Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

72% Tomatometer 121 Reviews 66% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings

American chess legend Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and Soviet Grandmaster Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) enthrall the world with their intense battle of wills and strategy during the 1972 World Chess Championship.

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Pawn Sacrifice

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Critics Consensus

Anchored by a sensitive performance from Tobey Maguire, Pawn Sacrifice adds another solidly gripping drama to the list of films inspired by chess wiz Bobby Fischer.

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Critics Reviews

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Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Jason Bailey Flavorwire 'Pawn Sacrifice' takes all of those tropes and cranks them up to 11, far past the barometers of either believable human behavior or credible filmmaking. May 3, 2016 Full Review Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (2) David Sims The Atlantic Like all of Zwick's works, it's perfectly watchable fare, but it's often infuriating for its refusal to dig deeper into its incredibly compelling subject. Oct 14, 2015 Full Review Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Brad Wheeler Globe and Mail Fine-looking but safe ... Rated: 2.5/4 Sep 25, 2015 Full Review Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Edward Porter Sunday Times (UK) The film’s approach lacks bold gambits, but the story is still a rewarding exhibition. Nov 22, 2022 Full Review Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Pawn Sacrifice paints a portrait that shows us how, when true genius of this kind is discovered, it must be supported to its fullest potential, leaving everyone else to follow in awe of its rare whirlwind. Rated: 3/4 May 27, 2022 Full Review Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Richard Crouse Richard Crouse Kicks into gear in its final third as Fischer and Spassky go mano e mano over a chess board as the world watches. Rated: 3/5 Feb 3, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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annette Z IF YOU PLAY CHESS THIS IS A MUST SEE. Rated 1.5/5 Stars • Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 09/12/24 Full Review Aldo G Chess players might not like the movie because there are some obvious inaccuracies about the game, but as a profile of Bobby Fischer the films holds up as an effective portrait of a mentally disturbed chess genius. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/27/23 Full Review Alec B Maguire is quite good and I like how the screenplay refuses to idolize Fischer or waste time explaining chess. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/14/23 Full Review Rob A I learned to play chess after seeing this film, which I subsequently rewatched twice (not counting those good old "rewind that sequence!" moments). The non-verbal acting between Maguire (Bobby Fischer) and Schreiber (Boris Spassky) is amazing. True story of the height-of-the-cold-war 1971 World Chess Championship held in Reykjavík, Iceland. Sit back and watch boy genious Bobby Fischer lose... his... mind! Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/17/23 Full Review Ashley H Pawn Sacrifice is a terrific film. It is about American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer who finds himself caught between two superpowers. Tobey Maguire and Liev Schreiber give fantastic performances. The script is good but a little slow at times. Edward Zwick did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama and history. Pawn Sacrifice is a must see. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/09/23 Full Review jelisije j Well I will never look at Chess the same way again.... an absolute classic to the mindset of the importance of chess to chess players. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Edward Zwick Director Tobey Maguire Bobby Fischer Peter Sarsgaard William Lombardy Liev Schreiber Boris Spassky Michael Stuhlbarg Paul Marshall Lily Rabe Joan Fischer
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Synopsis American chess legend Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and Soviet Grandmaster Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) enthrall the world with their intense battle of wills and strategy during the 1972 World Chess Championship.

Director
Edward Zwick

Producer
Tobey Maguire, Gail Katz, Edward Zwick

Screenwriter
Steven Knight

Distributor
Bleecker Street Media

Production Co
Material Pictures, Gail Katz

Rating
PG-13 (Historical Smoking|Brief Strong Language|Some Sexual Content)

Genre
History, Drama, Biography

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 16, 2015, Limited

Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 27, 2016

Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.4M

Runtime
1h 54m
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Pawn Sacrifice | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

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