MOLLY'S GAME Review

Molly's Game begins with a prologue of sorts that efficiently and eloquently establishes who this woman is, where she comes from, what type of person her nurturing has led her to be, and how she is unable to approach anything without learning every aspect of it and giving it her full attention. Molly's Game begins as one would expect any Aaron Sorkin-penned script to: with a lot of big words, fast sentences, and overall impressive language that paint a picture of an even more impressive specimen. That's what Molly Bloom, as played by the beautiful Jessica Chastain, is here: a specimen. Bloom is an individual who might serve as the best kind of example of our species as she was raised on the assembly line of a father who manufactures exceptionally smart and athletically trained children; Molly being abruptly spit out into the real world when an injury sets her Olympic career back. That said, she has issues of her own and while most certainly stem from that overbearing and overly critical nurturing she received from her father (Kevin Costner) some can still be attributed to the nature of Bloom and who she grows to be as an individual outside of her father's control. This is all to say that Molly's Game, as it begins and as it continues to show us the layers and intelligence of its complex protagonist throughout, is a fascinating character study and peek behind the curtain into a world many knew existed, but few had any idea the details of or of how it operated. It's only a shame Sorkin's latest on which he makes his directorial debut is lacking in any type of visual flair that might match the wit and research that has clearly gone into the dialogue being spouted. It's not that Molly's Game doesn't look acceptable or even like a big Hollywood production should-it does, but the problem is that it looks so much like a standard Hollywood production it takes away from the exceptionalism of the story being told. This is a story as slick and as insider-y as one could imagine and thus the aesthetic and editing should match in a way that emphasizes as much. Instead, while having no doubt watched countless innovative filmmakers do their thing over the years Sorkin resorts to playing his debut as a series of safe choices that lend no style to a story that is all style. While this doesn't derail the film overall, it certainly doesn't enhance the rich material, character work, and lead performance Chastain has fully lent herself to.

WIND RIVER Review

Writer/director Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Hell or High Water) likes his symbolism. He both begins and ends his directorial debut, Wind River, with a fair amount of it. The opening of his film, which takes place in Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation sees a literal wolf circling a herd of sheep. Wind River ends with a simple image of two fathers sitting in the background while an empty swing set comes into focus in the foreground, the two empty seats swaying in the light winter wind. How Sheridan's film gets from a rather generic piece of symbolism in the form of a common saying to one that is potentially layered with meaning the viewer can attribute to it due to the journey they've just witnessed is what makes Sheridan's use of this tool so effective. Obviously, Sheridan is a gifted writer who has a knack for building atmosphere and tone and integrating them into the natural environments in which he places his stories, but what had yet to be gleaned was how much of such satisfactory works came from the writer himself and how much was elicited and interpreted from his screenplays via renowned directors like Denis Villeneuve and David Mackenzie. With Wind River, Sheridan lets it be known that he possesses more than capable hands when it comes to bringing his written word to life and, more importantly, conveying the themes and ideas through these visuals that he clearly had an interest in discussing when penning the screenplay. While Wind River doesn't necessarily possess a unique structure or revelatory plot-in fact, it's a rather simple murder/mystery movie-what it does possess is an assuredness of how it confidently wants to tell this story and a clear idea of the aspects of this true story that it wants to highlight so as be both affecting and insightful while still remaining a familiar conceit. The familiarity of the structure and approach is perfectly balanced by that of the desolate-seeming landscape though, which is only emphasized further by the environment no doubt feeling foreign to any viewer that doesn't reside in Wyoming themselves. It's chilling. There are flat fields that seem to go on forever covered in snow with a dead silence that drenches it all which inadvertently seems to inform the locals of the bleakness of their existence. It is in setting a murder/mystery in this already devastated domain that Wind River strikes you; through such aforementioned symbolism that it compels you.

First Trailer for MOLLY'S GAME Starring Jessica Chastain

The first trailer for Aaron Sorkin's feature directorial debut, Molly's Game, has arrived and I didn't need to see it to be sold on the fact I'm going to be excited to see this movie. Based on Molly Bloom's 2014 memoir of sorts titled Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker the film tells the story of Bloom who was once an Olympic-class skier who ended up running the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game for more than a decade before being arrested by the FBI. Bloom's tell-all about her exploits clearly informed Sorkin's screenplay and his interest in the material, but I'm curious as to what about Bloom's story made the famed writer want to take this on as his debut directorial effort. Given it was just announced Molly's Game will be having its world premiere at TIFF next month I will definitely be adding this to my list of must-sees given the film doesn't open until Thanksgiving and will likely be making a strong Oscar campaign for itself if it turns out to be even half as good as its credentials would imply. Providing yet another strong leading role for Jessica Chastain Molly will hopefully garner the actress the consideration she deserved for last year's underseen and underappreciated Miss Sloane (I still need to catch-up with Zookeeper's Wife). Chastain has the support of some strong and seasoned players here as well, but of course her strongest asset will likely be that of Sorkin's words and how he puts them into play as the film not only seems to have been adapted from Bloom's book, but what happened after the fact given the lawyer she is pitching herself to holds a copy of that book. We know Sorkin likes to play with structure as well as with the challenge of being able to essentially convey action sequences via that of long monologues that are anything but tedious. Steve Jobs was one of my favorite films of 2015 and for me, personally, The Social Network is still one of the best films of the last decade and so there is not only a level of excitement, but a level of expectation to Molly's Game that I certainly hope Sorkin can meet. I'm ready. Molly's Game also stars Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O’Dowd, Graham Greene, Brian d'Arcy James, Bill Camp, and opens on November 22nd, 2017.