Pawn Sacrifice

First Hit:  Fascinating story about a complicated fascinating man.

I learned chess because of Bobby Fischer in the late 1960's early 1970's. I had heard about this young man who was lighting up the chess world and wanted to know what this game was about. Learning more about chess I immediately saw the complexity of the game and wondered about the minds of people who played this game for a living.

In this film Fischer (played by Tobey Maguire) grows up in a household he found confusing and distracting. His solace – chess. He played all the time - day and night and early on he was out in the streets playing in the public parks in Brooklyn. He then started playing multiple people/boards at one time, winning most all the time.

This film follows the story from his youth until he plays Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) in Reykjavik, Iceland, then follows up with pictures and information as to what happened to the reclusive Fischer. Although the American public was supportive of the way he defeated “The Russians” in an intellectual discipline the Russians excelled in; Fischer spouted anti American and anti-semitic remarks to media through his paranoid nature which caused him to be at issue with both the government and many of the public.

As his friend and fellow chess coach Father Bill Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard) said, Bobby went down the rabbit hole and would never come out. The mixture and use of real video/film of the time in this film was very good and added to a realistic view of this story and joy of these performances.

Maguire was really good at flipping from appearing sane and then being unstable. Schreiber was great as Spassky, his command of arrogance and humility at his loss to Fischer was perfect. Sarsgaard was really good as his friend, coach and understanding priest. Steven Knight wrote a very strong script while Edward Zwick’s directional use of old footage as well was excellent.

Overall:  I loved seeing this film because of the memories of the time, the memories it sparked within me and getting to learn something about a very driven person.

The Great Gatsby

First Hit:  Visually arresting at times, but the story lagged and acting was spotty.

A good actor can create believability in a character. Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby had me believing. I like how he’s matured and the lines in his face are giving him an air of reliability.

Carey Mulligan (as Daisy Buchanan) didn’t quite make it for me. She appears too intelligent and strong to make me believe she would choose to stay with her husband given the love she had for Gatsby.

Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, the storyteller, is good at showing vulnerability, intelligence and obsessiveness. One thing that perplexed me from the beginning was how I was expected to believe that Nick and Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) went to school together – the perceived age difference between the two characters didn’t work for me.

I sat there and said to myself multiple times, these two guys didn’t go to college together. Baz Luhrmann directed this film with visual flash at the expense of substance and the real Fitzgerald story is about substance in the world of flash. The choice of using modern attempts at music from the 20’s was extremely poor and seemed way out of place. DiCaprio wanted me to know more about his character and there is where the film could have spent more time.

I did like how the filmed opened with black and white Warner Bros logo and moved into the beautiful 3D world of the film. Another strong aspect of the film was the way we (the audience) were introduced to the story – by having Nick writing his experience while in a mental hospital.

DiCaprio was the strongest character in the film and I wanted to know more about him and the script and director didn’t quite deliver. Mulligan didn’t quite make me believe she was as weak as her character was made to be. Edgerton was a strong Buchanan and was solid. Maguire was good and I believed his character and way of telling his story. Craig Pearce and Luhrmann wrote a good, not great, script but Baz overdressed this film and relied on the glitz and left the story behind.

Overall:  The film was a letdown although some of the performances were very good.

The Details

First Hit:  An odd sort of film about how easy it is to slide down a slippery slope. The film’s opening moments, with a voice over by Jeff Lang (played by Tobey Maguire), states the dilemma Jeff is going to go through for the next 91 minutes. He begins a string of decisions, which include installing sod, bypassing city ordinances, and lying to his wife resulting in his going down a slippery slope that includes a murder. Jeff is married to Nealy (played by Elizabeth Banks) and they have one young child. When Jeff decides, against Nealy’s wishes to install sod in their backyard the raccoons begin to dig it up. Although he’s successful pediatrician this new battle between him and the raccoons becomes obsessive. His odd neighbor Lila (played by Laura Linney) gets wind of his battles and becomes an unwilling and spiteful participant in this war in different ways. Jeff and Nealy and friends with Rebecca and Peter Mazzoni (played by Kerry Washington and Ray Liotta respectively) and Jeff’s indiscretion with Rebecca digs him farther into the hole he’s creating for himself. Lincoln (played by Dennis Haysbert) plays on a pick-up basketball team with Jeff and becomes, yet another unwilling/willing participant in Jeff’s demise. The story is in the details (hence the title).

Maguire is an interesting choice for this role and actually carries it off quite well. There is an air of intelligence and stupidity in this role that he transmits strongly. I ended up both rooting for and against him in different scenes. Banks is good as the wife who is in her own space, not very engaged with Jeff, but decides to support her husband as the truth begins to unfold. Linney is fabulous in this very quirky role as the neighbor. Washington is OK as Jeff’s friend and colleague. Liotta is very good at bringing danger and learned redemption to his character. Haysbert is a standout in his role as gracious and grateful friend of Jeff’s. Jacob Aaron Estes wrote and directed this quite, quirky and at times interesting film.

Overall: It doesn’t quite grab the audience totally although some of the performances are very good.

Brothers

First Hit: A strong film about family and the effects war can have on our subsequent actions.

Tobey MaGuire plays Sam, a career soldier and captain, married to Grace (played by Natalie Portman). They have two darling daughters Maggie and Isabelle (played by Taylor Geare and Bailee Madison respectively).

The film begins by showing a happy family but with the impending sadness that Sam will soon be heading back to Afghanistan. Prior to Sam leaving, he goes to a prison to pick up his brother Tommy (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) who is being let out for some unknown crime.

Tommy is the bad boy of the family and their dad Hank (played by Sam Shepard) makes it known that Sam is the preferred son while Tommy is the weak black sheep. There is a dinner scene with all of them around the table which sets the tone of the family angst with the step mom Elise (played by Mare Winningham) attempting to keep the peace.

Sam goes to Afghanistan, gets shot down and is believed to be dead. Tommy, finds it in his heart to start taking care of Grace, Maggie and Isabelle. Tommy finds new joy in his life playing with Maggie and Isabelle.

It is clearly Gyllenhaal and Portman’s film at this point as you see the interplay of how Tommy starts to believe he has some value to his brother’s family while Grace begins to see the good side of Tommy. There is a moment when Grace and Tommy kiss but both of them realize immediately that nothing else can happen.

Meanwhile Sam was captured by the enemy, not killed but is tortured by his captors. In hopes of seeing his family again he ends up doing an unforgivable deed. When he is rescued, we clearly see that he has become a different man with his soul in a battle between his actions and his beliefs. In the end this film is about family and love.

The acting was generally superb all around the horn. However standouts include Madison as the older daughter when she shares her fear of her father, Portman for being able hide her absolute beauty and to have us see the character, and McGuire for showing me he is something other than Spiderman. I think the film could have had more in-depth probing of how the brothers became so different and how their dad hurt them while growing up. We are given a quick glimpse when Shepard tells McGuire about his turn in Vietnam and how it changed him, but that’s all.

Overall: This is a good film which could have been stronger because all the elements were available and the actors' first rate.