WORDS Evans Bailey PHOTOS Jon Kohn
Computer Chess is an artsy/mumblecore version of the recent Ed Helms vehicle, Cedar Rapids. There’s a shitty hotel, a convention for nerds in a shitty convention hall, some partying, a hooker, and a convention head who thinks way too much of himself. But, where Cedar Rapids goes through the motions of a simple “don’t be so uptight” tale (WITH DRUGS), Computer Chess goes off on far more thought-provoking tangents (WITH DRUGS).
As the title implies, the glasses and short-sleeve-with-a-tie-wearing characters (and one girl) are gathered together to pit their chess playing computers against each other in a tournament to see which computer gets to play the convention’s human leader in a classic man v. machine matchup. Stuck together over some lost weekend in the late seventies or early eighties, the film loosely follows each team of programmers as they proceed through the tournament and interact in-between matches. There’s the academic squad, who’s leader may or may not be in cahoots with Pentagon, the loose cannon, who knows about the feminine side of programming but not how to reserve a room, and conspiracy spouting “fans.”
Shot in a grainy gray befitting of the era, Computer Chess leaves Cedar Rapids in its wake based on its depth. The depth comes not from the chess action, which is rarely featured, but from the characters post-match (sometimes hazy) musings on chess and the burgeoning realm of artificial “intelligence.” There is a dark current to the film, too. All of the players clearly love chess, the theory, and the competition, yet they gather together to play their favorite game by proxy. These are people who have poor social skills, ostracized by others, who don’t want to directly interact with one another in a “safe” place. The darkness is greatly underscored by the spookiness surrounding with the Cal Tech team. Their computer seems to be on the fritz, making suicidal moves that torpedo their chance of repeating as champions, but their young programmer learns in a late night session with the lone girl that his computer only wants to play (*GASP*) human opponents. We don’t learn until later that the Cal Tech device may be the second coming of HAL 9000.
With no real protagonist and no overarching message, the faux-documentary vignettes and tangents can be a little confusing at times. But there’s some deep stuff going on here, a little bit of the surreal, and a fair amount of squirmy humor too (and LOTS of cats). The young programmer’s almost three-way with some cult-like members is particularly cringe-inducing.
Released earlier this year to some fanfare at the Sundance Film Festival, Computer Chess is the fourth feature from Austin-based director Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha). The film has cult-potential, but the directing style and the lack of any recognizable actors (except maybe Wiley Wiggins, a/k/a Mitchy Cramer from Dazed and Confused) will probably keep Computer Chess from reaching Lebowski-like status. There’s also not enough heart here to make a classic. In the end, the computers win.
Computer Chess runs at The Capri from November 29.