Miss Sloane

Miss Sloane has exactly what the similar Molly’s Game lacked – a more in-depth character study of the protagonist, including her private life. And Jessica’s acting performance deserves a deeper character focus! The lobbying and politics here may not appeal to everyone, but I personally find the controversial issue of guns in the US interesting (I’m for gun control) and this film offers a great insight into it. (23/01/2021)

"Elizabeth Sloane? She's a woman who pees standing up, and I don't even do that," says a colleague about his boss with respect. Don't be fooled by the seemingly fragile appearance of a slender beauty. Elizabeth is definitely not a typical member of a lobbying company or a gray office mouse. She belongs to the best in her industry, has a reputation as a tenacious terminator who manipulates the public, politicians, and her opponents with the cunning of a fox and surgical precision, and sooner or later pushes the legal norm into a form that suits her client. Remarkable is primarily her ability to skillfully balance on the edge of the law and exploit every loophole in her favor. Elizabeth Sloane is a workaholic who has turned her profession into a passion and sacrificed her family and emotional life for it. Mrs. Sloane certainly likes money, but as the saying goes, it is definitely not everything. Properties, valuable gems, and valuable papers are also important. However, for Elizabeth, another valuable commodity is not diamonds, but the satisfaction of her ego. When she receives an offer from a nonprofit organization to push for gun control against the will of powerful arms corporations, she turns against her former employer and decides to fight the battle for change on the side of good. However, she uses the same style and means as before. Angelic goals and hellish tools clash a bit, not to mention that the new opponents have already figured Sloane out like yesterday's news. How will this turn out? The truth is that Miss Sloane is not a typical popcorn movie, but a cleverly constructed drama based on dialogues and psychological confrontations - therefore requiring some concentration. The world of lobbying is not as popularly mapped as courtroom dramas, making it more difficult to navigate its environment. A script this good is rare (even the apparent shortcomings gradually turn in its favor) and more than compensates for all the obstacles. It's Hollywood material, but damn good quality. Jessica Chastain certainly can't complain about the roles she gets, but the cunning Sloane, tough as granite, is her most rewarding part so far. Everything that was missing from the ambitious and anticipated Molly's Game is present in abundance here. My thumb is unreservedly pointing upwards. Overall impression: 90%. (14/09/2018)

One of those films I have nothing negative to say about. Jessica Chastain may not be one of my favorite actresses, but she was simply fantastic. I've never seen such a great mixture of indifference, cynicism, and intrigue. I didn’t just enjoy it, I downright reveled in it. A great experience for me and I will definitely watch it again. (11/06/2017)

Is successful Jonathan Perera just a pen name of Aaron Sorkin or not? That's the question. Rather, it is not, because such a purely Sorkin script would not have been able to make even Sorkin himself, despite all the efforts. Machine-gun reciting dialogs, constant frenetic movement, ties and suits, fancy offices, characters serve purely as bearers of convictions / attitudes, actors from the Newsroom, behind the scenes and politicking with the high politics closely connected with the profession (in this case lobbying) and so on. Yes, this is an open-minded film (in the style of The Life of David Gale and his attitude toward the death sentence), but it's not a bad thing, not at all. It is captured in a sophisticated and emotional way. In addition, at its core it is a damn successful Heist movie, which follows all the rules of the genre. And even without a robbery as such. The more experienced viewer will undoubtedly see the final move through at the beginning (which does not detract from the impressive performance), but it´s not a bad thing, because it´s characterized with such an uncompromising goal-orientation, gradation (Max Richter has a lion´s share on it, as expected), the cool visuals and acting that it can be enjoyed on more levels than just “leftist lobbying for stricter arms purchase rules and cleaner policies". (29/08/2018)

It is true that in terms of subject-matter Miss Sloane isn’t the simplest movie to watch and it might happen several times that the viewer has no idea what exactly is going on in the film. Jessica Chastain identified so perfectly with her role that she applies her Eurovision of the American Dollar so perfectly and as a lobbyist she is putting in double the effort. The result is that you are watching her with your mouth open, you don’t understand half the stuff that’s going on and about the other half you keep thinking how cool she is that she’s coping with all those things as if it was nothing at all. She’s only human after all. And what she does at the end – that’s only for strong characters. Not only does she whip out a stellar monologue about “Now”, she also shows everybody what a great actress she is and how moch she identified with her role. It’s so good that it made for the strongest movie experience I have had in a while. She’s great, I like her and in this film she showed what an amazing actress she is. Miss Sloane is no simple film, but if you get into it, you will get an amazing ending from the world where dreams are made. (10/05/2017)