Molly's Game
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Michael Cera, Kevin Costner
Directed by: Aaron Sorkin
Rated: R
Deal the cards, raise the stakes, and place your bets because Molly's Game goes all in on the world of underground poker.
Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) is a driven professional skier who must give up on her dream due to a bad accident. Unsure of where to go next, she moves to L.A. to start a new chapter in her life. Through a side job, she gets connected with a real estate developer who leads a celebrity poker game each week. Molly helps set up the games, but as she watches each week she becomes more and more knowledgable. She may not be a player, but she knows what the men want. Eventually Molly begins organizing the games in lavish locations leading to her own affluent lifestyle. But this path has consequences of betrayal, greed, and serious danger.
Molly's Game is screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut. He's known for writing films likeThe Social Network, A Few Good Men, Steve Jobs, and Moneyball. His leap to directing follows the same style as these films: fast paced and dialogue heavy. I love that Sorkin's films challenge the audience to listen to each moment of dialogue. It's cerebral filmmaking that we need to see more.
Get ready because this is the part of the blog where I talk about how Jessica Chastain is an acting powerhouse who doesn't get enough credit. At this point, she should have at least 2 Oscars and a nomination for Molly's Game. This is such an incredible performance. On the surface Molly's Game looks like a film about a woman who builds an underground poker empire, but it's deeper than that. It's about a woman with a dysfunctional family. A woman whose entire career disappears before her eyes. A woman looking for answers. All of those elements play a major part in the underground poker game she builds. The film succeeds in fantastic characterization for its lead and Jessica Chastain gives a riveting performance as Molly Bloom.
Idris Elba is Molly's lawyer, Charlie Jaffey. He helps Molly prep for trial after the FBI gets word of her underground poker games. He helps us learn the sequence of events in Molly's life. Just as he is skeptical of Molly's story in the beginning, so are we. As the story goes on, we start to see Molly's side of things. Not to mention when Chastain and Elba have scenes together we get to see some phenomenal acting moments.
Kevin Costner is in the film briefly, but leaves an impact as Molly's therapist father, Larry. He pushes Molly to be the perfect skier when all she really needs is a dad, not a coach. There are some fascinating scenes exploring a decaying father-daughter dynamic between the two.
Michael Cera gives quite a skeezy performance playing a weaselly Hollywood actor who happens to be a great poker player. Although it isn't confirmed in the movie, it's been revealed in Molly Bloom's book that his character is Tobey Maguire. I know that after seeing this, Spider-Man will never be the same for me.
With a phenomenal lead performance, intriguing story, and razor sharp script, Molly's Game is a can't miss.
My Rating: 9/10