Searching for Bobby Fisher

Starring: Joe Mategna, Ben Kingsley, Larry Fishburne, Max Pomeranc

The mind of a chess master is surely one of humankind's great mysteries. They operate on a plane so distant from most of us that it almost defies description. Zaillian (working from Fred Waitzkins's memoir about his son Josh) explores that mystery in a beautiful and poignant way. He does not pretend to be able to explain it, but by wrapping it up in the astonishing normality of a six-year-old boy, he makes the unknowable recognizable and utterly human. As a director, he's a bit too fond of close-ups, but soon hits his stride and elicits wonderful performances from the leads, particularly young Pomeranc, who is uncanny. Naturally, I am a sucker for any film about chess masters, but even were I not, I would find this to be a picture of power and grace. (9/3/93)