User Reviews

The thing that fascinates me about the life of Molly Bloom is how virtually inconsequential things in and of themselves can have such a major impact on one's life and career. I'm thinking of the little sprig of pine needles that upended her Olympic trial run for which she was a virtual shoo-in. Then there was the jerk Dean Keith (Jeremy Strong) who hired her, and despite his irritating persona, introduced her to the world of high stakes poker gambling which the feisty woman took as a challenge and ran with. Having hung on long enough to learn the game and the major celebrity players involved, Ms. Bloom (Jessica Chastain) eventually struck out on her own and became an even larger force in the gambling world.

I've seen Jessica Chastain in a couple of other films ("Zero Dark Thirty", "The Zookeeper's Wife"), but never this glamorous or gorgeous. You could understand how the real Molly Brown, who was just as beautiful, would have become a magnet for the high stakes players who showed up at the Cobra Lounge and later, her own digs after the break with Player X (Michael Cera). With a high degree of integrity and personal discipline, Brown built a mini-empire that brought her wealth and made her name a household word in an underground economy.

I'd have to agree with a handful of other reviewers here who comment on the length of the picture, playing out a bit longer than necessary by what felt like some repetitious events in Molly's experience. There's also the poker lingo that blows by so quickly you'll wonder just what the heck the voice over narration was talking about; I watched with captioning and it still left me in the dust. There was a great poignant scene later in the movie in which Molly faces her demanding father (Kevin Costner), the source of her early anger by pressuring a total insistence on perfect performance. Up until then, Costner was a minor figure in the story, but in that one scene he took a miniscule role and made it profound.

Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut about the Olympic skier Molly Bloom, a brilliant over-achiever who chose to forego law school to become a gambling entrepreneur, is a compelling film that starts out very strong. Even with its lengthy running time, it's never slow or uninvolving. It's gripping and fascinating throughout, thanks to Sorkin's master penmanship at keeping the dialogue and tempo of the film at a heady pace.

Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba both give dynamic performances here. Elba makes a great presence as the defense attorney who tries to grapple with the sheer size and scope of Bloom's considerable legal problems as her gambling operation becomes progressively more mired in the criminal world. Even if you find Chastain's character cold and detached, her performance here is strikingly realistic.

Alas, we have the film's ending. Where the film goes wrong is this highly far-fetched and phony attempt to humanize Bloom beginning with a chance encounter with her father at a skating rink in Central Park. A corny scene does not sink a film all by itself, but unfortunately this scene was followed up with an equally ridiculous courtroom sequence that struck me as unduly and comically political. It's always a shame for a film to look first-rate for most of the way only to collapse in the final act. Recommended mostly on the strength of the performances, even if the film as a whole misses the mark in the end.

If you ever wanted to know what a video illustrated Podcast would be like -- then MOLLY'S GAME is the movie for you. Jessica Chastain stars and narrates as Molly Bloom, a former Olympic skier who found herself as a Poker madam who ran ultra-high stakes underground gambling games in L.A. and New York. The high priced events attracted Hollywood celebrities, wealthy financiers, baseball players and the mob. Chastain/Bloom narrates and narrates and narrates. When not narrating, we are given picayune details on gambling, the law, what exact drinks are being served and the ins and out of skiing. Chastain is a wonderful actress, but, she doesn't possess the most proficient narration voice. But, of course, the real 'voice' here is not the actresses, but writer (and first time) director Aaron Sorkin's. It's all very much delivered in his trademark fast rhythms and idiosyncrasies. Sorkin should have just cut out the middle-man and done the narration himself. Sorkin is obviously a gifted writer, but, Sorkingthe DIRECTOR fails him here. In the past, fine filmmakers like David Fincher, Danny Boyle and Mike Nichols knew that as good as the writing is, you also have to show the audience what is happened. Instead, we are told what has happened, what is happened and what will happen. We are told what the characters are not only thinking, but what they are about to do. The effect is suffocating. The viewer is given little to chance to take a breath, let alone enjoy the drama.

What makes the Direction so unfortunate, is that the true story of Molly Bloom is inherently interesting. Along with Chastain (who delivers a solid performance despite it all), there are fine actors like Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Graham Greene and many others in the cast. But, Sorkin's over-reliance on narration squelches the drama. Oddly, about 3/4 of the way through the 140 minute movie, the narration subsides substantially. Almost two hours in - and we suddenly shift into what resembles a normal motion picture. Those final scenes may not be great, but, at least one can appreciate what the actors are doing without being told in advance every nuance. Finally, there's Sorkin's well known disdain for keeping to the facts of the true story. The central metaphor for the movie how Bloom had a tragic accident that ended her career sending her life into disorder. But, the real Molly Bloom never had a Wide World of Sports style "agony of defeat" fall. Sorkin pulled it out his ass. Nobody is dumb enough to believe that a Hollywood movie with big stars is going to tell the full unvarnished truth, but Sorkin is a serial abuser. Instead of the usual movie disclaimer: "Although based on a true story, some events and characters have been changed for dramatic purposes" - Sorkin's disclaimer should read: "This is fiction, but, but some true events have been included to sell this to the public". Also, Bloom did not have a tough but powerful black Attorney by her side with a cute precocious child (which just so happens to closely mirror the young Molly Bloom who - you guessed it! - was also a cute precocious child).

Much of this wouldn't matter so much if MOLLY'S GAME worked better as a movie. Unfortunately, it's all tell without much show.

Noted screenwriter and TV writer Aaron Sorkin is back with his take on the short career of high-stakes poker game hostess Molly Bloom, based on her book of the same name. A good part of it violates one of screenwriting's cardinal precepts: "Show don't tell"-due to the reliance on off-screen narration. I can understand why Sorkin resorted to the voiceover however, as Molly's story doesn't always lend itself to great moments of dramatic conflict as the narrative is much more dependent on mere character description, which turns out to be (pardon the pun) one of the film's stronger suits.

Molly's back story is quite interesting and Sorkin begins the film with his young protagonist on the ski slopes, competing for a place on the Olympic team. A freak encounter with a patch of shrubbery on the slope derails the fledgling athlete's career sending her off to California where her fate is eventually sealed as high stakes poker hostess.

Sorkin flash forwards to the present time with Molly consulting with an attorney Charlie Jaffrey (Idris Elba) to see whether he'll take her case, after she's been arrested on federal racketeering and illegal gambling charges. Perhaps Sorkin liked the idea of writing a part for an African-American actor or wished to suggest that Molly was not only not racist but liked black people, but the real-life story has it that her attorney was actually an ordinary white guy.

Most of Idris's dialogue is invented out of whole cloth and the interaction between client and attorney is the least interesting aspect of the film. Sorkin attempts to inject some drama into his Jaffrey character by having him agonize over whether he should take Molly's case (her lack of funds is the issue leading to his indecision). It's his high opinion of Molly's character (reflecting Sorkin's high opinion of his protagonist) that leads the attorney to take on her case (initially) pro bono.

Later, Elba delivers an impassioned speech to the federal prosecutor arguing (rightly) that she was not directly involved with any of the gangsters who attended her poker games and was only guilty of a low level crime (taking a "rake" from each hand dealt at the poker table).

The "meat" of the film is Molly's description of the various outlandish characters that inhabit the shady world of private high-stakes poker games. Of particular interest is Jeremy Strong as Dean Keith, a real estate agent who initially hires Molly to run the poker games, constantly berating and abusing her before she quits and begins running her own games; Michael Cera as "Player X," principally based on a ruthless Tobey Maguire, who eventually has her replaced, resulting in Molly moving to New York City; Brian d'Arcy James as Brad, a hedge fund manager, who bets using funds accumulated from a Ponzi scheme and Chris O'Dowd as Douglas Downey, the man who introduces Molly to the Russian mob.

There is a sub-plot involving Kevin Costner as Molly's over-achieving psychology professor dad who is held up as the motivation for Molly's decision to get involved in the risky, illegal world of private high stakes poker (in addition to the father, both Molly's brothers are over-achievers, one an NFL player and the other, a physician). An unlikely scene of the father confronting the daughter takes place at film's end which serves as a confession of misguided filial concern.

Despite the colorful stories, Sorkin's moral integrity remains highly questionable as he has cast Molly as some sort of feminist icon, bravely taking on men in a man's world and supposedly (albeit for a short time) ending up as a triumphant pioneer. In reality, there is nothing brave or admirable about his protagonist, as Molly (using her own free will) chose to become involved in a sleazy world of illegal operators. As the film ably illustrates, she almost lost her life at the hands of a Mafia goon, who robbed and beat in her the confines of her supposedly safe, doorman attached, high rise apartment.

Following Sorkin's lead, Jessica Chastain is bent on depicting Molly not so much as a self-serving illegal businesswoman, but as that pioneer, bent on providing those sleazy (male) poker players with a dose of certified comeuppance.

Ignore Sorkin's attitudinizing and you might find Molly's Game reasonably entertaining and a decent enough "docudrama," depicting a world of fringe players who have now come to light as a result of Ms. Bloom's perceptive observations.