'You know what makes you feel okay about losing? Winning.'

Rating: 10/10 (15 April 2018)

Aaron Sorkin is one of the finest writers for the screen today - Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, Moneyball, Steve Jobs, The American President, A Few Good Men, The West Wing for television - and while the topics he elects to write are controversial, he always comes through with brilliant dialogue and dizzying pacing to that actors who are given the opportunity to bring his work to our eyes and minds are challenged to create their best work. To add to the success of MOLLY'S GAME Sorkin also directs and the result is a film that dazzles.
Molly's Game is based on the true story of Molly Bloom Jessica Chastain), an Olympic-class skier, driven by her father (Kevin Costner) to succeed, who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) I, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe. The final scene between Molly and her father is one of the most gripping on film.
In addition to the bravura performances by Chastain and Elba and Costner, there are many superb cameos by such actors as Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Brian d'Arcy James, Bill Camp, Graham Greene, Justin Kirk, Samantha Isler (as the young Molly), et al. Truly one of the most powerful and disturbing films of the year.