An unfulfilled telling of a flawed genius' tale

Pawn Sacrifice
English (U/A)
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg
Director: Edward Zwick
Rating: ***

The US-Soviet Cold War manifested itself in many ways, from the nuclear and space race to rivalries in the sports and artistic arenas. “Pawn Sacrifice” happens to be one such story, but there’s a whole lot more to it. It is the story of Bobby Fischer, the chess champion who could have been celebrated for his achievements, but was instead cast aside when his political utility ended.

Sadly, director Edward Zwick seems mildly confused between whether to depict more of Fischer’s rise to talent and subsequent descent into madness, or the political game in which the chess grandmaster himself becomes a pawn, and is subsequently sacrificed.

Yes, the film shows both these aspects, but while the chess and the mind games are either dumbed down with only expert commentary or too technical for the intellectual non-aficionado to understand, the political cloak-and-dagger skulduggery remains mostly behind curtains.

One example of Fischer’s psychological manipulation of an opponent is when he arrives late to a game and waits till the last possible second to make a move. It’s a scene to savour. However, the climactic game is only a letdown when it comes to the audience, who have to rely on people’s reactions and words to guess the outcome.

The film’s saving grace, though, is the performances. While Maguire is great as Fischer, Sarsgaard stands out as Father Lombardy, Fischer’s “second” in most of his games. Stuhlbarg puts in a good performance as the manipulative, “patriotic” lawyer often representing Fischer and getting people to bow to his demands. Schreiber seems like he could have gotten in more of a performance as Boris Spassky had he been given more to do on screen.

“Pawn Sacrifice” has pace, and rarely stagnates in its dark, brooding scenes. Its feel of authenticity stems from Zwick’s frequent use of stock footage — both original and otherwise — from the relevant eras. In the end, however, it leaves the viewer somewhat unsatisfied, but that’s mostly because of the style the film builds up and ends.

This was a promising film that missed the mark, but not by much. After all, a checkmate is always more exciting than a stalemate.