SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1993 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Max Pomeranc, Laurence Fishburne. Director/Screenwriter: Steven Zaillian.
SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER is the kind of film that can easily get lost in the glut of summer releases. It boasts no superstars, includes no gunfire or velociraptors, and has as its focal point the game of chess.
Let me repeat that: a movie ... about chess. No, let me amend that: a wonderful movie about chess. SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER is an emotionally satisfying and surprisingly understated film that takes the tried-and-true formula of such crowd pleasers as ROCKY and THE KARATE KID and adds some welcome thematic depth.
SEARCHING is based on the true story of Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc), a seven-year-old New York boy whose parents (Joe Mantegna and Joan Allen) discover that he is a chess prodigy. He learns the game from park chess hustlers like Vinnie (Laurence Fishburne), who encourages daring and aggressive play, and is then brought by his father to former master Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley). Pandolfini is reluctant to act as Josh's teacher, but agrees because the price is right and because he sees in Josh a natural talent similar to that of the legendary American champion Bobby Fischer. Pandolfini is also a purist who shuns the strategies of speed players like Vinnie, and wants to instill in Josh the calculated single-mindedness and contempt for opponents that characterized Fischer's play. The film then traces Josh's experiences with the youth tournaments, and his growing fear that once he's the best, it's no longer "okay to lose."
This examination of the win-at-all-costs ethos of competition provides one of the film's most potent thematic touchstones. After his baseball team wins a game in an eary sequense, Josh looks on sympathetically as the losing team walks away dejectedly. He loves to play, but he doesn't love to win. It's an attitude which infuriates Pandolfini, who tells Josh he must hate his opponents, only to receive the simple response, "I don't hate them." It's also a foreign concept to his father, a sports writer who begins to live vicariously through his son's victories. Sports parents are given a firm tweaking, particularly in a hilarious scene at a tournament where a fight breaks out between two fathers.
As Fred Waitzkin, Joe Mantegna presents a fully-realized portrait of one of these parents. He is a loving father who initially encourages his son's gift out of selflessness, but slowly gets caught up in the winning. His feelings are brought out in a confrontation with Josh's school teacher, whom he tells, "Do you know how good he is? He's better at this than I've ever been at anything in my life." Mantegna's performance is rich and effective, and only one of many super acting turns. Kingsley deftly handles the cold, slightly embittered Pandolfini, allowing him to be unlikeable but understandable. Fishburne has fun with his small part as the trash-talking park player, as does David Paymer as a nervous "chess dad." However, it's Max Pomeranc's show, and he carries it. With his hair hanging just above his eyes and his mouth perpetually in something just less than a smile, first-time actor Pomeranc projects Josh's earnestness and ever-present tension in sighs and eye movements. It's a delightful performance, made even more surprising by the fact that he is being handled by a first-time director.
That director is Steven Zaillian (Oscar nominated as a screenwriter for AWAKENINGS), and it's a remarkably confident debut. He delivers the chess scenes with tremendous energy, a challenge if ever there was one. He frames his scenes with a sense of purpose, and his actors are always focused. Most tellingly, he demonstrates the ability to develop his story visually, beginning with the opening sequence where Josh finds a carved chess piece, is offered a softball in trade by Vinnie, and chooses to keep the piece. Without a single word of dialogue, Zaillian conveys a change in focus for Josh, and the beginning of his new life.
If there is one place to find fault, it's with the emotional string-pulling that's common to the "competition" genre. James Horner's overwrought score practically screams, "Cry now!" in a manner I had thought only John Williams had mastered. The climax manages to avoid cliches, however, and I have to admit that I was grinning and on the edge of my seat along with a couple hundred fellow moviegoers.
Both as intelligent cinema and rousing entertainment, SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER is a winner not to be overlooked. Chess ... who'd have guessed?
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 grandmaster points: 8 points. -- Scott Renshaw Stanford University Office of the General Counsel
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