Review of Pawn Sacrifice (2015) by Eric B — 01 Oct 2015
In the vein of Red Army and even Rocky IV, Pawn Sacrifice takes the game and makes it one part ideological thriller and one part biopic. Tobey Maguire gives a nice over-acting performance as the gifted but troubled Bobby Fischer, who is ushered out of retirement by a patriotic lawyer (Michael Stuhlbarg) and a priest mentor/teacher (Peter Sarsgaard).
The result is an interesting little movie, the musical montages becomes more wearisome as the film goes on. The movie also doesn't actually show the chess matches, they are more of an afterthought and the focus on Bobby and his relationships.
The cast is incredible, but they don't get to do too much. Liev Schreiber gets one solid scene near the end when he freaks out, and Peter Sarsgaard plays is understated as the mentor. Stuhlbarg plays it hapless for the most of the film, and the result is a mildly entertaining drama that plays it too loose with the music and news clips.
This review of Pawn Sacrifice (2015) was written by Eric B on 01 Oct 2015.
Pawn Sacrifice has generally received positive reviews.
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