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Searching for Bobby Fischer

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by Rob Gonsalves

"The best movie made about and for children since 'E.T.'"

Little Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc), all of seven years old, gets bitten by the chess bug in New York’s Washington Square when he stumbles on the “speed chess” matches.

Josh, it turns out, is a genuine prodigy, pushed forward by his well-meaning sportswriter dad Fred (Joe Mantegna) and tutored by street master Laurence Fishburne and bitter ex-champ Ben Kingsley. Josh is terribly confused by the conflicting philosophies he’s getting from his three mentors, and the movie briefly threatens to teeter into precious Little Man Tate territory.

It recovers, though, when we meet a contemptuous little chess whiz (Michael Nirenberg) whose idea of fun is chortling at other people’s dumb moves. Josh squares off against this cold princeling, but by then we’ve started to find the opponent less bratty — he seems hollow, bored with this game he happens to be great at. He, not Josh, is the true “next Bobby Fischer.”

Rookie director Steven Zaillian has a writer’s gift for finding the thread of meaning in a story, and the film is an intelligently crafted celebration of introspection and decency. Zaillian also manages to make a compelling film in which we are looking at (A) people playing chess or (B) people talking about playing chess.

Pomeranc is a find, and Mantegna has a couple of great in-joke scenes with fellow David Mamet alumnus William H. Macy as a worried “chess dad.”

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=7082&reviewer=416
originally posted: 04/04/07 06:04:59

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User Comments

7/02/09 Dane Youssef One of the greatest family films ever made. The only movie that ever knew the game. 5 stars

1/17/09 Shaun Wallner Thought this was a good film. 5 stars

9/15/08 PAUL SHORTT A THOUGHTFUL AND ABSORBING FAMILY DRAMA 4 stars

5/07/08 dwb great cast, great film 5 stars

11/19/07 anthony smith Four adults metaphor for dencency and competence 5 stars

9/01/07 docmoreau Loved it. Wish that someone would produce the musical: "Chess" on film. 5 stars

4/27/07 Heather Schroeder Great performances, perfect feel good flick 5 stars

7/27/05 Indrid Cold Odd, mournful tone permeates it and left me cold. Interesting though. 4 stars

4/10/05 judith anderson Unique story. Well written. Good acting. SEE IT!! 5 stars

3/30/05 Ronin really great "chess flick" 5 stars

12/23/04 DM I don't know what the fuck HL is talking about; Kingsley kicks ass 5 stars

10/30/04 HL A real study in behavior..But Kingsley can erk ya. 4 stars

5/24/04 John really entertaining and involving story with good acting 4 stars

2/21/03 R.W. Welch Intriguing insight into the weird world of chess prodigies. Nice acting. 4 stars

2/18/03 taj Damning with faint praise: this is the best chess flick out there 4 stars

IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA 11-Aug-1993 (PG) UK N/A Australia 02-Dec-1993 (G)

Directed by Steven Zaillian Written by Steven Zaillian Cast Max Pomeranc Joe Mantegna Joan Allen Ben Kingsley Laurence Fishburne Michael Nirenberg

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