The Interesting Life of Bobby Fisher

Rating: 8/10 (27 November 2015)

From the director who brought us Glory, Edward Zwick gives us a movie about a prominent chess player with Pawn Sacrifice. Starring Toby Maguire, this is the story of Bobby Fisher as we get into a really intriguing history biopic about his life and how he became the greatest chess player in the world. In addition, the movie shows how he's dealing with paranoia and the way it's affecting his actions and thought process. Which is funny because he's already super cocky and to add that he's paranoid brings an interesting layer to his character. What Edward Zwick has done really well is that he captured the feel of the movie that it took place during the down years of the Cold War. Not only that, Tobey Maguire has done an excellent job playing as the paranoid genius. In a way, it reminds me of A Beautiful Mind where it is also about a genius that has a mental health issue. But if there's one thing to critique about this film is that I felt that I never got a real connection with the main character. I think if it spends in its opening scenes giving us a sense of not only who Bobby Fisher is, but how we can connect with him, it would turn from a good film to a great one. But I think the way it is, Pawn Sacrifice is a fascinating story about the life of Bobby Fisher. If you like biopics, this is worth checking out.