It's about time they made a movie about chess! Look at all the sports dramas that deal with football, baseball and combat. But those kinds of sports movies are very popular for the typical blue-collar to watch just for fun. Who enjoys watching chess? I love to play chess, but watching it on TV? No thank-you! Searching For Bobby Fischer was a risk and it succeeded in more ways than one.
Searching For Bobby Fischer is based on the book by sports journalist, Fred Waitzkin about his son Josh. Josh was just a normal 7-year-old who enjoyed playing with toys and dreamed of being a baseball player. After briefly watching several chess games in a New York park, he decides to play himself. His parents (Mantegna, Allen) see him as a prodigy. They hire a strict teacher (Kingsley) to help Josh hone his craft and tries to guide him to be the next Bobby Fischer.
That is what the movie should have been called: "The Next Bobby Fischer." "Searching For Bobby Fischer" sounds like the real chess master is involved as a character. This is false advertising if you ask me.
Josh is enjoying chess, but the pressure from his dad and teacher become too much for him to bear. Fred mentions that Josh is better at chess than he has ever been at anything. After Josh sees another prodigy in the park who might be better than him, Josh devotes all his time to chess in hopes of making his father proud.
In order for a movie with a boring concept to succeed, everything that goes into the film has to be held at high calibre. SFBF does just that. Likewise, the game sequences are actually pretty cool to watch. Searching For Bobby Fischer probably inspired many children to try the game of chess. But I guarantee more than half couldn't fully understand the rules of the game.
Ultimately what makes Searching For Bobby Fischer work so well the way it does is the way it shows parents impacting their children. After seeing how talented his young son is, Fred Waitzkin places tremendous pressure on him to be the best chess player in the world. Josh is an innocent kid who just wants to have fun, but also make his father proud of him. That's all any kid wants. Seeing his rival adds more pressure, as Josh thinks losing to another prodigy would lose his father's love. We get a look at who Josh's rival is, and he is going through pretty much a similar path as Josh. Only Josh tries his best keep it all together and we see the characters close to Josh blossom as the movie progresses.
4/4
Searching For Bobby Fischer is based on the book by sports journalist, Fred Waitzkin about his son Josh. Josh was just a normal 7-year-old who enjoyed playing with toys and dreamed of being a baseball player. After briefly watching several chess games in a New York park, he decides to play himself. His parents (Mantegna, Allen) see him as a prodigy. They hire a strict teacher (Kingsley) to help Josh hone his craft and tries to guide him to be the next Bobby Fischer.
That is what the movie should have been called: "The Next Bobby Fischer." "Searching For Bobby Fischer" sounds like the real chess master is involved as a character. This is false advertising if you ask me.
Josh is enjoying chess, but the pressure from his dad and teacher become too much for him to bear. Fred mentions that Josh is better at chess than he has ever been at anything. After Josh sees another prodigy in the park who might be better than him, Josh devotes all his time to chess in hopes of making his father proud.
In order for a movie with a boring concept to succeed, everything that goes into the film has to be held at high calibre. SFBF does just that. Likewise, the game sequences are actually pretty cool to watch. Searching For Bobby Fischer probably inspired many children to try the game of chess. But I guarantee more than half couldn't fully understand the rules of the game.
Ultimately what makes Searching For Bobby Fischer work so well the way it does is the way it shows parents impacting their children. After seeing how talented his young son is, Fred Waitzkin places tremendous pressure on him to be the best chess player in the world. Josh is an innocent kid who just wants to have fun, but also make his father proud of him. That's all any kid wants. Seeing his rival adds more pressure, as Josh thinks losing to another prodigy would lose his father's love. We get a look at who Josh's rival is, and he is going through pretty much a similar path as Josh. Only Josh tries his best keep it all together and we see the characters close to Josh blossom as the movie progresses.
4/4