Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) – S. Zaillian

Aito is really getting into chess now (he beats me nightly) which reminded me of this solid ‘90s film about a 7-year-old kid (and a whole subculture of kids) playing competitive chess in tournaments. Joe Mantegna and Joan Allen play the parents of Josh Waitzkin (played by Max Pomeranc) who wrestle with the moral quandaries put to them about their son’s social and emotional life and whether fostering his success is more for them or for him. Ben Kingsley and Laurence Fishburne play Josh’s two mentors, the classically trained but conservative taskmaster and the risky bullet player from Washington Square Park, respectively. Writer-Director Steve Zaillian keeps things moving (in his directorial debut) with the requisite tension (if not without some inescapable sports movie cliches). Dan Hedaya, Laura Linney, and William H. Macy show up in cameos.  You probably don’t really need to know anything about chess to enjoy this, but now that we do, the authenticity is discernible.  And after all, the film is based on a true story (co-written by the real Fred Waitzkin) and features clips of the real Bobby Fischer who is frequently name-checked as a future “destination” (for better and//or for worse) in the film.