In a world of competitive sports camps for 6-year-olds, “Searching for Bobby Fischer” is the perfect movie to make a family think about winning, losing and staying human.
This PG-rated jewel is a fictionalization of the real-life chess wizardry of 6-year-old Josh Waitzkin. A well-adjusted New York boy with a love of baseball, Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc) sees street hustlers playing speed chess in Central Park and gets hooked on the game. His father, played with understated intensity by Joe Mantegna, senses a prodigy.
The movie’s best scene has Mantegna testing Josh’s potential skills. Dad sits alone at a chess board in the living room. Josh is in the bathtub, playing with action figures, and calling out chess moves because he doesn’t need to see the board to win. Mom (Joan Allen) listens and rolls her eyes in the kitchen. The timing of writer-director Steven Zaillian’s payoff is perfect.
Josh likes to win, but he also likes being a decent person. His parents want him to live up to his potential, but they cringe at the rabid chess-parents they meet. Laurence Fishburne and Ben Kingsley play spot-on supporting roles as two very different kinds of chess teachers.
Zaillian, who won the Oscar for writing “Schindler’s List” the same year (1993), creates tension without going Hollywood. As Josh ponders what kind of chess player – and more important, what kind of boy – he wants to be, he also tells the story of mercurial American champ Bobby Fischer, adding a sense of melancholy to each victory.
“Searching for Bobby Fischer” is a movie with more than enough meat and potatoes to satisfy everyone in the family.
Each Tuesday, staff writer Michael Booth uncovers a movie gem for families in search of rewarding entertainment. He can be reached at 303-820-1686 or at mbooth@denverpost.com.
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Searching for Bobby
Fischer
Rated: PG
Suitable for: Children 7 and older
