--WARNING: There may be some spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the film, so just a heads up. In order to accurately review this film, it may be necessary to talk about some key moments.--
Computer Chess is very much so an insiders game, and in all fairness, while it may have it's audience, it's as inaccessible and boring a film as they come. Now I for one love looking for a good movie that offers something different or has a unique quality to it that separates it from the rest; but when it feels like said insider's game is more condescending than it is an inside look, or utilizes intelligence at the expense of being interesting, then it's easily one of the worst types of film you can experience, and Computer Chess fits that bill.
I was anxious to watch this movie, it seemed like an awesome retro indie film that was going to have some style, personality, substance, and real panache to it, but instead it was a lifeless portrayal of an earlier age of computers that I find hard to believe was THIS boring even among it's most intellectual and socially awkward; and if in fact it was this way ( since I conceit to having no experience with a hobby like this before viewing this film), then why make a movie about individuals who are in no way interesting and who are trying to create the perfect program to beat each others computers at chess? Admittedly it has it's moments, but those are so few and only make up roughly 3 minutes worth of the whole movie.
Computer Chess was set up to be as authentic as possible in how it was developed but I found it just translated very poorly into a fun experience, especially with it's kooky and at times creepy paralleling spiritual story that seemed poised for a perfect juxtaposition, but rather felt very misplaced, bizarre and more like blatantly awkward filler.
It almost seems to thumb it's nose at popular culture in the worst possible way by going against every conceivable norm in cinema that it can. The acting is sub-par (granted the actors were nonprofessional), the plot barley existent, the music is mostly horrible, the cinematography comes off as forced art more a product of our current times than 1980, conversations are filled with jargon or flat out just not interesting even at their most basic, the cast on a whole is unappealing, the concept dated, the choice to film in black and white hurts more than it helps; honestly the list goes on and this movie is just a headache. A major disappointment and very hard to sit through, but I managed.
To anyone who enjoyed this movie I applaud you; I'm sure I must be missing something since it wasn't reviewed poorly, but to me, I would never watch it again or recommend it to anyone unless they were seriously into either computer chess, chess, or the history of computer technology in general. It's just flat out boring.
