Pawn Sacrifice

PG-13

Released Sep 16, 2015

1 hr. 54 min.

History

Drama

Biography

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List

72%

121 Reviews

Tomatometer

66%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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.

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Critics Consensus

Anchored by a sensitive performance from Tobey Maguire, Pawn Sacrifice adds another solidly gripping drama to the list of films inspired by chess wiz Bobby Fischer.

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Aldo G

Chess players might not like the movie because there are some obvious inaccuracies about the game, but as a profile of Bobby Fischer the films holds up as an effective portrait of a mentally disturbed chess genius.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/27/23

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Alec B

Maguire is quite good and I like how the screenplay refuses to idolize Fischer or waste time explaining chess.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

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Rob A

I learned to play chess after seeing this film, which I subsequently rewatched twice (not counting those good old "rewind that sequence!" moments). The non-verbal acting between Maguire (Bobby Fischer) and Schreiber (Boris Spassky) is amazing. True story of the height-of-the-cold-war 1971 World Chess Championship held in Reykjavík, Iceland. Sit back and watch boy genious Bobby Fischer lose... his... mind!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/17/23

Full Review

Ashley H

Pawn Sacrifice is a terrific film. It is about American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer who finds himself caught between two superpowers. Tobey Maguire and Liev Schreiber give fantastic performances. The script is good but a little slow at times. Edward Zwick did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama and history. Pawn Sacrifice is a must see.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/09/23

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jelisije j

Well I will never look at Chess the same way again.... an absolute classic to the mindset of the importance of chess to chess players.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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isla s

This is an interesting character driven biopic, based on real events. Of course its mainly about chess but it's also about getting an idea of the main character's mindset. It's pretty clear from early on that he has some personal issues and paranoia is an obvious factor at play. It's frustrating watching someone with a clear talent take the decisions and do what he does. I did feel somewhat sorry for him, which is perhaps surprising given his attitude but I understand that people don't necessarily realise that what they believe to be true, isn't necessarily so. I thought Tobey Maguire was a good choice of actor to play the main character, Bobby Fischer. I also thought there was some good cinematography. There are subtitles on screen at times, due to the Russian language being spoken, with Russian media shown reporting on what was happening at the time.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Edward Zwick

Director

Tobey Maguire

Bobby Fischer

Peter Sarsgaard

William Lombardy

Liev Schreiber

Boris Spassky

Michael Stuhlbarg

Paul Marshall

Lily Rabe

Joan Fischer

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Pawn Sacrifice: Trailer 1

2:31

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

'Pawn Sacrifice' takes all of those tropes and cranks them up to 11, far past the barometers of either believable human behavior or credible filmmaking.

May 3, 2016

Full Review

David Sims

The Atlantic

Like all of Zwick's works, it's perfectly watchable fare, but it's often infuriating for its refusal to dig deeper into its incredibly compelling subject.

Oct 14, 2015

Full Review

Brad Wheeler

Globe and Mail

Fine-looking but safe ...

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 25, 2015

Full Review

Edward Porter

Sunday Times (UK)

The film’s approach lacks bold gambits, but the story is still a rewarding exhibition.

Nov 22, 2022

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Pawn Sacrifice paints a portrait that shows us how, when true genius of this kind is discovered, it must be supported to its fullest potential, leaving everyone else to follow in awe of its rare whirlwind.

Rated: 3/4

May 27, 2022

Full Review

Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

Kicks into gear in its final third as Fischer and Spassky go mano e mano over a chess board as the world watches.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 3, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

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.

Director: Edward Zwick
Executive Producer: Kevin Scott Frakes, Michael Ilitch Jr., Julie B. May, Dale Armin Johnson, Glenn Murray, Josette Perrotta, Stephen J. Rivele, Raj Singh, Christopher Wilkinson, Árni Björn Helgason
Screenwriter: Steven Knight
Distributor: Bleecker Street Media
Production Co: Material Pictures, Gail Katz
Rating: PG-13 (Historical Smoking|Brief Strong Language|Some Sexual Content)
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 16, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.4M

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