Molly's Game
I was pretty excited to watch this film, but it has some fundamental issues.
- The poker in this movie was sparse but solid, the moments we saw were entertaining and more realistic than what you find in most other movies with poker. I wouldn't call it a highlight since this movie isn't really about the poker, but they clearly cared enough to make it interesting.
- Idris Elba is my goat and has been since I watched season 3 of The Wire. Great performance by him, especially his monologue. Michael Cera was also surprisingly good for the short time he spent on screen. I also enjoyed the performances of Jessica Chastain and Kevin Costner.
- My biggest issue is structural. I'm not convinced that this was the most interesting way to tell Molly Bloom's story, and I'm not convinced we needed over two hours to tell it. Sorkin doesn't seem to want to sacrifice the poker/thriller plotline or the legal plotline, and it left me feeling that both avenues could've been better explored. The film is further segmented by Molly's move from LA to NYC, which might sound like a silly criticism given this is a biopic. However, I think there is something to be said for what a biopic decides to focus on, and I don't think the attention of this film was well allocated.
Despite great performances and outstanding dialogue (duh), Molly's Game ended up feeling like a bit of a slog, unsure of what's most important in it's own story. A decent enough watch that I don't expect to remember.