BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD (Liz Garbus, U.S.). 93 minutes. Rating: NN
Genius, champion, madman – whatever you call Bobby Fischer, it only captures one facet of his curious personality.
The American-born chess master eludes classification once again in Bobby Fischer Against The World, which examines his rise and fall through the prism of his legendary 1972 face-off in Iceland with Soviet champion Boris Spassky.
Director Liz Garbus (The Farm) hangs her analysis on the pop thesis that Fischer was somehow driven mad by chess, avoiding the flip side of that theory, which suggests that the rigidity of the game appeals to people seeking stability. (The famously obsessive Fischer certainly displays Asperger’s-like symptoms in the archival footage Garbus relies upon.)
But there are few things duller than watching people watch other people playing chess, and Garbus never finds a way to bring the sport to cinematic life.
