin Weigart) is a communist living in Cold War era Brooklyn. Bobby escapes from what looks like a loveless childhood and a chaotic home life by focusing on chess. Regina takes Bobby to Carmine Nigro (Conrad Pia) a teacher who greets Bobby by telling him that chess is a religion that takes anyone regardless of nation or creed. One hopes that this kindly man will serve as a ray of light in Bobby's life, but Bobby behaves as if he is autistic. He makes little eye contact and focuses only on the board, shutting out his opponent and his mother and sister who must stand and watch as he spends hours on his first chess match with a near master. Once young Bobby loses to Nigro, he refuses to shake hands, cries silently, and icily demands another game. The real Bobby Fischer was noticeably tall and slim with very striking facial features: piercing eyes, prominent nose, large, curved lips and a sprinkling of facial moles. Tobey Maguire is short and slight, with refined features, darker hair and no moles. Fischer was from Brooklyn and he lacked a formal education. He dropped out of high school. He talked like an uneducated Brooklynite who happens to be a headline-making genius; he had a lot of attitude. Maguire is from California and he never really captures Fischer's unique voice or inflection. The film picks up with the arrival of three characters played by brilliant actors: Michael Stahlbarg as Paul Marshall, a sort of fixer / hand-holder, Peter Sarsgaard as Father William Lombardy, a chess master, and Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky. These three actors are superb, and each has a moment on screen that absolutely took my breath away. Marshall is a long suffering lawyer who prods Fischer to go to Iceland to take on Boris Spassky and become the new world champion. Lombardy is the closest thing Fischer has to a friend. He serves as Fischer's second. Bobby tears apart hotel rooms seeking hidden microphones; perhaps the Russians, the CIA, or the conspiratorial Jews are spying on him. Bobby runs from journalists' cameras and the fans who want to grab and kiss him. Bobby cracks when he hears spectators cough or when he can smell their breath. He demands more money, special chairs, different rooms, quieter cameras. Though Jewish, he listens to tapes that convince him that Jews are evil people taking over the world. All this is really hard to watch. It's especially hard to watch for anyone who remembers the Fischer-Spassky match. Bobby Fischer was an incredibly gifted man. He was world famous. After his match, he could have made millions and enjoyed a cushioned retirement. Instead he trusted the wrong people, became a raving lunatic Jewish anti- Semite and a member of a cult he would later denounce, denounced America, cheered 9-11, spat on documents, broke laws, became an exile, and, after refusing necessary medical treatment, died entirely too young and unnecessarily. His ironic, poignant last words, they say, were, "Nothing is as healing as human touch." You can't watch this movie and not wish that somebody had done something to help this man. You can't not wonder, what was wrong with him? Was it the bad relationship with his mother? His lack of a father? His illegitimacy? Was he schizophrenic or autistic? Or is that he was treated like a star and did not receive, from others, the kind of feedback that forms character? A combination of all of these factors? Because Bobby Fischer is a commodity, even in death, we will never know. In the film, Paul Marshall, the more practical and earthbound of Bobby's advisors, suggests taking him to a psychiatrist. Father Lombardy responds that chess is a rabbit hole. He mentions the hundreds of millions of moves that chess masters must take into consideration. He says that taking Bobby to a psychiatrist would be like pouring concrete down a holy well. The implication is that Bobby's chess genius is inextricably tied to his mental illness. Lombardy cites Paul Morphy, a chess genius who could not succeed at conventional life. But look at Boris Spassky. He is still alive and no one suggests that he is mentally ill. Maybe a mentally healthy Bobby would have been an even better chess player. Liev Schreiber, in the commentary, says that chess masters must constantly predict their opponent's attacks, and that doing so contributes to paranoia. Perhaps so. Although I found the film hard to watch, the performances by the leads were so profoundly rewarding that they lifted me up in awe and made me cry. I don't know how Liev Schreiber did it, but he perfectly channeled a Soviet man from the 70s. I know because I was there in the 70s. Michael Stahlberg utterly inhabits his part, a chain smoking, sweaty palmed, tireless enabler who takes every abuse from Bobby and never stops trying to push him forward. Peter Sarsgaard is just simply superb, in every scene, from praying the rosary on his knees to the moment when dawn breaks on his face as Bobby starts winning. Tobey Maguire has a moment that is so powerful it gave me chills. He is beating Spassky. He is in his element. It is his bliss. See the movie for that moment, one I watched over and over again.

Reno Rangan I know Bobby Fischer a genius American chess player, in fact, after watching the 'Searching for Bobby Fischer', which is another biopic as this one. Other than that I know nothing about his life, so I'm very thankful for this film. From the director of many sensational flicks comes this to inspire you. Wait, did I say inspire, but I'm little confused over how this film to be considered. Bobby Fischer was a great player, but he had some mental issues. So you can compare him to John Nash from 'A Beautiful Mind', except they're from different fields, but very intelligents.This film was a little patriotic abut the American nation, especially defeating the Russians in the chess game. So I'm being neutral here. Bobby was the one to focus how he makes his life big with the game that requires a brain. The story began with short span of childhood and then soon skipped to adult Bobby Fischer competing in a biggest tournament in the world, a championship against the best. Nicely filmed with lots of exciting scenes, particularly Tobey Maguire as the main lead was brilliant. Liev Schreiber was another surprise with his frequent on and off role.Good film, but feels it is not complete, there should have more to it and like I said earlier, it has impacted, but not inspiring way which is why I'm doubting the screenplay. A man like him and a film about him should have nominated for several international awards, including the Golden Globe and the Oscars. Sadly, it failed at the box office, as well as to get recognised at the film festival circuits. Still, it got praised, looks not for the artistic work, but as the compensation. If you watch it, you will know there's something wrong, otherwise a film like this won't go unnoticed. I hope someone else makes another film about him in a grand way. Meanwhile, it is a good watch, but what do you expect from the Bobby Fischer like his game or personal issues will decide how much you liked it.7/10