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 & 1 nomination.

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:

chess | richard m. nixon character | cold war | american | paranoia | 

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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 | Sport | Thriller

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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

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

25 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

La jugada maestra

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$202,053, 20 September 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,436,062, 13 December 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gail Katz Productions,MICA Entertainment,Material Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color Color (archive footage) Black and White (archive footage) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bobby Fischer was awarded the title of Chess Grandmaster in 1958.

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Goofs

When Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) replays a game from a Russian chess magazine, the first moves are 1.h4 h5 (pushing the pawns on the edge of the board). In fact, only amateurs' games start like this, not games of the masters, as like the ones published in the chess magazines.

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Quotes

Paul Marshall: We lost China. We're losing Vietnam. We have to win this one.

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits, the name of the character Cyril (played by Shawn Campbell) is misspelled "Cryil".

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Connections

References King Kong (1933)

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Soundtracks

Travellin' Band
Written by John Fogerty (as John C. Fogerty)
Performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival (as Credence Clearwater Revival)
Published by Jondora Music
Courtesy of Concord Music Group, Inc.

User Reviews

Intense!

A well-crafted biopic about one of the greatest matches in history. A career-defining performance by Tobey Maguire. Who knew that a movie about a game of chess could be so suspenseful and riveting. You won't be able to take your eyes off of it.

Director Ed Zwick is the man who gave us "Glory," "The Last Samurai," "Defiance," basically movies that have epic battlefield sequences, so it's interesting that his battlefield has been scaled down to the size of a chessboard but it's just as colossal, this is a story back in the era when the whole world was watching which of the two ideologies, United States or the Soviets would ultimately win, tension was running high but instead of bullets or nuclear weapons which both regions did have, it all came down to between Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) and even if the movie may or may not want to preach about which is the ultimate victor, it did capture the animosity in the air, so sharp it can cut through glass, the hatred against communism at the time.

Written by Steven Knight, who gave us "Eastern Promises," and "Locke," I think Knight gives in to Hollywood's long-held fascination with brilliance and madness, it's a lot like "A Beautiful Mind," where a person is so brilliant that his mind just snaps. Now, I didn't grow up knowing a lot about Bobby Fischer, my dad taught me how to play chess when I was a kid, but I was terrible at it, which is why I turned to soccer. My point is, I don't know how out of touch Fischer really was, and this movie itself is not a straight adaptation, but I think PAWN SACRIFICE accomplishes what it set out to do from the start, this correlation between genius and paranoia or insanity.

Mad props to actors Tobey Maguire and Liev Schreiber who, under the direction of Ed Zwick, successfully manage to dramatize the game of chess. Because chess matches are usually silent, so everything heavily relies on the actors' facial expressions, it's all in the eyes and the body language in order to understand the game's intensity. The movie has to also entertain those who may not play chess and so it does, and it's a testament to the amazing performances by Maguire and Schreiber.The movie also brings up a good point that I think would leave the audiences conflicted. Because we would feel like Bobby Fischer would need medical treatment, but a part of us also don't want to hinder or get in the way of brilliance, out of selfish reasons of course, because we would want that brilliance to work in our favor. We badly want to see the master play but at what cost.