Only thing letting it down is some sloppy poker writing

Rating: 8/10 (22 February 2018)

I'm quite the poker enthusiast myself so 'Molly's Game' was always going to be up my alley. It's very rare that I don't enjoy a movie based around the game ('Rounders' in particular is up there with my favourite films). That being said I can still judge the films critically (maybe even more so than usual) and find flaws where they lie. 'Molly's Game' isn't perfect but it's pretty damn good.
Firstly, the cast is in incredible form. Jessica Chastain gives one of her best performances to date. She plays the role perfectly and was entirely believable as the head of a poker ring. Not one member of the cast lets the production down though and that's why almost every scene is this movie is phenomenally strong.
The writing is also superb, for the most part. The film did have a very similar feel to 'The Social Network' about it. The dialogue is always powerful, entertaining and thought-provoking (and somehow all at the same time). There was also a great rhythm found. The story covers three timelines and intersects each one of them wonderfully.
The only thing letting the film down is the writing of the actual poker itself. It's very clear in certain scenes that Aaron Sorkin wasn't exactly sure of the game and its intricacies. Things like suddenly taking a rake halfway through a giant hand (there would be outrage), a player folding the nuts (the best hand possible in poker - which no player ever, regardless of how bad they are, would fold in Hold-em) and a raise by $200,000 when the bet was $300,000 (no game in the world would allow this), are just sloppy and really bring the film down. I read that Sorkin even went to the extent of having professional poker players as the extras because he wanted everything to be as authentic as possible. If you're willing to go to that extent then surely you get an expert to check over the writing of the poker scenes? Otherwise though, this is a very hard film to fault and one I thoroughly enjoyed watching.
Note: I would recommend reading up a little about the story and who the particular characters being referred to in the film are before you watch it. It adds a lot of enjoyment when you know.