In a world full of fake, Hollywoodized true stories, director Aaron Sorkin keeps “Molly’s Game” entertainment value high while ensuring the facts stay true to the real story.
Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) began ranked third in North America for women’s skiers with seemingly nothing in her way. When an accident happens on the slopes costs Molly her Olympic career, she takes some time off to figure her life out.
Through some questionable life decisions and certain happenstance Molly ends up the proprietor of a high stakes poker game. A couple of years after she has stopped hosting poker games the police come and arrest Molly, take her money, and force herself to defend herself with nothing.
Molly meets many interesting people throughout her time running poker. They range from members of the Russian mafia to famous Hollywood actors. The most interesting being the man portrayed by Michael Cera named Player X, who in real life is Tobey Maguire. One of the biggest pulls “Molly’s Game” has is a factual peek behind the veil of the rich.
Aaron Sorkin shows his years spent writing for movies like “The Social Network,” “Moneyball,” and “A Few Good Men” makes him a perfect match to transition into directing. With seamless transitions and pacing that keeps the film moving but doesn’t lose the small details, Sorkin knows how to command the screen and keep the audience interested.
Sorkin followed the source material and Molly Bloom’s own input to ensure the story was told truthfully. The only notable factual discrepancy is Idris Elba’s character Charlie Jaffey, to make a simple court case more interesting and emotional.
Though the constant narration can, at times, feel unnecessary because of what’s on the screen, this comes with the difficulty of adapting a memoir. The jumping between events that happened in the book and dealing with Molly’s court case can grow a bit tiring, but Sorkin does a good job of keeping both stories interesting
Jessica Chastain is as fantastic as always along with Idris Elba (Charlie Jaffey), who plays Molly’s lawyer. Kevin Costner, who plays Molly’s father Larry Bloom, does a great job as a stern father figure. Chastain and Elba carry the story with their passion and care for the source material.
The story of Molly Bloom is both interesting and surprisingly uplifting. Watching her lose everything not once, but twice and continue fighting and never playing the victim was the biggest take away from the movie for me. That along with Sorkin’s directing and strong performances from Chastain and Elba make Molly’s Game worth viewing.
