Molly’s Game

Writer / director Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game is a loquacious work about former Olympic Class freestyle skier Molly Bloom (a tireless Jessica Chastain) who is introduced to the world of high-stakes poker after an injury and ends up running million-dollar operations in Los Angeles and New York before being nabbed by the feds. The story has the crackling dialogue of Sorkin’s work but a fairly static feeling due to the nature of the story -- poker games. The script is lousy with poker language but doesn’t handle the translation of insider lingo with nearly the aplomb of The Big Short (several actors from which are featured here). Sorkin tries to layer the story (based on true events) with some insights about Molly’s motivations, with most of that contained in some oddly unsatisfying scenes between Molly and her father (Kevin Costner). This is a commendable directing debut for Sorkin, and Chastain manages the enormous title role like a champ. The movie's unsung hero is Idris Elba as Bloom’s enthusiastic attorney whose scenes with her capture much of Sorkin’s talky rhythm and ethos.