Movie Review: Pawn Sacrifice (2015)

by Tony Dayoub


The intrigue of a monarch marshaling his forces against an insurgent has been fodder for exciting movies stretching back for decades. When the soldiers are only an inch high and the battlefield is a chessboard the chances of eliciting the same thrills are much, much lower. Fascinating as it is, Edward Zwick's Pawn Sacrifice misses the mark often enough to keep it from being a full-on masterpiece. On occasion though, this spare biography of tormented chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and the performances of its dynamic ensemble cast are riveting.

Basking in the Light of Café de Flore

by Tony Dayoub

After opening throughout most of the U.S. at the end of last year, Café de Flore finally arrives in Atlanta today. The dark, romantic fantasy, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, has a distinctly Euro vibe that belies its Québécois origins, a fact which makes the film a more viable American art-house release than the usual Canadian fare. Intercutting between two disparate but eerily parallel storylines, one set in late 60s Paris, the other in contemporary Montreal, Vallée takes his time in revealing what links the plots. And unlike the typical movie of this kind, he manages to keep the viewer in suspense for exactly the amount of time he meant to.