Bobby Fischer Live

Good psychological portrait, but missing a lot of accuracy.
Chess in the movies is a subject that is always coupled with the low expectations of the chess enthusiasts who will see the film. One wonders: will they get the placement of the board right (with the correct color square in the lower right hand corner)?
At least this film manages that. And, for all its flaws, it is a brilliant psychological portrait of a genius, certainly the greatest chess player of all time: Bobby Fischer.
So it is, as far as it goes, a good film. It portrays the demons with which Bobby had to contend hios entire life reaaonably well, and even succeeds in placing the origins of Bobby's ugly anti-Semitism earlier in Bobby's life than many commentators have hitherto imagined.
But, for someone whoknows Fischer's life story reasonably well, there ar emany many mistakes that could have been avoided by selecting someone who knew much of Bobby's story and the props that attended it as a consultant. For it is clear that the filmmakers either did not do...

What a waste
I was a big Bobby Fischer fan from the moment I saw him on 60 Minutes in the early 70's. He was not yet the World Chess Champion. As a 16 year old boy I was fascinated by him and learned how he stood up to the Soviet chess machine basically all by himself. I then took up the games and still play to this day. Later, I was saddened at how Fischer turned out. My hero had become very disturbed and hating.
With that said, my fsacination with the younger, vibrant Fischer has never waned. When I saw this movie was available I thought,"OK, it's probably not going to win any Oscars, but what the heck, it's about Fischer".
This was the worst piece of garbage I've seen on the subject. The acting, especially by the woman who played Bobby's mother, was atrocious! The person playing the adult Bobby was not far behind in lack of acting ability. The sound quality was so muffled at times I needed to turn on subtitles. Unfortunately, the only subtitles are in Spanish. Even the chess was...

bobby fischer live
The acting was very poor. I was not very impressed with the actors portrail of the real Bobby Fischer. Damian Chapa looks about as much like Bobby Fischer as I do John Wayne. All of the "actors" were poorly cast and the acting was not fit for a movie of any kind. I would not have purchased this movie had I known that the lead was played by a blonde. Bobby Fischer never had blonde hair. I would not recommend this movie to my worst enemy.

Click to Editorial Reviews