Molly's Game

The She-Wolf of Wall Street. A little less wild, more restrained, laced with feminine charm, glamour and beauty throughout. Jessica Chastain plays a character that she can do and that her fans want to see her in as often as possible: a confident and ambitious career woman. But in this story she has a healthy hand and in the end she plays fair and keeps her feet on the ground. A courtroom procedural with lots of flashbacks offering several levels. The one in present time when the interrogations take place, the social probe among billionaires and their hobbies, one quite chilling act of violence and of course the emotional level. Much to my surprise, there is no love thread, which, given that this is a 140-minute analysis of one character, may be lacking, but it doesn't detract from the experience. Basically, you could say that all the slice-of-life trappings that we love about these everyday reality films are here. A bit simplistic and downplayed at times, but it still satisfactorily fulfills the checklist of attributes expected of a great film. In his old age, Kevin Costner has decided he will play only very charismatic blokes with attitude. (27/01/2018)

Molly’s Game is a movie that takes itself way too seriously considering it contains just one short dramatic scene (a beating at the hands of a mafioso) and thinks itself way too clever given that it needs 20 tortuous seconds of dialogue to express something that could have been said in five (without losing the point). If we don’t want to build on superficial grandeur, but rather want to tell a believable story with sufficient social insight and reflection of the its characters’ morality, this film doesn’t completely succeed. It’s like The Wolf of Wall Street without that film’s satirical insight, wit, energy and the human side of its characters. However, it has plenty of sexy costumes and cleavage to keep you from getting bored. (05/02/2018)

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. (06/01/2019)

This is a film about how Jessica Chastain is a great actress, but it has to be admitted that actors like Idris Elba, Kevin Costner and Michael Cera also belong here. However, Jessica stands out so much that she just outshines them. She really is more than just beautiful - she's great! This story suited her perfectly. The spitefulness of almost the entire film is pleasant. (28/01/2018)

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. (11/02/2018)