Fast Paced Entertainment

Rating: 7/10 (9 January 2018)

Aaron Sorkin directs a movie like he writes one: with a snap, crackle, and pop.
"Molly's Game" is a fast paced biopic about an ex-competitive skier turned poker grande dame who comes under a federal indictment when it turns out that some of her players are Russian mafia. Jessica Chastain commands the screen, which is a good thing since she's in nearly every scene. And Sorkin's dialogue is so fast and zingy that the film feels like a screwball comedy even when nothing funny is happening.
Entertaining as "Molly's Game" is, there's something intangible preventing it from attaining greatness. Maybe it's the fact that the character of Molly Bloom is portrayed too much as a madame with a heart of gold. She's such a sharp cookie that it's hard to believe she's as innocent as the movie makes her out to be, and I think the film misses out on some opportunities to dive into complexity in its interest to give us a female character to root for.
Kevin Costner turns in some fine work as Molly's dad, and he gets the film's best scene, the one time the film slows down enough to allow both its characters and its audience to feel some genuine emotion.
Grade: B+