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Searching for Bobby Fischer

1993 · directed by Steven Zaillian · 110 min
22,928 feet · Prominence
1,451st of 24,106 films scored
The Rewatchables‘Searching for Bobby Fischer’ With Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, and Charles Holmes →

How this film scores

Draw41

Lifetime worldwide gross $7m, re-releases included; about $17m in 2026 money.

Rank6,268 of 11,051In 1993122 of 199

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise94

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics94 baseAwards5 signal → +0 lift

Oscars1 nominated Cinematography
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since. This film is near critically unanimous and barely registers on awards, so there is little headroom for awards to claim. The score is the critics' verdict, nearly untouched.

Legacy38

Judged directly: Acclaimed but faded from culture.

Verdict38 of 100IMDb7.4 from 44kWikipedia16k views a monthAge33 years

Scored beside it · 1,888 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 41 praise 94 legacy 38averages 58, placing it at22,928 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

In these careers — elevation for this film

Joe Mantegna18,890 ftBen Kingsley18,852 ftLaurence Fishburne18,773 ftJoan Allen18,474 ftRobert Stephens17,834 ftWilliam H. Macy17,648 ftLaura Linney17,646 ftDan Hedaya17,641 ftTony Shalhoub17,641 ft