(Dir: Aaron Sorkin, 2017)
The rags-to-riches-to-rags biopic now seems to have become a staple of Hollywood, with at least one or two of these films emerging a year. And it's become a pretty tiresome story trope despite it essentially being based on fact. But here are two ways to grab attention with a story of this nature – the lead is played by Jessica Chastain, and the film is not only written by Aaron Sorkin but it's his directorial debut. Interest is most certainly piqued. The lucky/unlucky centre of Molly's Game is Molly Bloom – an ex-Winter Olympics wannabe who made herself into the poker princess of LA and New York.
With most of these films we spend much of the time waiting for the inevitable downfall, but this point is brought to the fore as the story jumps back and forth between Molly try to convince lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) to take her case, whilst telling the story of why she's come to be in his office. This is very much to the film's benefit as the scenes between Chastain and Elba are some of the most enjoyable thanks to some typically sharp Sorkin dialogue. He is frequently one of the best writers in Hollywood, albeit with a tendency to go a little overboard, but the script feels just about right here. Although the story jumps around a lot with some occasionally schizophrenic editing, it stops this story from feeling too stale and keeps things moving. This also applies to the poker scenes – a lot of explanation is thrown out quickly and no doubt this might lose some of the uninitiated, but this is rarely about watching hands of poker unfold and more about an overall psychology of people who play / run games. But of course this is Chastain's show and she is excellent as ever as Bloom, always captivating to watch and only ever seeming out of place when playing her character's much younger self, proving yet again that she's one of the best actors working today.
With most of these films we spend much of the time waiting for the inevitable downfall, but this point is brought to the fore as the story jumps back and forth between Molly try to convince lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) to take her case, whilst telling the story of why she's come to be in his office. This is very much to the film's benefit as the scenes between Chastain and Elba are some of the most enjoyable thanks to some typically sharp Sorkin dialogue. He is frequently one of the best writers in Hollywood, albeit with a tendency to go a little overboard, but the script feels just about right here. Although the story jumps around a lot with some occasionally schizophrenic editing, it stops this story from feeling too stale and keeps things moving. This also applies to the poker scenes – a lot of explanation is thrown out quickly and no doubt this might lose some of the uninitiated, but this is rarely about watching hands of poker unfold and more about an overall psychology of people who play / run games. But of course this is Chastain's show and she is excellent as ever as Bloom, always captivating to watch and only ever seeming out of place when playing her character's much younger self, proving yet again that she's one of the best actors working today.
Although Molly's Game wins zero points for originality, it's a really well put together film that's enjoyable to watch thanks to the key players. Length is perhaps the only complaint (as per usual) and shaving a good twenty minutes off the run time would've helped immeasurably, but that's a small gripe. This is a well-worn story told interestingly with an excellent lead.
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