Jessica Chastain is a formidable actor, and she’s especially enjoyable to watch when she’s in this type of role: a ball-busting, no-nonsense woman in a position of power. Sure, the power might be fleeting and somewhat of an illusion, but she plays the part to a tee and is wholly convincing as the troubled-yet-somehow-together Molly Bloom.
Make no mistake, Molly’s Game is Chastain’s movie. The only time we’re distracted from her is when the dialogue ventures into excessive Aaron Sorkin territory — the verbose screenwriter is responsible for the script, and he also directed the film — when simple sentences turn into moralistic taglines, or conversations morph into preachy stumping posts.
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Based on the real-life story of Molly Bloom (a fascinating one, look it up), the movie starts out when she’s an Olympic moguls skier and shows how the fiercely intelligent woman moved from the world of athletics into arranging high-stakes poker games.
How does she go from skiing at the Olympics to running poker?
As above, Bloom’s tale is truly remarkable. An unfortunate skiing wipeout ends up pushing Bloom out of the sports scene and onto other … ventures. (A warning for any skiers: the ski accident is harrowing, and depicted in slow-motion. It’s tough to watch in its entirety.)
Left with her acumen and intellect, Bloom falls into the poker world by accident and almost immediately realizes there is much money to be made. She sidesteps the pesky law and works to ensure that the games she runs are perfectly legal. Of course, she makes an ill-advised move at one point, and the house of cards starts to crumble.
Is there a love interest for Bloom in the movie?
Not exactly. There is no sex, and Bloom doesn’t waste anyone’s time with annoying romantic adventures. The closest thing she gets is her lawyer, Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba), who is totally invested in her case. Almost too invested. In my experience with corporate lawyers who charge $250,000 as a retainer, they don’t tend to break their backs helping out someone who’s completely out of money, as is Bloom when she’s pursued by the government.
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Elba, as always, is a pleasure to watch, but here his character feels a touch contrived, but who’s to say how much the real-life Jaffey helped the real-life Bloom? In the movie, he plays her confidant, her legal representative, her mental sparring partner and her friend, which is far too many things for one character. It rings false and is probably the main weak point of the film.
What about Kevin Costner? Isn’t he in this?
Yep. Costner plays Bloom’s father, and there’s a running theme of “daddy issues” throughout the movie. Molly’s Game is, in part, a character study of Bloom from childhood to adulthood, how her experiences shape her into the woman she becomes. Costner is an impossible-standards kind of guy, constantly pushing his daughter to be her best, exemplified by their time on the ski hill when Bloom is but a little girl.
Exhausted, Bloom begs to go inside after being on the hill for hours. Costner manipulates her and essentially tells her she’s weak, and up the hill trudges Bloom. We learn that her father’s tough love has given Bloom an iron will, one she uses as her life progresses into a shadier, darker place. Costner does the job in the father role and is a constant shadow hanging over Bloom.
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So what’s the bottom line?
Highly entertaining except for a slight lag about three-quarters through, Molly’s Game is a well-crafted, engrossing movie. It’s no surprise Chastain snagged a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress since she absolutely owns the film from start to finish. This truly is her game, and it’s a fun one to play. Oh, and if you love poker, you’ll enjoy it even more.
‘Molly’s Game’ has a limited release on Christmas Day and will be released widely on Jan. 5, 2018.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the name of the main character in ‘Molly’s Game.’