Pawn Sacrifice (2014)

Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writers:

Steven Knight (screenplay), Stephen J. Rivele (story)

Stars:

Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tobey Maguire	...	Bobby Fischer
Liev Schreiber	...	Boris Spassky
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Paul Marshall
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Father Bill Lombardy
Edward Zinoviev	...	Efim Geller
Alexandre Gorchkov	...	Iivo Nei
Lily Rabe	...	Joan Fischer
Robin Weigert	...	Regina Fischer
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick	...	Teenage Bobby Fischer
Aiden Lovekamp	...	Young Bobby Fischer
Sophie Nélisse	...	Young Joan Fischer
Evelyne Brochu	...	Donna
Conrad Pla	...	Carmine Nigro
Vitali Makarov	...	Ivanovich
Brett Watson	...	Lothar Schmid

Storyline

During the height of the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire.

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Plot Keywords:

american | cold war | chess | archive footage | paparazzi | 

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Taglines:

In 1972, Bobby Fischer faced the Soviet Union in the greatest chess match ever played. On the board he fought the Cold War. In his mind he fought his madness.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual content and historical smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bauernopfer - Spiel der Könige

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$202,053 (USA) (18 September 2015)

Gross:

$2,436,062 (USA) (11 December 2015)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gail Katz Productions, MICA Entertainment, Material Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tobey Maguire played the son of Joan Allen in two films: The Ice Storm (1997) and Pleasantville (1998). Allen played the mother of a Chess prodigy in Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993).

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Goofs

At the end of the movie, Fischer is shown getting into a car and pulling his portable chess-set from his pocket. The scene then changes to a close-up of his hands which open the set vertically with the inner flap folding downward. The shot switches back to a facing shot of Fischer who is now holding the set opened horizontally, like a book with the flap opened to his right. Then we once again see a close-up of his hands folding the set closed vertically.

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Quotes

Paul Marshall: [entering the room during another one of Bobby's rants] What are we talking about?
Father Bill Lombardy: The Jews.
Paul Marshall: Huh...

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Connections

References Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)

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Soundtracks

Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Written by John Williams
Courtesy of Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. on behalf of Marjer Publishing

User Reviews

One of the surprise movies of the year that deserves a bigger audience than it will get. I really enjoyed this & recommend it

"Bobby won't crack, he will explode." Ever since he was a young boy Bobby Fischer (Maguire) has been obsessed with chess. His dream of becoming the youngest world champion ever has been crushed by the Russian's way of playing and he slowly starts to lose his mind. Wanting to prove to everyone, and himself that is is the best in the world he sets up a series of matches with Boris Spassky (Schreiber), the best player in the world. As the match draws closer Fischer begins to descend further into madness and it starts to affect his ability to play. I knew very little about the real story of Bobby Fischer before watching this so most of this was new to me. For a movie about chess I have to say the movie was actually pretty exciting to watch, and Maguire really surprised me with his acting. I'm not sure how historically accurate this is but watching it the tenseness was there and you really felt uncomfortable for and with Bobby. One of the surprise movies of the year that deserves a bigger audience than it will get. I really enjoyed this and recommend it. Overall, great acting and great drama. More movies like this should be made. I give it an A-.