In Pawn Sacrifice, Tobey Maguire plays troubled American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer, who will eventually battle Russian chess master Boris Spassky at the 1972 World Chess Championship. But can any actor really get inside Fischer's head? Here's what critics are saying:
- Richard Roeper sums up the film as "Rocky III at the chess table—if Rocky were an increasingly paranoid loner." Overall, it's "enthralling," "captures the essence of Fischer's mad genius, perfectly recreates the tenor of the times AND works as a legit sports movie about the great game of chess," he writes at the Chicago Sun-Times. Plus, "Maguire gives the performance of his career," and "Liev Schreiber deserves best supporting actor consideration" for his turn as Spassky.
- The film "doesn't offer much in the way of surprises or insight," and "never fully captures how Fischer became Fischer," but "there's much to recommend it anyway," writes Keith Phipps at Uproxx. "It's shot handsomely and builds in intensity." There are also "some sharp lines from screenwriter Steven Knight and first-rate performances." Schreiber is good, but Maguire steals the show.