Synopsis
A seven-year-old chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
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Cast
- Max PomerancJosh Waitzkin
- Joe MantegnaFred Waitzkin
- Joan AllenBonnie Waitzkin
- Ben KingsleyBruce Pandolfini
- Laurence FishburneVinnie
- Michael NirenbergJonathan Poe
- Robert StephensPoe's Teacher
- David PaymerKalev
- Hal ScardinoMorgan
- William H. MacyTunafish Father
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
A film of remarkable sensitivity and insight. - 100
Rolling Stone
A riveting screen adventure. - 100
Los Angeles Times
Writer-director Steven Zaillian proves as much of a prodigy as his chess-playing subject, turning out a film that is a beautifully calibrated model of honestly sentimental filmmaking, made with delicacy, restraint and unmistakable emotional power. The feelings it goes for are almost never the easy or obvious ones, and the levers it presses are all the more effective because of that. - 100
Chicago Reader
One of the craftiest and most satisfying pieces about gender politics to come along in ages. - 90
The New York Times
Even though this film may do for chess what "The Red Shoes" did for ballet, it works movingly and most effectively as a family drama. - 89
Austin Chronicle
Searching for Bobby Fischer is a story that sounds, on paper, like something that shouldn't succeed as a movie but when played out so remarkably by all the parties involved, it becomes an unexpected treat. - 80
Empire
With this touching story about a boy learning to play chess, Zaillian cuts an impressive debut, brining out strong performances from his cast most notably the young Pomeranc who is genuinely moving a the chess genius, even when he's not talking we are able to know what he's thinking, a rarity amongst child actors. - 75
ReelViews
Searching for Bobby Fischer is an intensely fascinating movie capable of involving those who are ignorant about chess as well as those who love it. The focus of the film is less on the actual game than it is on the people, emotions, and pressures surrounding Josh. It is a tale of human trials and triumph, not a sports movie that panders to a certain segment of the population. Chess may not be the most exciting activity to watch, but Searching for Bobby Fischer makes for engaging entertainment.
