Poker Face

Rating: Null/10 (11 January 2018)

GRADE: B-
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: A hand well played, but not a grand slam.
SYNOPSIS: The true story of Molly Bloom and the fast-paced world of gambling.
JIM'S REVIEW: Molly's Game is a well directed, well acted, and well written film. Yet I was never emotionally drawn to any of the characters or their situations. Everyone is so into self-gratification and greed that nothing appears remotely real, though it is based on a true story.
Jessica Chastain is Molly Bloom and she is perfectly cast and almost makes one care for this controlling and conniving survivor. Her character becomes the mastermind behind many gambling sessions from Los Angeles to New York. Molly uses her business savvy and sexuality to lure many men into her high-stakes card games. Wearing the tightest of dresses and showing off her wares in low cut cleavage revealing outfits, Molly is dressed to kill as she preys upon a rotating group of motley losers ranging from famous egotistic actors, rich businessmen, and Russian thugs. (Kudos to costume designer Susan Lyall.)
We meet the many crazy types of rich gamblers and their obsessions with instant thrills in the crazy world of poker. We also learn that Molly is one sharp player who is slowly being corrupted by the high rollers and their expensive habits. This will all lead to her arrest and trial on federal charges. Enter Idris Elba to her rescue as her fast-talking attorney (no one in this movie speaks slowly or at at normal pace).
Part of the reason the film mildly disappoints is the film's structure. It jumps from past events (Molly's adolescent years, her rise and fall as an Olympic athlete, her gambling acumen) to her central issue as a gamer who destroys others people's lives in order to earns millions. The flashbacks and forwards tell her autobiographical tale of wealth and corruption, but at the cost of any remote feeling for this rather shallow and selfish person. Much of the film (based on her memoir) seems like a con game for not only the gamblers, hoodlums, and patsies that crisscrossed her life but for the moviegoers too. The real world as depicted in this movie just is too unreal.
In his directing debut, Aaron Sorkin tries to keep the action moving and plays up the psychological ramification of this dangerous game but his message becomes heavy-handed and no matter his visual sleight of hand, with all of his fancy editing techniques and wordplay, it cannot hide the film's emptiness of any redeemable characters, including our lead heroine.
Mr. Sorkin's screenplay is literate and filled with quick talk and clever conversations, but it never builds to any satisfying conclusion. Scenes are riveting but then jarringly cut to another piece of Molly's life. The effect makes one becomes dizzy with all the exposition and convoluted storytelling. Also, there is a plot contrivance in the third act, that is so far-fetched and melodramatic (although it is well performed by Mr. Costner as Molly's strict father) that I was ready to hold 'em and fold 'em due to the absurdity of the sequence.
Another problem script-wise is that the film's colorful supporting characters are introduced, have their big dramatic moments, and then conveniently disappear from the narrative. The film focuses a tad too much on the title character without paying enough homage to its fine supporting cast which includes Bill Camp, Michael Cera, Brian d'Arcy James, Chris O'Dowd, Jeremy Strong, and the aforementioned Mr. Costner. Their strong ensemble work becomes mere second-place footnotes in Molly's non-stop voice-overs.
The lead acting, however, is aces. Ms. Chastain greatly impresses with her nuanced performance and her subtle acting choices which show us a strong but damaged character worthy of our attention. Her verbal sparring and rapid banter with Mr. Elba make their film teamwork rather special.
The film may not be a grand slam or one of a kind filmmaking, but it deals a somewhat winning hand. Just don't expect to win big when seeing Molly's Game.