It's not always black and white (lol)

Rating: 7/10 (15 December 2017)

What use is winning, if it costs one man his mental health?" I'm sure this phrase or one like it was coined for the sake of this movie. It features Toby McGuire as real life Chess Champion Bobby Fischer, who was once the greatest player in the world but sadly let the pressure of the game and the attention bestowed upon him slowly drive him to the brink of insanity. He's not the only one though: as we see from the irrational behaviour of his Russian Grandmaster final opponent later on, the rigours of such a complicated strategic game can affect anyone, if they let it take over their existence to the extent as shown here.
You don't have to appreciate the finer points of chess to derive enjoyment from Pawn Sacrifice. It would probably help, but the themes of Cold War anxiety and obsessively having to be 'the best' are more universal, and should make it appeal to a larger crowd. McGuire proves he can be so much more than just a webslinger, and we feel every inch of his paranoia as the film goes on: his character shuts himself off from the world, always thinks he's being watched, refuses to eat food unless it's prepared in front of him... one of the earliest 'conspiracy theorists', perhaps?
Anyone familiar with the real-life story knows that this movie can't have a happy ending, as the final text during the episode so bluntly demonstrates. All the cheering from Fischer's family and adoring crowds won't change a thing to what occurred after his triumph, and we're left with the stark question: was it all worth it?
In this viewers opinion, no. 7/10