Nick Clement brings us his Pawn Sacrifice review, a movie currently available now to watch on Amazon Prime.
American chess legend Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and Soviet Grandmaster Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) enthrall the world with their intense battle of wills and strategy during the 1972 World Chess Championship.
Pawn Sacrifice is an sturdy biopic of legendary chess sensation Bobby Fischer.
Confidently directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, Courage Under Fire, Blood Diamond, Love & Other Drugs), the film is content to be solid at almost every turn without the desire to go beyond the expected.
It’s extremely well-crafted, persuasively acted by Tobey Maguire and Liev Schreiber (both of whom are surrounded by a deep and classy supporting cast), and the production benefits from the swift editing of Steven Rosenblum who keeps the pace moving without feeling rushed.
The authentic production design is evocative of the cold war setting, and Maguire’s descent into madness is certainly communicated well by the choices in Bradford Young’s smooth and beautifully lit cinematography, with a sharp use of sound also helping to burrow deep into Fisher’s inner turmoil.
Despite never going beyond the traditional, the movie remains compelling, but I’d argue that the fractured nature of Fischer’s delicate psyche might have been better represented by a less traditionally structured narrative; considering the high-priced screenwriting talent involved (Steven Knight, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson).
One might have expected something more robust and distinctive.
Pawn Sacrifice is a comfortable Saturday night movie, undemanding yet entertaining, but it would have been more rewarding had it truly wanted to get down and dirty with the subject matter.
Pawn Sacrifice review by Nick Clement
Our Rating
Summary
A sturdy Saturday nights viewing but it’s a shame the filmmakers didn’t go too in-depth on their subject matter.
It felt like a very surface level affair.
