Synopsis
American chess champion Bobby Fischer prepares for a legendary match-up against Russian Boris Spassky.
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Cast
- Tobey MaguireBobby Fischer
- Peter SarsgaardFather Bill Lombardy
- Liev SchreiberBoris Spassky
- Michael StuhlbargPaul Marshall
- Lily RabeJoan Fischer
- Sophie NélisseYoung Joan
- Seamus Davey-FitzpatrickTeen Bobby Fischer
- Conrad PlaCarmine Nigro
- Aiden LovekampYoung Bobby Fischer
- Evelyne BrochuDonna
Recommendations
- 75
The Playlist
Pawn Sacrifice certainly whips up a dervish of energy, and as a piece of dramatic entertainment, it's mostly engaging, and features character actors doing very good work. - 75
Movie Nation
As volcanic as Maguire needs to be, it’s those who react to Fischer most tellingly — Sarsgaard’s priest, and Schreiber’s Spassky — that make Pawn Sacrifice the gripping and entertaining history lesson that it is. - 75
Slant Magazine
It's best appreciated as a tragicomic profile of a man whose extraordinary talent was undermined by the farcical political reality in which he was enmeshed. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
A classically helmed biopic that brings nothing new to the genre, but benefits from handsome craftmanship and solid performances by Tobey Maguire as the Brooklyn boy wonder, and Liev Schreiber as his longtime Russian nemesis, Boris Spassky. - 70
Variety
Absent the ability to really get the audience’s heads in the game, the film succeeds better at presenting chess as a subtle metaphor for the psychological warfare being waged behind the scenes. - 70
Los Angeles Times
The film's straight-ahead approach matters less than the complete and utter strangeness of the true story it convincingly tells. - 70
Village Voice
Pawn Sacrifice clicks along with crisp efficiency. Zwick, the director behind movies like Glory and Blood Diamond, is old-school in his attention to craftsmanship, alive to telling details. - 58
Hitfix
As a biopic for Fischer, Pawn Sacrifice can certainly encourage viewers to research more about him. It’s just unfortunate Zwick couldn’t bring a slightly more understated approach to the entire endeavor.
