Molly’s Game: Review

Molly’s Game marks Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, an exciting time for any fan of Sorkin’s famous quick-fire dialogue. In fact, not only did he direct the movie, but also wrote the screenplay; adapting it from Molly Blooms’ memoir ‘Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker‘, a.k.a the longest book title in the history of book titles.

The film tells the story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), a young woman who single-handedly ran one of the most exclusive underground poker games in the world. The players were all wealthy celebrities, from politicians and business men to famous actors and athletes. The story told out of chronological order, so the audience already knows that Molly is arrested by the FBI early on in the film. The story goes back and forth, revealing her life before and after the arrest.

Molly’s Game marks Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut

The performances are brilliant. Jessica Chastain does a phenomenal job of portraying a strong, fiercely independent, sensitive and intelligent woman, and Idris Elba brings humour and emotional intelligence to Molly’s defense lawyer Charlie Jaffrey. Kevin Costner, who portrays Molly’s father is also excellent in the role of the demanding and authoritarian father and acts particularly well in a scene at the very end of the movie when he and Molly sit down on a park bench to have a long and emotional discussion. On top of being one of my favourite scenes, it’s a key scene in terms of character development. Molly’s Game is indeed about poker, competitive sports, and drugs, but it’s about so much more than that. At its core, it’s a story about a father-daughter relationship, about family dynamics and power relationships, which is why the movie would have been nowhere near as good without that powerful scene.

While the script is very good (it is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay) and quite funny (there were definitely a few laughs in the cinema) it was, in my opinion, too long. Sorkin’s previous scripts were a little shorter: The Social Network at 120 mins and Steve Jobs at 122 mins for example, while Molly’s Game lasts 140 mins. 15/20mins of the movie could easily have been scrapped off. The pacing was a little off and it dragged the movie to a halt at times.

Jessica Chastain does a phenomenal job at portraying a strong, fiercely independent, sensitive and intelligent woman

Even though you don’t need to understand how poker works or have an interest in it to enjoy the movie, I think you’ll definitely enjoy it a lot more if you do. It could be a little boring in parts if you don’t like poker. It can also feel like it’s hard to relate to the story since it’s a world in which very few (if any) of us have lived in.

Apart from that, it’s a good movie and a refreshing one at that, in large part due to its great female lead. Growing up, I don’t think I ever saw a movie where the protagonist was a businesswoman who leads poker games (who are, by the way, exclusive to men), who is the target of an FBI investigation and everything else that comes with such a lifestyle.