Ivory Tower (2010)

Hershell & Thadeus, two chess-playing brothers and their unhealthy rivalry over both the chessboard and a woman. Hershell is a chess purist, the prodigal son, Thadeus a disciplined, ... See full summary »

Director:

Adam Traynor

Writers:

William Carney, Gonzales,

Stars:

Robyn Bigue, Joséphine Drai, Leslie Feist

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Robyn Bigue	...	Blonde in Pop Commercial
Joséphine Drai	...	Waitress
Leslie Feist	...	CCC Cameraperson (as Feist)
Gonzales	...	Hershell (as Jason 'Chilly Gonzales' Beck)
Peaches	...	Marsha
Tiga Sontag	...	Thadeus (as Tiga)

Storyline

Hershell & Thadeus, two chess-playing brothers and their unhealthy rivalry over both the chessboard and a woman. Hershell is a chess purist, the prodigal son, Thadeus a disciplined, ruthless competitor. After 4 nomadic years in Europe, in quixotic pursuit of 'Jazz Chess' (chess for chess' sake, no winner, no loser, only beautiful positions), Hershell returns home. Thadeus is a successful but arrogant Canadian Chess Champion engaged to marry Marsha, Hershell's former sweetheart. Hershell challenges Thaddeus in the next Canadian Chess Championship. During the final match,Thadeus is flustered by Hershell's Zen-like demeanor, and sets himself up for certain defeat. But instead, Hershell uses the principle of Jazz Chess to force a draw. Marsha admires Hershell's selfless move, but leaves - she won't be either brothers' trophy.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Details

Country:

Canada France

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 2010 (Switzerland)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Schmooze

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Funny AND intelligent movie

In "Ivory Tower" two brothers, both chess-champions, fight for a woman and a title. Like in black-and-white chess, one is a dark character, the other the light one, but they change roles several times. Herschell used to be the more successful one and was pretty arrogant, his brother Thad was the cordial type and therefore won Herschells girl-friends heart. In the beginning of the film, the situation has changed: After Herschell went to Europe to find himself, he invented a pacifistic form of chess, called "Jazz-Chess". Thad meanwhile got famous, superficial and commercially successful. After a typical sports-event with a surprising end - as often seen in movies - they find together. The actors, Chilly Gonzales, Tiga and Peaches, all of them well-known musicians (Electro-Pop), are not really good actors. But this is part of the fun in this hilarious movie. You can talk about "Ivory Tower" for hours, as everything is coherent. Chess-freaks probably get the most fun, but even an amateur like me lies down with laughter.