A Game of Skill

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2018)

It's no shock that Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut has one of the best screenplays and one of the most fast-paced but intricately thought out plots of the year. Molly's game not only is a fascinating biopic but an impressively acted piece all around, but particularly with Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain.
Molly Bloom, a former olympic worthy skier, became the leader of the world's most exclusive and underground poker game in the world. That in itself is a fascinating story worthy of sort sort of film. But couple that with the fact that the poker players included some of the most famous actors, athletes, musicians, and Wall Street representatives in the world makes Molly's Game addicting to watch. It's hard to take your eyes off the events as it never seems to let up. Even if it's over 2 hours and 20 minutes, the film never stops being interesting.
That's in large part thanks to Sorkin's direction of the lengthy dialogue scenes, particularly the sequences involving Elba and Chastain's back and forth in an office. Sometimes all it takes to progress the plot and provide a jolt of energy is putting two incredible actors in the same room. Yes, those scenes are impeccably written, but it also brings this larger than life story back to reality and adds humanity to the main character of Molly.
Complementing those scenes are a few involving Molly's father played by Kevin Costner. It's an impressive feat to get a grown man to tear up and feel emotion towards a person who's out of the realm of relatability, but that's not the case at all. Molly Bloom goes through quite the arc in this film, and it all comes back to the incredible adaptation that Sorkin does with this screenplay. Performances, writing, and a brilliant direction from Sorkin makes Molly's Game a thrilling, yet also emotionally satisfying piece of cinema.
9.2/10