All The Right Moves - Maguire's laser focused anti-hero is a study in complexity

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2015)

PAWN SACRIFICE (2015) *** Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlberg, Lily Rabe, Robin Weigert, Evelyne Brochu. Maguire gives a commanding performance as troubled genius, chess wizard extreme Bobby Fischer who will stop at nothing to be the world champion making it a bloodsport to thwart reigning game czar, Russian Boris Spassky (low-key Schreiber). Maguire's laser-focused, obnoxious to a fault, demanding Fischer is complex yet ultimately sympathetic as the demons of mental illness slowly fades in just as he's at his peak. Filmmaker Ed Zwick has the unenviable job of making a board game involving but the script by Christopher Wilkinson, Stephen J. Rivele and Steven Knight elevates the biopic into "A Beautiful Mind" territory in spite of its protagonists bristling to the touch demeanor.