PG | Rottentomatoes.com Rating: 100% | 1993 |
(Mild language, thematic issues) | Picky Flicks Quote: "And intelligently crafted celebration of introspection and decency." -Rob Gonsalves, efilmcritic.com | RUNTIME: 1 hrs. 51 mins. |
Visit:www.screenit.com for complete details | Movie Mood:  Focused |
The thing that kept striking me as I re-watched Searching for Bobby Fischer in preparation for this review (it had been a while) was how many well-known, high-quality actors kept popping up as the movie progressed: William H. Macy, Laura Linney, Ben Kingsley, Joan Allen, Laurence Fishburne…the list goes on.
But it’s that kind of movie—the kind with nice little surprises. It’s not a loud movie, but that might have something to do with the fact that it’s about chess.
Or is it?
The truth is, not really.
Mostly, it’s about ambition and human nature and how families interact, but it’s packaged in such an engaging way so as to not feel like a sermon or a Dr. Phil episode.
Our protagonist, Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc, an unkown child actor who is also a chess player), seems like just your normal, everyday, average schoolboy. Even his parents think so—that is until his mom forks over five bucks one day in Washington Square Park so he can play chess with a grouchy Russian guy.
He doesn’t win, but he gets way darn closer than any seven-year-old with no previous chess-playing experience has any right to. When Josh’s sportswriter dad finds out that his son is a natural chess whiz, he does what any sports-loving, competitive dad’s dad would do: he finds a coach to cultivate his son’s genius.
But what starts out as a chance for a kid to find out just how good he is soon morphs into an obsession—for the adults, that is. Ben Kingsley as Bruce, Josh’s brooding teacher, is wonderful at conveying the intensity of a man who recognizes his own limitations but is dying to find someone who can when he can’t. He would have loved to have been the next Bobby Fischer—the only American to ever win the world championship—but at 50+, it’s simply not going to happen, and he knows it. But Josh…Josh is a different story. He’s young and malleable. He could be molded into a champion.
Josh’s dad, Frank, agrees. At one point, he chastens a teacher who is concerned by Josh’s busyness with all-things-chess by pointing out to her that Josh is better at chess than he (Frank) is at everything else he does combined. And, of course, therein lies the root of the problem. Josh’s dad is living through his son—a familiar story for many a talented young athlete or competitive mind.
It would be one thing if Josh were Bobby Fischer (who apparently focused all of his energies and brainpower on honing his craft—to the very great detriment of any other pursuit). But he’s not. And he knows it. When Bruce encourages him to develop an attitude of contempt toward others in order to steel his emotions for winning at all costs, Josh says, “I don’t feel that.” “Bobby Fischer did,” prods his teacher. “But I’m not him,” says Josh.” And, boy, are we, the audience, glad. It would be hard to root for a hero whose definition of success in life is inextricably jumbled up with some black and white figurines and a checkered board.
But Bruce and Frank do not share out relief. In fact, as the lessons and the tournaments increase in number, Josh’s mom is the only one who sees her son’s lack of a killer instinct as a positive quality. When Frank, who was once-upon-a-time a loving husband and father, loses all perspective in a rant about Josh’s recent streak of losses, she hisses, “He’s not weak! He’s decent!"
And he is. Josh is an incredibly sweet boy: fair, honest, good-natured. And while he is aware enough of his natural ability that he throws a game of chess with his father in order to avoid “beating his daddy,” he is not in awe of himself even when others stand around and gape. He would rather play speed chess with the “patzers” (I had to look it up; it means inferior chess players) and drug addicts in the park, go fishing, play baseball, and have a balanced life with his family and friends than be the next great hope for American dominance in the international chess arena (and yes, according to the movie, there are definitely people out there harboring such a hope).
So, does the movie wrap it all up by revealing to us that Josh gets to do it all: be normal and be the next Bobby Fischer? Not quite.
But that’s probably because Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on a real person’s life, and in real life, geniuses are rarely well-balanced individuals. But from the inevitable “years later” caption before the end credits, we do learn that Josh did continue to play chess (and be darn good at it—maintaining a #1 ranking in his age group until college, in fact). His dad also managed to bridle his dreams of vicarious glory. That means that Josh got the opportunity to play sports and do other normal-kid things. He did not, however, achieve world domination in chess.
Which means somebody out there is probably still searching for Bobby Fischer.
Good luck to them.
Until next Wednesday, stay picky! Your mind will thank you later.
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