Computer Chess (2013)

best movie i've ever seen.

As Good As It Gets

A Major Disappointment

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Just a terrible, awful movie that confuses a documentary feel with actually making a genuine movie with real actors and genuine drama or comedy.The acting is so bad i actually compared it to when a porno is trying to do drama before everyone takes there cloths off. Wooden awful drama or comedy. I couldn't tell.Did i mention it was mind numbingly boring and not at any time do you care about what is happening. A shame really because the idea of an old 80's chess tournament sounds great but with this filmmaker and these actors you would be wise to avoid at all costs.I kept waiting for the film to improve, it didn't unfortunately.

If you are interested in chess or computers you may be tempted to watch this film. Don't be. The film is only tangentially about chess or computers. It has nothing to say - no purpose. Many of the scenes are meandering. Some seem to have nothing to do with the movie. Some are genuinely creepy.The film's title and back cover description miss-represent what the film is about. If is was titled "Creepy people play computer chess" then the potential viewer at least has an idea what they were in for. Now I know the typical stereotype of the computer nerd who plays chess, and there are some in this film. Fine for dramatic effect. But that's not what chess or computer development is about.I have a keen interest in film. Most film produced and distributed today is of a good standard in terms of purpose, script and production values. This fails on all three.Disclaimer: I have played competitive chess for many years and have a FIDE rating over 2000.

Films about sport tend to suffer from the fact that it's extremely difficult to adequately recreate sporting action, as most actors play sports about as well as most sportspeople act. This can't be said about chess, which presents another problem for the filmmaker: Films about chess tend to suffer greatly from the fact that chess dosn't really work as a spectator sport. Whilst field games can be convincingly condensed into action set-pieces, chess games go on for days with little obvious progression or tactics to those not deeply versed in it. The more successful attempts have thus tended to have very little chess in them, focusing instead on the personalities involved (Bobby Fischer Vs. The World) or the sacrifices involved in making it in any sport (Searching For Bobby Fischer). Computer Chess instead chooses to see the humour in it, intentionally coming across as a VHS-era oddity found in a skip in Omaha.Much like any good chess film, this film isn't really about chess. Instead, it pivots around a very brief and particular moment in the early 1980s when the prospect of a computer beating a grandmaster was cause for alarm rather than a quiz question as a group of computer scientists convene on a nondescript hotel for a computer chess tournament. The modern tech revolution was born in such enthusiasms, not that anyone cared at the time. The main joy of the film comes from how it sidesteps the problems involved in trying to make a compelling film about chess by avoiding chess scenes for the most part. It's more so an off-kilter ensemble comedy about very intelligent people battling with the limitations of state-of-the-art computer technology (a comedic highlight is the programmer whose computer constantly plays to lose in seeming rebellion against its master), their own social skills and a coldly indifferent outside world that won't let them use the hotel's conference room. The film is shot in grainy black and white so as to look like a cheap documentary from the period, which makes the massive computers and mustaches look a lot more believable. Unfortunately, it's too believable at times, with intentional jump cuts and out-of-sync audio drawing too much attention to the self-consciously "quirky" nature of the film at the expense of cohesion, giving the film an episodic structure. Some of these episodes are brilliant, whereas others are just bemusing. Scenes where characters discuss questions in artificial intelligence and the possibilities of their giant computers are juxtaposed with computer programmers unintentionally participating in self-help seminars and endless shots of cats. Maybe this is intended as some sort of comment on the origins of the internet and what it eventually became. But when watching Computer Chess, these differing elements tend to cross over one another and leave any viewers without a very deadpan sense of humour feeling very lost.On the whole it's a fascinating take on a moment in time: funny and frequently brilliant but also difficult and obscure. It's worth watching, but will probably be loved by a small core of people, liked by a few more and leave many others cold.

As both a chess and AI lover this film was wonderful for me.However it's surprisingly entertaining and funny for the average viewer too.The cinema was alive with laughter and enjoyment. Some hilarious awkward tension with an "alternative therapy" group.In fact quite a few awkward moments overall.The fake documentary approach is perfectly executed. Amazing style and attention to detail.It's in black and white and 4x3 aspect ratio. I loved it! Just don't expect a summer blockbuster.