Game on.

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2018)

Staying within his current wheelhouse of intelligent biopics for his directorial debut, acclaimed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin choose to adapt "Molly's Game" the autobiography of Molly Bloom, Olympic hopeful turned Poker Princess.
The film stars Jessica Chastain as Bloom who, when injury side-lines her from her dream of representing the USA as an Olympic skier falls into hosting an exclusive poker game for some of Hollywood elite. When that game is taken from her, she moves to New York to establish a new game for the Wall Street High Rollers. Unbeknownst to Bloom, her game also becomes frequented by high ranking figures in organised crime.
Similar to "The Social Network", "Molly's Game" is structured using voice over driven flashbacks to fill in her history alongside scenes where Bloom talks to her lawyer, Charlie Jaffey, played by Idris Elba. Performances are universally excellent though the real star is, as usual, Sorkin's script. As you might expect he sacrifices realism for wit and the snappy dialogue fires back and forth. I think this, along with a focus on the relationship between Bloom and her father (Kevin Costner) really elevates the film as Molly's story in and of itself, isn't quite as interesting as it appears.
And that's probably what stops the film from hitting the very highest of heights. At times, certainly during her rise - Bloom is almost an ancillary character. Merely being in the room whilst things happen around her, suffering at the whims of others, or caught in the tail end of illegal activity just because of who sat at her table. The resolution too, to her personal story if not her legal one, stretches the boundaries of plausibility.
But these are relatively minor complaints about a movie I enjoyed enormously and would recommend is worth seeking out.