This is one of the few 2017 leftovers because it came out around Christmas time and I did not have time or could not review it.
Aaron Sorkin is one of the most crafted writers in the movie industry today because he listens to other people and the dialogue is quick and rhythmic and also intelligent. His filmography has been on fire since he won the Oscar for The Social Network; Moneyball and Steve Jobs were the following projects that still had some great impact along with its performances. Now, it is interesting that his first directorial debut involves a subject regarding poker and how to run a gambling club but illegally. It is something that maybe Martin Scorsese or Paul Thomas Anderson would do. But, I was anticipating this movie for two reasons: Jessica Chastain and Aaron Sorkin. And thanks to their contributions to the movie, this is a solid, well-acted movie.
Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) narrates her life story in voiceover as the movie switches from the present timeline to the flashbacks as she is in New York for her arraignment and meets with her attorney, Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba). Once again, this is another movie where a character has had a rough childhood in which her father, Larry (Kevin Costner), pushed all of his three children, including Molly, to excel at academics and athletics, even at the point in where he was demanding and cruel.
When Molly was a cocktail waitress, she catches a producer's eye, Dean Keith (Jeremy Strong), as he hires her as an assistant, organizing a poker game for him. Molly is surprised by the number of famous people at the table including actors like Player X (Michael Cera), business moguls and some of the richest and powerful men in the world. After the game, the players tip Molly thousands of dollars and she realizes how lucrative a career it could be. Molly starts making money running the games, as her lifestyle improves over time. However, as Dean Keith stops paying her to be her assistant, Molly goes off on her own to New York to run her own games. It becomes successful but debts are piling up against the players and Molly takes too much advantage of the situation.
The movie was riveting for about the first two-thirds of the movie as Sorkin's structure and direction carries along the narrative in such succinct fashion that I was along for the ride and I felt like I was in Molly's world of gambling. Molly, as a character, is fascinating as she has been pushed to the limit ever since childhood that she wants to be the best and she wants to pursue her own opportunities. Her life is in the balance for most of the movie from both a humanistic and legal standpoint.
Jessica Chastain gives a strong performance as Molly because I bought her character running the poker game and I was worried that her position or stance was going to be pretty silly but her character was executed so well. However, her character has really great chemistry with Idris Elba as an attorney-client relationship as Elba tries to investigate why she was caught by the FBI in the first place even though she was not running the game for two years. Kevin Costner is very solid in his role as the father but his reason for why he is strict with Molly in the last third of the movie was anti-climactic and I felt Sorkin lost his edge as a writer towards the conclusion.
And, the weakness falls in the last third of the movie, from the legal standpoint, as I got lost involving a sub-plot where the plot becomes a bit too "inside informative" in the world of poker that it did not explain the reasoning behind why Molly is in trouble or it was not executed properly. Also, I felt like the running time dragged towards the end where I would have shaved off 10 minutes. So, from a filmmaking perspective, Sorkin has a bit of work to do but is still strong in his writing, thanks to Chastain, Elba and others. But, Molly's Game has plenty of moments to savor, unfortunately, it loses its edge towards the end. Still, I was interested in this world enough that I recommend it.
***
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