Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, starring Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba.
Venue: In theater, by myself. Maybe 8 other people total. Food: Fruit snacks.
Vague thoughts: This is a pretty strong directorial debut for Sorkin. Oddly, I found the writing slightly weaker than the direction, when I expected the opposite. I generally love Sorkin’s screenplays, with The Social Network being one of my 5 favorite movies of the last 20 years. The writing here is good, but I thought the script would be a little sharper and a little punchier. Nevertheless, I loved the pace and feel of the movie all throughout. I like to go into movies blind, so I knew virtually nothing beyond the cast, director and release date. Stylistically, I’d say Molly’s Game is somewhere between The Social Network and The Big Sick (though not quite as good as either of those). The first hour of the movie is fantastic, as the premise is set up and the story gets going. The last 80 minutes is still good, but gets a little bogged down with the legal stuff and family strife. Of course, this is based on a true story (as I found out as the movie began), so I can’t criticize the way the 3rd act plays out too much. One particular scene in the last 20 minutes was sorta stupid, but it works enough with the movie as a whole. The movie ends well, and it kept my attention during the entire 2+ hours. Chastain is great in everything, and this is probably one of her best roles yet. I’ll be pulling for her to get an Oscar nomination, and wouldn’t be upset with a win (however unlikely that is at this point).
Spoiler-y thoughts: I knew nothing about this movie going in, and its actually a pretty cool story. Not all gambling movies work on screen, and Sorkin did a good job showing the world of high-stakes poker from a third person perspective, since Chastain never actually plays in the film, but only organizes and manages the games. I was pleased to see that Sorkin didn’t bog the movie down by explaining all the rules to poker, trusting that the audience either already knows the rules (poker isn’t exactly an obscure pastime) or can follow along enough without having their hand held. The actual rules of poker are immaterial to the plot, as long as you know that people bet money on hands and win or lose depending on all the cards in play.
As noted above, the third act isn’t quite up to the same standards as the first two. Elba gives a nice emotional speech that Sorkinites will enjoy, but otherwise goes a bit deep into how prosecutors try to take advantage of people to force pleas and get bigger fish. Its not bad stuff, just not as interesting as manipulating celebrities and creating a sketchy business. The ice-skating scene leading to her having a hard conversation with her father was a bit dumb. I know what they were going for (“looked like you were having a breakdown”) but wasn’t the most cinematic scene in the movie. The father-daughter subplot works in the big picture of the movie, and the conversation ends well, but I would have liked a bit more energy and less psycho-analysis. But I’m being nit-picky here.
Overall, I really like this movie. I’ll definitely be excited about Sorkin’s next film. 2017 was a strong year for movies, and most years this would be in my top 7ish. This year, it’s around number 12. I will watch it again.
One good thing: Ensemble really clicked. Chastain carries the movie with no problem, Elba is characteristically good, and surprisingly, Michael Cera nails a critical role.
One bad thing: Ice-skating scene, and the movie is about 12 minutes too long.
Rating: 80/100, recommend.
Greg Watched That 