If you like chess and prodigies, then you'll find this movie endearing. It's about a boy of 7 named Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc) who can play chess very well. It also talks about a U.S. champion named Bobby Fischer who is a legend. According to the movie, Fischer was a prodigy too, and he was the first American to beat the Russians. But after winning an international competition, he disappeared. I think the movie is based on a true story. Unfortunately, I saw the TV version, so who knows what was edited out. 

Anyway, Josh plays some punks/druggies in the park and impresses his mom (Joan Allen). He befriends a black guy, named Vinnie (Laurence Fishburne), that shows him some interesting tricks of the trade. Later on, he beats his dad and the guy decides to hire someone to teach his son the finer points of the game. Thus, he gets a retired champion named Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley) to teach him. Bruce is a strange dude and I ended up hating him for a while. The guy was mean!

It's great to see Josh whup up on an adult or two as well as a bunch of other serious opponents of his own age. It's interesting to see them play a game in two minutes too. Watch as Josh plays a game by wandering all over the house while his dad tries to figure out how to move...Josh will call out his own moves and win! 

There are lots of little facts that you'll learn about champions and how the game is played professionally that are just plain cool to know. 

Eventually, we see a new comer (I think his name is Jonathan {Michael Nirenberg}). This kid is creepy and is so full of himself that you automatically dislike him. He was practically raised playing chess and he becomes the antagonist. At the end of the movie, Josh must play him. Josh is a nice kid and tries to allow the other to call a draw, but his opponent won't have any of it...he's going to win! Well, he loses, of course, and Josh wins again!

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I thought this was a good movie. It's almost an underdog movie. Watch and learn!

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