Behind the Stained Curtains of a High-Stakes Celebrity Poker Game

Rating: 6/10 (21 September 2018)

Aaron Sorkin writes and directs this adaptation of an underground poker entrepreneur's almost-tell-all autobiography. As Sorkin's style is typically very polarizing, I figured we might as well get his name out of the way first. He's got his fingerprints all over this, especially (as ever) in the film's breathlessly snappy, long-winded dialog. As a fan, I'll gladly eat that stuff up, though I'd rank this one near the bottom of his extended portfolio. It lacks the thick tension of A Few Good Men, the untamed energy of The Social Network, the relentless motor of Moneyball. In conforming another writer's work to the screen, Sorkin's writing feels restrained, less electric. It brings us one great, big, passionate speech - powerfully delivered by an impassioned Idris Elba - but there seems room for two or three more.
A protagonist who's generally cold and unlikeable, withdrawn and specter-like in her own story, doesn't make things easy on the first-time director. Molly is a complicated character that we never completely figure out. When she enjoys a brief emotional breakthrough near the film's climax, it doesn't quite feel like she's earned it. She has a few tough run-ins with shady characters and uncaring g-men, but it never seems like she's seriously at risk. Things just always turn out in her favor, which leads to a rather flat ending.
It's an interesting story, and the plot is well-structured to keep audiences from feeling pummeled by the thick splashes of word soup. It avoids most of the major pitfalls of a film that revolves around Texas Hold 'em, too, though in fairness the game itself is never actually the focus. I liked it, I didn't love it.