Zaillian, along with the cinematographer and editor of SCHINDLER'S LIST, did interviews on NIGHTLINE just after the Oscars last spring. It was one of the best shows they've ever done and illuminating in its brief way on the collaborative aspects of filmmaking. I was also impressed by BOBBY FISCHER, which managed to avoid a number of cliche traps and remain humorous and intelligent at the same time. (You might contrast this as a chess film with a horrible piece of dreck called KNIGHT MOVES, with Christopher Lambert). Zaillian did a fine job of showing *thought,* which--conventional wisdom has it--cinema can't do. He was helped in no small part by fine performances everywhere, from the kid to Ben Kingsly to Lawrence Fishburn to Joe Mantegna. To prove that direction must have something to do with performance, one need only look for contrast to Mantegna's very disappointing performance in BABY'S DAY OUT (my personal candidate for Worst Film of the Year, worse even than the much-dirided NORTH). --Don Larsson, Mankato State U., MN