Selective look at the life and times of Bobby Fischer: "Bobby has problems.... So did Mozart"

Rating: 4/10 (26 September 2015)

"Pawn Sacrifice" (2015 release; 115 min.) is a fictional bio-pick about chess legend Bobby Fischer. As the movie opens, we get archive TV news footage from a bunch of different countries with the shocking news that Bobby Fischer did not show up for Game 2 of the Chess World Championship, as we see Fischer holed up in his room, refusing to come out. We then go back to "15 November '51, Brooklyn, NY", where we meet 8 yr. old Bobby, growing up with his mom. We already see his mind getting restless quickly, but also starting to astonish with his chess moves. At this point we're maybe 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: when I herd earlier this year that a movie was being made about the life and times of Bobby Fischer, and that it was directed by none other than Edward Zwick (the director of "Glory" and "Defiance", among others), I was pretty excited about it. Alas, it was not to be. What I thought would be a bio-pick on Fischer's life, turns out to be a very selective look instead. The movie's focus is clearly, and almost to the exclusion of everything else, on the 1972 World Championship against Boris Spassky. Yes, we do get a few glimpses of the younger Fischer. Fischer's mental problems do not get examined in-depth but are dealt with hastily. "Bob has problems" comments Father Lombarty, to which someone responds "So did Mozart", and end of story. Most disappointing for me was that the film essentially stops with Fischer's win in 1972. The remaining 36 years of his life, which remain clouded in mystery for a good part, are dismissed in about 2 minutes at the end of the movie. The leading acting performances, with Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer and Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky, are quite good, but keep your eye out as well for up-and-coming Canadian actress Évelyne Brochu in the role of Donna, Fischer's very first girlfriend (when he already was in his 20s). If you are interested in a more in-depth look at the life and times of Bobby Fischer, I'd readily recommend the excellent 2011 documentary "Bobby Fischer Against The World".
"Pawn Sacrifice" opened this weekend on five screens for all of Greater Cincinnati. I was eager to see it. The matinée screening where I saw this at today turned out to be a private screening, as in: I literally was the only person in the theater. I can't imagine that this movie will stick around for more than a couple of weeks in the theater. I encourage you to check out "Pawn Sacrifice" for yourself, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusions.