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Searching for Bobby Fischer
1993 1h 50m PG
Drama
,
Biography
,
Sport
7.4
100%
86%
71%
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A prepubescent chess prodigy is encouraged to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
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Directed By
Steven Zaillian
Written By
Fred Waitzkin
,
Steven Zaillian
Studio
Mirage Enterprises
,
Scott Rudin Productions
,
Paramount
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Cast of Searching for Bobby Fischer
Max Pomeranc
Josh Waitzkin
Joe Mantegna
Fred Waitzkin
Joan Allen
Bonnie Waitzkin
Ben Kingsley
Bruce Pandolfini
Laurence Fishburne
Vinnie
Michael Nirenberg
Jonathan Poe
Robert Stephens
Poe's Teacher
David Paymer
Kalev
Hal Scardino
Morgan
William H. Macy
Tunafish Father
Vasek Simek
Russian Park Player
Dan Hedaya
Tournament Director
Laura Linney
School Teacher
Anthony Heald
Fighting Parent
Steven Randazzo
Man of Many Signals
Chelsea Moore
Katya Waitzkin
Josh Mostel
Chess Club Regular
Josh Kornbluth
Chess Club Regular
Tony Shalhoub
Chess Club Member
Austin Pendleton
Asa Hoffman
Tom McGowan
Reporter
Ona Fletcher
Reporter
Kamran Shirazi
Himself
Roman Dzindzichashvili
Himself
Jerry Poe McClinton
Park Player
Matt De Matt
Night Park Player
Vincent Smith
Washington Square Patzer
Jerry Rakow
Washington Square Patzer
William Colgate
Statistician
Tony De Santis
Jounalist
R.D. Reid
Final Tournament Director
Anthony McGowan
Park Dealer
Katya Waitzkin
82nd Girl
Ryder Fleming-Jones
Petey
Harris Krofchick
Running Chess Kid
John Bourgeois
Gym Parent
Maria Ricossa
Gym Parent
Caroline Yeager
Screaming Mom
Andrew Sardella
Josh's Syracuse Opponent
Nathan Carter
Josh's Teammate
Nicholas Taylor
Birthday Friend
Jonathan Fazio
Birthday Friend
Nicky Mellina
Birthday Friend
Philip Neiman
Birthday Friend
Elizabeth Gropman
Birthday Friend
Joel Benjamin Mowdy
Himself
Bobby Fischer
Himself (archive footage)
Searching for Bobby Fischer Reviews
New York Times
Janet Maslin
What Bobby Fischer took away, dashing the hopes and the innocence of his acolytes when he spurned chess, may never truly be recaptured. But some of it has found its way to the screen.
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Chess may not be the most exciting activity to watch, but Searching for Bobby Fischer makes for engaging entertainment.
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
If we can operate at the genius level in a given field, does that mean we must -- even if the cost is the sort of endless purgatory a Bobby Fischer has inhabited? It's an interesting question, and this movie doesn't avoid it.
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Based on a true story, Searching for Bobby Fischer is a wonderful movie, a delicate and touching drama that takes us deep inside the eccentric competitive mystique of grandmaster chess.
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
The script is so very rich, and different viewers will be able to latch onto different thematic and personally meaningful aspects without sacrificing the overall blend.
Movie Mom
Nell Minow
Perfectly realized, exquisitely acted.
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
It makes for a good old-fashioned inspirational story, absorbing and pointed.
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Zaillian proves as much of a prodigy as his chess-playing subject, turning out a film that is a beautifully calibrated model of honestly sentimental filmmaking, made with delicacy, restraint and unmistakable emotional power.
Newsweek
David Ansen
The story he is telling--about parenting, teachers and students, and the nature of competition--is a rich one, and Zaillian tells it with warmth, humor and zest. The cast is first-rate.
Variety
Brian Lowry
Earnest and well-acted, Steve Zaillian's directorial debut explores the price of being a child prodigy while seeking to bring excitement to chess - becoming a kind of cerebral "The Karate Kid."
Variety
Variety Staff
Pomeranc is wonderfully real and wide-eyed as Josh, with a raspy voice and slight lisp recalling Linus from the Peanuts cartoons.
Denver Post
Michael Booth
The mystery of Fischer's talent and torment adds depth to Searching for Bobby Fischer, about a young New York chess prodigy who doesn't want his genius to ruin his life.
Nashville Scene
Noel Murray
Lively and captivating.
Washington Post
Rita Kempley
Searching for Bobby Fischer does for chess what The Karate Kid did for martial arts, albeit with considerably more complexity and class.
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
As the boy with a cute little lisp, who emerges from his toy room to mastermind his kings, queens and bishops to tactical victory, Pomeranc imbues the movie with irresistible naivete.
Hartford Courant
Malcolm Johnson
Zaillian brings Searching for Bobby Fischer to a satisfying ending, but throughout the film he holds us with the finely balanced writing of his screenplay and with his ability to penetrate into the mysteries of chess.
Rob's Movie Vault
Rob Gonsalves
An intelligently crafted celebration of introspection and decency.
Common Sense Media
Scott G. Mignola
Excellent story about sportsmanship.
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