Molly's Game

The way Aaron Sorkin works with the medium of film, script-wise, is fascinating. I understand that some may see it as Sorkin almost "raping" the film medium in places, and actually "just" pushing the envelope with extremely structured dialogue, but that would be too simplistic. Emotionally, I saw it as almost a "scientific work" at times, with surgically precise details and monologues/dialogues crammed with an incredible amount of information. The opening scene alone is a massacre and a hell of a workout in terms of your attention if you yearn to take in everything. Of course, this directorial debut isn't without its faults, because despite the polished dialogue, the whole thing loses pace in a few places and the character work is a bit underdeveloped here and there. Still, it's an incredible ride, backed up by the perfect Jessica Chastain (the MILF designation takes on a whole new meaning), who really just shines here, acting and otherwise. A strong 4 stars. (06/28/2018)

Just as watching a film from the normalization era doesn’t turn me into an avid communist, I don't become a seasoned criminal when watching stories about "heroes" from the underground world, so I can safely say that I really enjoyed the one hundred and forty minutes of gambling/money-laundering with Molly. The running time seemed terrifying, but unlike other similarly long films, it didn't bore me, and the plot was interesting from start to finish. A well deserved five stars. (01/06/2019)

This time round, Sorkin served up his machine-gun screenplay himself and it must be said that it is Mr. Fincher’s school that had the greatest influence on his style. We jump gracefully in time, the cadence of information is textbook standard and the story doesn’t sacrifice intelligence to emotions. The actors take delight in each line and Pemberton’s music is excellent again. At last the girls have someone to look up to. Great. Table in Excel. (02/11/2018)

Despite the presence of my favorite actress Jessica Chastain, positive reviews, and feedback, Molly's Game is a film that never captivated me for a single moment and mostly left me puzzled. It's not so much about Jessica's reliable performance as it is about the way the character is written. Secondly, in a short period of time, I felt like the creative team was trying to sell me a feminist drama about a strong woman facing societal pressure. For example, in the case of Happy Valley, that series felt much more convincing and I was able to identify with its protagonist and overlook the feminist tone. In Molly's Game, I perceived the character of Molly Bloom completely differently than Aaron Sorkin did. Not as a victim, but as a manipulative and ambitious bitch who ultimately overestimated her abilities and only with great luck managed to balance her collision with the American legal system. If the film worked with a character type like the one in There Will Be Blood, which is devoid of any idealization and sentimentality, I would take Molly's Game much more seriously. With this film, it seemed to me that despite all the effort to create a strong female character, the film sells costumes by top designers, the actress's physical attractiveness, and her perfect makeup, i.e., the Hollywood gloss. The film may be a problem even for those who don't care about poker, as there is a bit too much of it at the expense of the characters. I'll give it three stars because, despite all my reservations, Sorkin is talented and simply because of Jessica, but it's a very weak three stars. Overall impression: 50%. (02/04/2018)

The perfect Jessica Chastain in another of the roles she is good at - the role of a woman who goes after what she wants and most of the other characters serve as a rug on that journey. It is a pleasure to listen to the dialogues written by Aaron Sorkin, but he also managed to direct in such a way that I didn’t even notice that two and a quarter hours had passed. I can't fail to mention Idris Elba, who was Jessica Chastain's equal acting partner and acts as good as Morgan Freeman in his best form, Kevin Costner in a smaller but very important role, and also as always the perfect music of Daniel Pemberton. (07/11/2021)