Grade: B-
Molly’s Game is one of those movies that depicts the cutthroat world of a hobby/profession that is often tinged with illegal (or shady at best) activity, like stocks or card games. The dialogue is rapid-fire and rat-a-tat-tat, with lots of technical and cerebral jargon. Even if I don’t understand it all, it can be quite fun (like Wall Street, 21, and Boiler Room), or not so much (like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short). A montage featuring an extreme closeup of dice cartwheeling across the table in slow-mo while characters drink, smoke cigars, and cheer makes its inevitable appearance. But I do still enjoy those.
Based on a true story, and the book of the same name, the excellent Jessica Chastain stars as Molly Bloom, a former skier who becomes injured on the slopes, and later sets up a weekly high-stakes poker game, which ends up getting her targeted by the FBI. Chastain is a powerhouse here, in the kind of confident, witty, strong-willed heroine that Jennifer Lawrence normally plays, and it is so refreshing not to see Lawrence in the role for a change. Michael Cera is a surprisingly delicious villain, and that’s all I will tell you about him. Idris Elba makes a strong impression as Molly’s attorney, in a performance that I hope will be a surprise Oscar nomination. Kevin Costner will never go down in history for his acting, but here, his turn as Molly’s father is lovely in its simplicity.
Molly’s Game has many fine moments, and is a noteworthy, well-presented story, but is a bit long, and suffers from a screenplay that is too polished. Nobody stutters, stammers, jumbles their words, or has any vowel movements. Every character is at the ready with the most perfectly crafted comeback to whatever is verbally hurled at them. No one in real life is that “on” all the time.
Grade: B-
Film Reviews by Mark 
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