Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
Director: Steven Zaillian
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
An absorbing, fact-based study - a first feature from the writer of Schindler's List - of the trials and triumphs of a young chess prodigy. Max Pomeranc (a top 100 player himself) is Josh Waitzkin, seven-year-old son of New York sports reporter Fred (Mantegna), a child whose fascination with chess is initially spurred on by park hustler Vinnie (Fishburne, remarkably convincing) before pushy dad signs him up with tutor Bruce Pandolfini (Kingsley). As Josh battles through increasingly daunting tournament matchplay, his progress reflects his mentors' unfulfilled aspirations as much as the his own developing strategic maturity. Ranking performances, and evocative camerawork from veteran Conrad Hall. True, James Horner's score seems to have strayed in from a fists-in-the-air crowd-pleaser, but it's the one weak link in an accomplished, unexpectedly winning movie.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Steven Zaillian
Producer: Scott Rudin, William Horberg
Cast: Max Pomeranc, Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Nirenberg full cast
Duration: 110 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now