Virtue Preening

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2018)

Aaron Sorkin is a terrific screenwriter with a terrible tendency to burn holes in his script.
Sorkin's scripts are full of words, interesting words, witty words, humorous words. He has good ideas and a genius for working them into a great story. So far, so good.
But his flaw, his weakness, is that he can't resist moral preening. The central character is given dramatic license to be morally superior, and to tell you about it. By extension, the movie's point of view, and that of the filmmaker, are virtuous. (Sorkin wrote and directed.)
This is no small flaw--the preachiness which is invited in by lack of moral ambiguity reduces the film's complexity down to simpleminded virtue-peddling. Here is how right-thinking people are required to behave, even against self interest.
This shows up in the Molly character in two ways. After she sets up extremely high-stakes poke games among the very rich, she repeatedly becomes counselor, social worker, and big sister to the players.. I didn't buy it. I don't know anything about the real Molly Bloom, but I'm pretty sure that a woman who goes into the business of hosting high stakes poker games isn't Mother Theresa. (The movie does admit a flaw in the woman's conduct, but soft-sells it. It-s not a flaw you see, but only a natural and forgivable response to her circumstances.) I could have done without the effort to turn the character into Mary Poppins.
The other example of moral preening comes with decisions made by the character at the end of the movie. No spoilers here. Again, though, high moral conduct beats self-interest.
This unfortunate tendency by Mr. Sorkin is a form of self-sabotage. An example: The American President, a charming first-half movie ruined by screeching political right-think in the second.
Sorkin also likes the Big Dramatic Showy Scene. He's got one here, and it feels a bit unjustified by the rest of the movie. Again, late in the movies, no spoiler.
I've hit the negative. It has its good points, too. If you see it, you might want to bone up on poker terminology.