Film Review - Molly's Game
Jul. 1st, 2018 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatJust finished watching Molly's Game directed and written by Aaron Sorkin, starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Alba, Kevin Costner, and Michael Cera. It's a lot like Sorkin's last film, Jobs, and Chastain's last one Miss Sloan, but a heck of lot better. In part because it's more balanced, the character is more likable, and it moves better. Sort of what would have happened if Sorkin wrote and directed Miss Sloan, instead of the person who did and flailed miserably. (My attention kept wandering during Miss Sloan, doesn't wander during this one. But then few people can write dialogue like Sorkin.)
The film is adapted from the non-fictional memoir "Molly's Game" by Molly Bloom who ran for about two years, a high stakes illegal poker game in NYC and before that for a period of time a high stakes game in LA. Among the people who gambled at her table, were the Russian Mob, head of a Ponzie Scheme, Tobey MaGuire, Ben Affleck, and others. Tobey MaGuire is portrayed by Michael Cera in the film, as Player X. A sexist douche-bag, who staked various players, so he'd get a stake in the game, when Bloom catches him at it, he forces her out of her own game, and insists she take a pay cut, he also takes exception with the fact that she didn't flirt with him and grant him favors. (In reality, he apparently asked her to bark like a seal.) After watching this and reading up on it, I feel validated in disliking this actor -- which I have roughly since The Ice Storm. I always thought he was a creep, which is why I had issues with the original Spider Man trilogy. Much prefer the actors who've played the role since then. He's a douche-bag. He's on my -- "I will not watch this actor" list.
The movie is mostly a character study, but like Jobs and Miss Sloan it is also a scathing indictment of the American Economic System and Capitalism, which worships money, greed, and has no soul or moral compass. Not to mention the Russian and Italian Mobs.
Also like Sorkin's last film, Jobs, it focuses heavily on the father-daughter dynamic, and seems to center on that as it's moral center. We have two father/daughter relationships in this one, "Stella/Idris Alba" and Molly/Kevin Costner. And some of the best bits are in fact the father/daughter ones, those are the items that resonate the most and bring you into the film. (Making me wonder about Sorkin -- because this is the second time he heavily focused on this theme.)
Through Molly's sessions with her attorney preparing for the government's indictment of her for running a poker game, we see through flashbacks what she did, how she got into the game, how she put it on, and what it entailed. Sorkin uses some of the same tricks he did with Jobes and Social Network, detailing how a poker game is run. It's sort of fun to watch.
I highly recommend the film for the dialogue, performances, and how it pulls you inside the head of a woman who runs an illegal poker game. To such an extent that I was able to empathize with the character and care about her.
The film is adapted from the non-fictional memoir "Molly's Game" by Molly Bloom who ran for about two years, a high stakes illegal poker game in NYC and before that for a period of time a high stakes game in LA. Among the people who gambled at her table, were the Russian Mob, head of a Ponzie Scheme, Tobey MaGuire, Ben Affleck, and others. Tobey MaGuire is portrayed by Michael Cera in the film, as Player X. A sexist douche-bag, who staked various players, so he'd get a stake in the game, when Bloom catches him at it, he forces her out of her own game, and insists she take a pay cut, he also takes exception with the fact that she didn't flirt with him and grant him favors. (In reality, he apparently asked her to bark like a seal.) After watching this and reading up on it, I feel validated in disliking this actor -- which I have roughly since The Ice Storm. I always thought he was a creep, which is why I had issues with the original Spider Man trilogy. Much prefer the actors who've played the role since then. He's a douche-bag. He's on my -- "I will not watch this actor" list.
The movie is mostly a character study, but like Jobs and Miss Sloan it is also a scathing indictment of the American Economic System and Capitalism, which worships money, greed, and has no soul or moral compass. Not to mention the Russian and Italian Mobs.
Also like Sorkin's last film, Jobs, it focuses heavily on the father-daughter dynamic, and seems to center on that as it's moral center. We have two father/daughter relationships in this one, "Stella/Idris Alba" and Molly/Kevin Costner. And some of the best bits are in fact the father/daughter ones, those are the items that resonate the most and bring you into the film. (Making me wonder about Sorkin -- because this is the second time he heavily focused on this theme.)
Through Molly's sessions with her attorney preparing for the government's indictment of her for running a poker game, we see through flashbacks what she did, how she got into the game, how she put it on, and what it entailed. Sorkin uses some of the same tricks he did with Jobes and Social Network, detailing how a poker game is run. It's sort of fun to watch.
I highly recommend the film for the dialogue, performances, and how it pulls you inside the head of a woman who runs an illegal poker game. To such an extent that I was able to empathize with the character and care about her.