Molly's Game 2017
I heard good things about this movie when it came out and it was written by Aaron Sorkin who is usally very good (he directed as well) and stars Jessica Chastain as the titular Molly. The writing is good, but kind of heavy with fast-paced voiceover. There is some great dialogue as this very sharp young woman quickly learns the ins and outs of running a private poker game for wealthy clients. It is fun to see some of that, which she goes to some lengths to do legally, before getting in over her head and running afoul of the law. The timeline is a little jumbled as she reflects back on her story while her trial is getting underway. I’m not sure why the movie doesn’t work as well as it should. Maybe because the story is kind of simple (she is a glorified hostess) or maybe with Sorkin writing and directing nobody held him in check. One cute piece of writing has a character who opens a conversation with a sentence that could be a mystery novel title, which the voiceover tells us about right before it happens. But then when it happens again, the voiceover tells us again. We didn’t have to be told about Jimmy Two Times more than once in Goodfellas. I am not sure how well the movie follows the book written by the real Molly Bloom, but the book was famous for not revealing the names of all of the people involved, and really that is the big draw to the whole story since a lot of them are stars from movies, sports, and finance (and still largely not named or given cameos). The relationship with her lawyer, played very well by Idris Elba, is very good. Chastain plays her part really well and you can see why people were drawn to her. So I think there are some real strong points, but the movie misses the mark a little. I admit that sometimes Sorkin’s movies need another watching, which was true with The Social Network, but this movie missses an A for me and gets a B+.
Written: 02 Sep 2020
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital