Though lacking in flair, Molly's Game is entertaining from start to finish.

Rating: 7/10 (15 January 2018)

Book to film adaptations are often risky, though Hollywood can't seem to help itself. Presumably inspired by massive profits made by films such as the 'Harry Potter' series, the written word continues to find it's way onto the big screen, regardless of how cleanly it will translate. Unlike direct adaptations of fictional stories, however, Molly's Game finds itself in an interesting situation. The film is an adaptation of the book by the same name, written by the titular Molly Bloom. Supposedly explaining the incidents outlined by the film, the book is non-fiction. Instead of simply making a documentary, however, director Aaron Sorkin seemed to have his sights set elsewhere, expanding on the book by including the events taking place after.
Detailed within an interview with Vice.com, Molly Bloom explains that the film never deviated from the truth. Of course, we have nothing else to go on besides the word of a convicted criminal (regardless of how 'harmless' her crime may have been). Assuming everything within the book and film is true, I shall proceed.
With films such as these, I'm put into a difficult spot; I can neither critique nor praise the plot, as the writers supposedly had nothing to do with it. I can, however, criticise the cinematography and soundtrack. They certainly weren't bad, they were simply serviceable. I rarely noticed anything that stood out, or that surprised me. If you're looking for revolutionary visuals, I'd suggest looking elsewhere. The film isn't ugly by any means, especially with the incredibly talented Jessica Chastain in the leading role, but it feels rather static at times. Instead, much of the film is carried by the dialogue, and the performances.
Each are rather fantastic. Again, I don't know how much credit I can give to those behind the script, as I don't know which lines are pulled from reality, if any at all. Despite this, I enjoyed much of it. Humour was attempted occasionally, which I found rather hit or miss, but it wasn't painfully invasive as I'm used to. Where I feel the real talent lies is the cast. Jessica Chastain's Molly Bloom, for the most part, was fantastic. At times, I found her character annoying, but I don't feel any of that falls upon the actress. Idris Elba's portrayal of Molly's lawyer was equally fantastic, if not more so. His character, however, is rather confusing to me. He seems to be fictional, though I don't know why they didn't simply portray her real Lawyers.
Despite being about Poker, the game took up very little screen-time. It was only the focus of the film twice or so, but when it was, it was legitimately nerve-racking. They made sure we knew the stakes beforehand, and it helped create real drama where in another film, there may be none. Going into this film, it may be worth researching the game of poker briefly if you don't already know the rules. It isn't necessary, and the film informs you of any mandatory information, but it may help should you miss a line, or wish to understand any scenes with more depth.
There was also many oddities littered throughout the film, which I shall cover briefly. Spoilers for the rest of this paragraph. Due to the film covering a longer period of time within two hours and twenty minutes, many characters feel like they change out of nowhere. Player X seems to go from being an odd but at least pleasant person, to almost destroying someone's life overnight. I imagine the real-life equivalent would have occurred over a year or so. Also, the story felt rather one-sided. I appreciate she's the main character, and showing her too harshly may be detrimental to the overall film, but the film does it's best to brush over major events that show Molly in the wrong. At one point, there was even a throwaway line about her potentially contributing to someone's suicide. Despite the character's criminal actions, the film shows Molly in the best light possible, despite being a convicted criminal. Rather than being an uplifting recovery story, with Molly bringing herself back from her drug issues and problems with the mob, it instead tries to parade her as some sort of role-model.
Also worth noting is that, despite it's almost two and a half hour runtime, I never found myself bored, unlike many other recent films.
Overall, I feel the film lacked style. The music was lacklustre, and I found myself forgetting it was there oftentimes. The cinematography, as mentioned before, was rarely anything revolutionary. If you don't seek to make use of the advantages of the new medium, why bother making a film at all? I feel I could have gotten the same experience by simply reading the book. Perhaps this is an incredibly expensive and elaborate advert? With this said, however, I did enjoy myself. Perhaps I'm a sucker for the general aesthetic of the film, but I wasn't disappointed when the credits rolled. If you enjoy poker, or Molly Bloom's story interests you at all, I can comfortably recommend you check it out. I'll give it a generous 7/10.