Molly’s Game review: Aaron Sorkin delivers his much anticipated directorial debut, a tale of Molly Bloom, an enterprising young woman who staged high-stakes poker games for the Hollywood elite.
Molly’s Game review by Paul Heath.
Molly’s Game review
Following outstanding screenplays such as A Few Good Men, Moneyball and The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin makes his directorial debut with Molly’s Game, another true story based around the exploits of Olympic skier turned Hollywood poker princess, Molly Bloom.
Adapting from Bloom’s memoir ‘Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker’, Sorkin has crafted a two hour-plus opus that engages from the opening frame.
Jessica Chastain leads the cast as Bloom, a charismatic, focussed former professional athlete who was once ranked as the number three mogul competitor in north America. Injury forced her to switch careers, and in the early 2000s, Bloom traveled from the family home in Colorado to Los Angeles, where she took a job as a cocktail waitress before getting an office job with an influential Hollywood player. From there, she was invited to host his weekly underground poker games in the basement of a famous Sunset Strip club, a $10,000 a seat session which looks like it takes place at one of those underground casinos, one which was attended by Hollywood executives and movie stars. It was from here that she ventured even further by hosting her own games in a suite at the nearby Four Seasons Hotel, again attended by high-profile actors, only this time, Bloom played by her rules, getting tips from her famous attendees week after week.
Molly’s Game review
Sorkin’s film profiles these events, along with Blooms further ventures across in New York, her arrest by the FBI, and her subsequent trial. Idris Elba stars as her attorney, and there’s immense support from the likes of Kevin Costner, playing Bloom’s strict father, Michael Cera as an unnamed Hollywood actor – known in the movie as Player X, as well as Chris O’Dowd and Graham Greene, the former playing an alcoholic poker player, and the latter the judge residing over Bloom’s case.
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Sorkin employs a very interesting structure to proceedings – the opening scene is of Bloom’s sensationally over-the-top arrest by the FBI – and the rest of the film sees us flitter back and forth to the character’s early skiing career (an impressive Samantha Isler playing the younger Bloom), her move to Los Angeles and the three very different poker games she sets up across America.
As you may expect from a Sorkin script, the film is very dialogue heavy and asks for lengthy speeches from its talented cast. Chastain has never been better as the titular character, the actress perfectly playing a strong, confident female protagonist, something that you could say has been missing from Sorkin’s previous, very male-dominated movies. Elba, save for a wonky accent here and there, is also on great form, but his character of Charlie is much more of a supporting one, but could attract the attention of Academy voters following a very impressive delivery in one of the film’s climactic scenes. Costner too deserves praise, particularly for his remarkable reconciliation speech with Chastain at the end as Bloom awaits her fate.
Molly’s Game review
The film is long – a bum-aching 140 minutes – but there doesn’t feel like there’s a single ounce of fat in it. The witty dialogue, incredible delivery and totally engaging story with magnificent attention to deal, keep the viewer engrossed throughout. Sorkin employs a superb Goodfellas-esque style – think freeze frames, quick editing and magnificent cinematography from Fences and The Girl On The Train director of photography Charlotte Bruus Christensen.
Sorkin is at his best when he’s bringing real-life tales to the screen, and he’s on absolutely top form here. The filmmaker displays that he is not only one of the best screenwriters working today, but also one that has a lot to offer in directing too – this really is quite the debut.
Flashy, definitely Oscar-worthy, particularly for its script and impressive cast, and totally gripping from the off, Molly’s Game sets the bench mark for an exciting awards season. Absolutely one of the best films of the year.
Molly’s Game review by Paul Heath, September 2017.
Molly’s Game premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and will be released in the UK on December 29th 2017.
