A Sorkin Flick Through and Through

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2018)

The thing about an Aaron Sorkin script is there's little room for subtext. In between crackling paragraphs of dialogue, expertly assembled scenes of dramatic irony and dizzying explanations of complex contemporary topics, there's just not that much left for the visuals to add, other than restating what's already said aloud. This isn't a bad thing - all the above makes his television series' so re-watchable. But much like the works of Dalton Trumbo and Paddy Chayefsky, a Sorkin feature feels like it needs to overcome the eccentricities of his writing to be its own thing.
This is the central problem with Molly's Game a movie that at times feels too proud of its explanations to the detriment of underlining the dramatic stakes. It's a big, complicated story. It's an unwieldy story; one in which Sorkin manages to confidently wield. And with said story being told by a shrewd, uncompromising woman in the first person, its voice is very much tuned to Sorkin's frequency. It just doesn't come across as that interesting a story, at least not to the level it should be.
The film stars Jessica Chastain as the very real Molly Bloom; a former Olympic skier who sees new opportunities in running underground poker games for movie stars, business elites and organized crime syndicates. The film bobs and weaves through different timelines, one of which has lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Elba) defending Bloom against an FBI indictment.
The fluid nature of white collar crime, the fungibility of high-stakes poker with late-term capitalism, the looming possibility that Molly committed serious crimes and knows more than she's letting on, the fragile psyche of a woman trained to win suddenly made humble and the need to control powerful men to offset the impact of a stern father figure; all of this comes across as text instead of subtext. With such obvious messaging, your reaction to Molly's Game is fully dependent on your ability to latch on to the film's minutia which is gleefully recounted from Molly Bloom's frank perspective. I for one have always been entranced with Sorkin's ability to turn exposition into its own reward, so I for one was going along with the ride. You may not be.
And while it might be one thing to write a movie like Molly's Game, it's another thing completely to direct it. As a novice director, Sorkin just isn't far enough removed from the power of his own prose to fully assess how to make everything come to life on the screen. He's by no means a bad director; he's just making himself redundant. When director David Fincher took on The Social Network (2010) he amplified necessary information while telling his own sub-textual and purely visual story. Here it feels like we're just watching a girl-power version of Rounders (1998); it's good and entertaining, it's just not vital.
None of this is the fault of lead actress and new-feminist patronus Jessica Chastain, who by now has elevated playing smart, driven women to a spiritual movement. She takes the breakneck pacing and wit of the script, parries it with her own signature grit and allure, packages it all into a performance that takes your breath away then says, "what's next" without breaking a sweat. She carries the film with so much confidence and attitude that if you'd asked me what I thought of Molly's Game just after I'd saw it, I'd just giggle and say "see it". A week has gone by and I'm feeling a little less entranced.
Molly's Game is by no means a bad movie; it's just not on the same level as The Social Network (2010) and A Few Good Men (1992). It's more on par with a pretty decent episode of The West Wing (1999-2006), which is to say it has a lot of fun moments but lacks clear resolution and a certain level of depth. Regardless, I can't help but love Molly's Game. It's less the love of an outright fan and more the love expressed by Molly's demanding father played by Kevin Costner. I'm happy with it, proud of it even but part of me was still expecting just a little bit more from it.