Molly's Game

Started by wilberfan, December 31, 2017, 08:56:22 PM

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wilberfan



MOLLY'S GAME is based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier 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, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.

In Select Theaters December 25, 2017 everywhere January 5th, 2018

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Chris O'Dowd, Michael Cera, Joe Keery, Rachel Skarsten, Graham Greene and Brian d'Arcy James

Director: Aaron Sorkin Writer:
Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. Based on the memoir by Molly Bloom

ono

Read the book.  Good read, but it just kind of ends.  Tobey Maguire is a dick.  Dicaprio is mixed up in it too, IIRC.  And Affleck, of course.  Was gonna see a sneak peek, but got sick.  Looking forward to catching it ONCE MY MOVIE PASS GETS HERE.  Slow service.  But I digress.

©brad

It's good! No big surprise that Sorkin's script is the star here. He delivers a pretty solid directorial debut, but one wonders how much darker (and better?) it could have been with someone like Fincher at the helm. There's some cheesiness here and there, particularly towards the end, but it's got some great performances.

Speaking of, Jessica Chastain is incredible. I had no idea how beautiful she really was. I play for the other team, but some of her looks/outfits um did things to me. 

ono

Recapping the week.  Finally got my MoviePass about a week ago after having waited for a month and a half to receive it.  Saw this first, and it's one of my favorites of the year.  It didn't hurt that the subject matter was of definite interest to me, I'd read the book, and Sorkin has been one of my favorites for years.  I'd be hard pressed to think of a movie with a better opening in a long time.  Those first 10 minutes were just so frenetic and well done.  Great writing of course, and Sorkin directed the hell out of it.  It had some shades of Magnolia there for sure.  Idris Elba was on fire.  His near-end monologue was a show-stealer.  Some people felt that the daddy drama was tacked on and out of place.  I was fine with it.  It works 'cause Kevin Costner and that whole Field of Dreams history, I think.  There were a lot of other differences from the book, too.  That's fine.  Interesting how Sorkin got around the Maguire and DiCaprio and Affleck of it all and made these new characters who were just as compelling.  Could've used a big more poker, and for its runtime, still a lot of stuff was cut.  Okay choices, I'm sure, but you get a whole different story from reading the book.

Robyn

I was surprised by how much I liked this. The perfect film if you want something entertaining for a couple of hours. They actually succeeded in making poker look exiting for once. Loved the opening, too... five minutes in and I was hooked 100%.

Had no problem with the daddy subplot. The scene at the end at the bench was brilliant. I might even have teared up a little bit. I can't really think of anything that I disliked about it. It wasn't a masterpiece, but I had a fun time watching it, and will probably watch it again.