Molly's Game (2017)

If I had to pick a favourite screenwriter, I'd definitely pick Aaron Sorkin. I haven't seen all the film he's written but I loved The Social Network, Moneyball and Steve Jobs. It goes without saying that I was pretty excited about Molly's Game, not only written but also directed by Sorkin. 

The film tells the true story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain). She is a promising freestyle skier but one day while competing, she suffers a terrible accident and her career is over. After this, she moves to LA where is soon introduced to the world of underground poker and later ends up running the whole thing. Eventually, she does business with the wrong people and becomes an FBI target.

I'm going to say this right away, I have not read Molly Bloom's novel upon which the film is based and I knew absolutely nothing about her before watching the film so I don't know how faithful Sorkin' adaptation is. That being said, in spite of a few flaws, he wrote another great screenplay. For someone like me who doesn't either like or understand poker, this is dull material and yet Sorkin was able to make an intense, interesting and engaging film out of it.

As usual, the star of his screenplay is the dialogue. It's filled with witty, sharp, intelligent, and quick/perfectly paced dialogue. Seriously, I wished the film would never end because of the dialogue. This is what really gets the film going. This and, of course, the outstanding performances from the cast.

Jessica Chastain gives a terrific performance as Molly Bloom. Her portrayal is smart, driven and sexy, she delivers the strength of this real-life heroine but also all her humanity and her emotional turmoil which makes the character feel real. She doesn't have the best of the narrative voices (I forgot to mention she does a voice-over) and yet she is charming enough to keep you hooked from start to finish, even when the story loses tone.

STXfilms

Molly's Game also benefits from a fantastic performance from Idris Elba who finally gets to play a serious role. Although his character, Bloom's lawyer, doesn't appear until the film is halfway through, he is able to elevate that character and make him on several occasion the centre of the film. He is the one delivering the most powerful scene in the film. The speech he performs is mindblowing. Also, the chemistry he shares with Chastain is sparkling. 

There's good support also from the other members of the cast among which Kevin Costner stands out as Bloom's father. Which brings me to the biggest flaw of the film, the subplot of Molly and her father isn't that interesting and that it's the cause of an incredibly corny scene. And Michael Cera manages to be not utterly annoying this time.

The look of the film is a bit disappointing though. Costumes and production design are great but the cinematography isn't anything special. It goes unnoticed to be honest. Nothing that cannot be 'fixed' by Daniel Pemberton's great score.