Home Reviews Review: Pawn Sacrifice

Review: Pawn Sacrifice

Liev Schreiber and Tobey Maguire star in Bleecker Street's PAWN SACRIFICE

For those of us who know, Bobby Fischer has always been a person who could spark interest. Since he first came to prominence as a master of chess, he’s been able to catch headlines and create controversy. Now even after his passing, it’s proven that people will still find him to be an interesting figure. That would explain why we have films such as Pawn Sacrifice.

Starring Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer, Pawn Sacrifice showcases some of the most crucial times in the life of one of the world’s most dominant chess players in history. It’s the height of the Cold War, and this American prodigy finds himself in the middle of a battle that will be won not on the battlefield or war rooms, but in front of a chess board playing against the best Russia has to offer.

It’s difficult to say too many negative things about Pawn Sacrifice based on how it’s been made. From the beginning to the end, this is a carefully constructed film that appears to be put together quite well from a technical standpoint. There aren’t too many issues or flaws to talk about in that sense, and the acting is top-notch from the cast that’s been assembled.

With his performance, Maguire manages to truly capture the essence of the enigmatic Bobby Fischer. Because of this, audiences who don’t know about this person are able to get an understanding of who he was as a neurotic personality whose life was built around his obsession with chess. If you know anything about him as a person, you’ll recognize much of what we’ve known for a long while.

In spite of Pawn Sacrifice having a great performance from its lead while not having too many issues as a whole, none of this means that the film is going to be loved by everyone. In actuality, some who know the story of the American born chess prodigy may have a tough time being entertained or intrigued by this since they know the story already. Knowing the story may also mean that you know about the little quirks that he had to his personality. If you know of this stuff, there’s a chance that you could get a little bored with it since the movie as a whole is not packed with excitement.

One of the ways that they could have changed things to some degree would have been to add more about Spassky, Fisher’s longtime Russian rival who’s played by Liev Schreiber. He’s a guy that we don’t generally get to hear about whenever Bobby Fischer pops up. We know of him, but we don’t actually get to know him as a person. Pawn Sacrifice eventually gives us pieces of him but it only makes you more interested in who he was rather than satisfying our curiosity. Adding more of him would have also made you question just how much of Bobby Fischer’s issues were unique to him as a chess master.

Overall, Pawn Sacrifice is a solid feature that doesn’t have the quality necessary to make it stand out and grab the attention of the public. As I said, there’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s nothing that truly makes it anything better than good. For those of you who does decide to give it a chance, it’s hard to see it disappointing too many of you unless you’re anticipating more than that. By revving up the energy and giving us more to Schreiber’s Spassky, I think they could have made it better, but it’s all decent either way.

Rating: PG-13

Director: Edward Zwick

Cast:
Toby Maguire
Liev Schreiber
Peter Sarsgaard
Michael Stuhlbarg

Film Length: 116 minutes

Release Dates:
September 18, 2015 (Limited)
September 25, 2015 (Wide)

Distributor: Bleecker Street

  • Poster image of Well Go USA's SHADOW

    Review: Shadow (Ying)

    When looking at who’s behind Shadow, it would be hard for fans of the wuxia action g…
  • Chang Chen stars in Well Go USA's SAVAGE

    Review: Savage

    Savage is a film that interested me when I first heard about it. One of the reasons was th…
  • Lupita Nyong’o stars in Universal Pictures' US

    Review: Us

    Jordan Peele surprised most of us when we got to see Get Out back in 2017. It was the kind…
  • Samuel L. Jackson stars in Universal Pictures' GLASS

    Review: Glass

    To this day, I’m one of those people who will tell you that Unbreakable is the best …
  • Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly star in Sony Picture Classics' STAN & OLLIE

    Review: Stan & Ollie

    The comedic team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had a huge impact and grew a large fan ba…
  • Ella Hunt stars in Orion Pictures' ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE

    Review: Anna and the Apocalypse

    Anna and the Apocalypse is a multitude of things pushed into a small package. It’s a…
Load More Related Articles
Load More By Jaskee Hickman
  • (L-r) Mia Goth and Halsey star in A24 films' Maxxxine

    Review: Maxxxine

    As someone who is always in the mood for horror, I jumped at the chance to watch Maxxxine.…
  • Timothée Chalamet and Josh Brolin star in Warner Bros. Pictures' DUNE PART 2

    Review: Dune Part 2

    In spite of its hype, I wasn’t all that excited about Dune Part 2. One reason was because …
  • Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero in Warner Bros. Pictures' MORTAL KOMBAT

    Review: Mortal Kombat (2021)

    I don’t think me or anyone I know was expecting an amazing work of art from Mortal K…
  • Eddie Murphy stars in Amazon's COMING 2 AMERICA

    Review: Coming 2 America

    Coming to America is my favorite comedy of all-time. However, I wasn’t someone who w…
  • Dave Davis stars in IFC Midnight's THE VIGIL

    Review: The Vigil

    Movies that focus on elements of different cultures always interest me. I guess that’…
  • Jamie Foxx stars in Disney's SOUL

    Review: Soul

    In many cases, animated films end up being better and more developed than most live-action…
Load More In Reviews

Check Also

Review: Maxxxine

As someone who is always in the mood for horror, I jumped at the chance to watch Maxxxine.…