Chastain gives solid performance in ‘Molly’s Game’
Christian Bale and Robert De Niro may get a lot of press for the weight they gain or drop when they take on a role, but no one gives credit to the actors who sign up for a production written by Aaron Sorkin. I feel that it requires just as much preparation and dedication, since their verbal output most likely equals any caloric intake those weight-gaining actors must endure.
Sorkin is perhaps best known for his writing in films such as "The American President" and "The Social Network," and shows such as "The West Wing" and "The Newsroom," each carrying with it a dictionary-sized script of seemingly nonstop dialogue.
He makes his directorial debut with "Molly's Game," based on a book by Molly Bloom, the real-life "Poker Princess" who held some of the most elite high-stakes games on both coasts, attended regularly by celebs, sports figures, foreign royalty and others you would never see on the main floor of Bally's in Vegas. An Olympic-hopeful skier whose athletic potential was derailed after a devastating injury, Bloom (played by Jessica Chastain) decides to take some time off before attending law school.
A series of events lands her in the world of high-stakes underground poker held in the famous Viper Room (renamed The Cobra Room here) in downtown Los Angeles.
She is never once dealt a hand, though. She is more interested in organizing the events and watching the ebb and flow of money across the table, and the lives of those who were flooded with success, as well as those left standing alone on the beach. And the winner-takes-all approach to these games is exactly the sort of character study in which Sorkin thrives.
But a film such as this cannot rely solely rely on hovering over a den of ultra-wealthy men squandering wads of cash; it truly needs its own ace up its sleeve, which it supplies with lead Jessica Chastain in an award-caliber performance. She's mesmerizing as our heroine, keeping us always wondering exactly when her character is bluffing us and when she is sincere. She effortlessly cartwheels around Sorkin's script, where Bloom is typically the lone female in a room of powerhungry men. But we seldom fear for her well-being, as she most always seems in control.
The story leapfrogs through various times in her life (her early upbringing, her life as a card shark, and her impending trial after the feds decided to end her business venture. The pretrial pieces show Molly as a flat-broke potential felon, attempting to enlist lawyer Charley Price (played by Idris Elba) to help her dig out of her legal hole. And even at her most vulnerable, Chastain's Bloom plays everything close to the vest.
As a director, Sorkin has yet to match the fluidity of his words with the camera. There are moments that the visual flatness fails to match the verbal fireworks, and one wonders what someone like David Fincher, who directed "The Social Network," would do with the same material. But for a first outing, there's a strong platform for improvement in "Molly's Game." I will let you search the internet for exactly who were the real-life celebs at the table during one of Molly's games, as they are all pseudonyms in the film (Michael Cera portrays "Player X," which is clearly based on a particular superstar who seems particularly morally bankrupt).
Regardless of the gossipy aspects of the film, it deserves to be seen primarily for yet another solid performance from Chastain, who gives viewers a reason to go all in for her alone.
