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Beginning with a montage of documentary footage of American chess champion
Bobby Fischer we are left with no illusions of the importance this ancient
past time will have on the characters of Paramount’s Innocent Moves.
Joshua
Waitzkin is a child prodigy in the ‘art’ of chess, and it is his journey in
discovering his own abilities while maintaining his relationship with his
father Fred which is central to the themes of this feature. Fred employs a
former chess master Bruce Pandolfini to mentor his son in the classic moves of
chess, with Local Park chess hustler Vinnie showing impressionable Josh some
streetwise moves. It is with the help of both teachers that Josh hopes to
succeed to national chess champion against another chess prodigy Jonathon.
DVD
visual transfer is in widescreen with a somewhat grainy appearance and some
artefacts. It does not impact this sort of movie and gives it a somewhat
naturally earthy feel. Audio is in Dolby Digital 5.1 format and surprisingly
the full surround was used effectively listen to the rainstorm at the
beginning as an example. Little scope to shake the room in this character
driven film but you bought that subwoofer for another kind of movie.
Extras
were not apparent on this review disc and the menu was not animated. Nothing
to write here.
The
movie leaves a feel good emotion and is based on a true story. The Bobby
Fischer analogy appears throughout and lends some pathos to the life metaphor
that is chess. A pleasing film with a very strong cast including Joe Mantegna
and Joan Allen as the parents, Ben Kingsley and Laurance Fishburne as the
mentors, and a cameo by William H Macy popping up as a jealous parent.
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