Molly's Game

[kevinknapman]

Tonight's Cineworld secret screening thankfully turned out to be neither something I'd already seen or already had tickets too.

It was Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut Molly's Game, which is based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an ex Olympic skier who ended up running several high stakes poker games before unknowingly becoming involved with the Russian mob.

It's a solid debut for Sorkin with his trademark fast and witty dialogue intact and an impressive lead performance from Jessica Chastain. A fine supporting cast too which includes Idris Elba as her lawyer and Kevin Costner as her dad. While Michael Cera offers up prime douchebag as Player X, a poker playing actor, and Chris O'Dowd, Bill Camp, Joe Keery and Jeremy Strong appear as other poker players.

Pretty long at 140mins but rarely less than engrossing, it's out on Boxing Day and is well worth seeing.

[fraz]

I concur it was long. Interesting story but did drag a little towards the end. Chastain was great as Molly 7/10

[elixir01]

Good performances, wasn't familiar with the story so found it an interesting watch. Downside is that it was a bit long! 6/10

[RandomHajile]

saw this on new years day as a substitute movie as Ferdinand was, again, sold out

me and my sister enjoyed it, yes its a touch long and the amount of monologue is a tad fatiguing but not bad for his first film

7.5/10

[prettyxcool]

A very fast paced, intense drama based on a true story. The secret world of exclusive high stakes poker games and it's players and the girl who runs it, and then her attempts to clear her name after she gets caught by the FBI, is riveting and captivating. Both performances from Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, as her lawyer, are brilliant and keeps you hooked. 9/10

[alythonian]

Good fast paced, well acted drama. I didn't notice the time passing. Played like a real life Grisham from the client's perspective rather than the lawyers. Interesting.

[yogi]

A long film, but Aaron Sorkin's pacy dialogue and direction meant the time flew by.

Sorkin, Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba are on good form and there's some nice support from the likes of Kevin Costner, Michael Cera and Chris O'Dowd 8/10

[D-Fens]

Got a lot out of this well told bad beat story, should have trusted knowledge and appreciation of Sorkin more and reviews of players in the media less and made it more of a viewing priority.

I like Chastain but she can't bluff glib or rapid fire dialogue here though, could have been a career jackpot role for a more well paired actress.