Molly's Game **** / *****
Directed by: Aaron Sorkin.
Written by: Aaron Sorkin based on the book by Molly Bloom.
Starring: Jessica Chastain (Molly Bloom), Idris Elba (Charlie Jaffey), Kevin Costner (Larry Bloom), Michael Cera (Player X), Jeremy Strong (Dean Keith), Chris O'Dowd (Douglas Downey), J.C. MacKenzie (Harrison Wellstone), Brian d'Arcy James (Brad), Bill Camp (Harlan Eustice), Graham Greene (Judge Foxman).
The pleasures of Molly’s Game are almost all surface level – but they are so great, that you likely won’t care that the film isn’t all that deep. This is a two hour and twenty minute, that is almost all dialogue driven – as we would expect from Aaron Sorkin – yet the film still moves like gangbusters, showing us how the title character – Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) – once an Olympic hopeful in skiing, ended up building a multi-million dollar poker empire, only to see it all come crashing down when the FBI comes in. The film is so entertaining, that it’s really only at the end of the film that you realize that even though the film is based on a book by the real Bloom – and Sorkin has her narrate the film – that you still don’t really understand her – what makes her tick, or why she did what she did. Yeah, her psychiatrist father (Kevin Costner) diagnoses her late in the film, but it’s only half convincing. Still, that surface is so good, you may not even notice this until you leave the theater.
As Molly, Chastain is the best she has been in years (probably since Zero Dark Thirty, which should have won her an Oscar) in a role that seems to be custom made for her. The actress, and the character, knows just how attractive she is, and uses that for all its worth. There is rarely a scene in the film in which Chastain isn’t showing ample cleavage. She knows what she’s selling when she’s selling these high stakes, private poker games filled with celebrities – she’s selling fantasy for overgrown man children. Like in Zero Dark Thirty though, Chastain excels her as somehow who is always the smartest person in the room – a woman, in a man’s world, who completely and totally dominates them. It’s just that this time, she has to let these idiot men think they are in control. She delivers Sorkin’s rapid fire, whip smart dialogue perfectly.
She is aided by a couple of fine supporting performances. Best of all is Idris Elba as Charlie Jaffey – the high priced defense lawyer she somehow convinces to take her case, even though she’s broke at the time. Every Sorkin character needs a sparring partner, and that is essentially what Elba provides for Chastain – and does it well. Michael Cera as Player X – a movie star, based on Tobey Maguire – once again twists his nice guy image into one of an entitled asshole, and does it well. Kevin Costner’s role as Molly’s father is somewhat strange – even a little creepy – but he does a fine job with it anyway, once again showing Costner is a better character actor than he ever was a movie star.
The film marks Sorkin’s directorial debut – and for the most part, he does the job well behind the camera. The direction is flashy, but not too flashy, it keeps the action moving along briskly, while not stepping on the dialogue. He hasn’t quite figured out the trick that David Fincher did with The Social Network – that is, to craft a more complete movie that isn’t just a showcase for the dialogue – but he comes close enough that I’d like to see him keep directing. It’s also nice to see to him write a movie about a woman for once – he hasn’t had much use for them in most of his films, and while I don’t think he quite cracks into her head like he did with say Mark Zuckerberg (or even Steve Jobs) – he comes close enough.
Overall, Molly’s Game is whip smart fun – a supremely intelligent, audience pleaser for adults. It’s not quite a great film, but so much about it is great, that you’ll certainly have a blast watching it.
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