Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/926403
maltatoday SUNDAY 14 JANUARY 2018 40 This Week HERE'S a film about winning at capitalism while working from the sidelines. Written and directed by rapid-fire dialogue maestro Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network, The Newsroom) in what is in fact his debut behind the camera, Molly's Game stars Jessica Chastain as the eponymous thwarted Olym- pic skier turned overnight poker im- presario, and is only partly adapted from the book of the same name. And its decision to expand on the source material is interesting weave in and of itself, as the trajectory of Molly Bloom (Chastain) here defies an ingrained Hollywood habit of simply adapting non-fiction books or articles with as much pizzazz and dynamism as it can manage (see also: The Wolf of Wall Street, The Big Short, Argo...). Instead, Sorkin cleverly pinpoints how the real meat of the story lies beyond the pages of the tell- all memoir that Bloom wrote in a desperate attempt to stave off the financial ruin that was incoming af- ter her attempt to – quite literally – game her way up into the American Dream was violently punctured. Because the initial hook is this: raised by a put-upon mother and a pushy psychologist father (Kevin Coster) and flanked by over-achiev- ing siblings, Bloom's promising ski- ing career was ground to a halt in the wake of an in-competition in- jury. Leaving the homestead to drift along in New York, she lands a job as an assistant to shady real estate agent Dean Keith (Jeremy Strong). When he one day asks her to take care of logistics for an underground poker game he's running, Molly initially rolls her eyes at having to take care of yet another thankless task. But soon enough, Molly real- ises that learning the ins-and-outs of the elite poker scene might just be her ticket out of the rut she's put herself in. Having gained the play- ers' trust, she siphons them off into her own operation – moving them away from the legendary-but-dingy Cobra Club and into a fancy suite of a fancy hotel. For a while, things run smoothly for all involved. However, Molly is not the only one capable of ma- nipulating the stakes in her favour, and things go south once a regular – a superstar actor of some stand- ing – decides he wants to do some siphoning of his own. And that's be- fore Molly unwittingly lets the Rus- sian mob in on her games... Two years after the publication of her book detailing all of the above, Molly is arrested in her home by a small army of fully-armed FBI agents. No lawyers want to take her case, and neither does "the cleanest one she could find", Charles Jaffey (Idris Elba). But as he begins to sort through the nuances of the accusa- tions levelled against her, he begins to see that Molly has more moral fibre than her story suggests. As can be expected from Sorkin, the scenes in which this theatre vet- eran really shines are the ones when his dialogue is allowed to go full tilt; when we can savour two characters simply talking as if we're enjoying a great stage production. They are Sorkin's equivalents of large action set pieces in tentpole blockbusters, and here we have a few extended sequences between Chastain and Elba where they get to play out with aplomb. Though Sorkin's directori- al arm may need some loosening up – unfair comparisons abound, but having a script previously directed by David Fincher has a way of bring- ing current niggles to the fore – it's clear that he's created a good space for his leads to be at their best. Elba submerges his titanic pres- ence and imposing physique behind fusty clothing and a disarming – but never distracting – vocal tic that makes him a humane, fastidious presence that's only aided along by the volcanic repositories of energy you know he's got stashed away. But of course it's Chastain who commands all the presence and deserves the bulk of the praise. Bloom is both a gaudy and world- weary presence; highly educated and weaned to operate on sporty precision and focus, she also knows that the world of poker requires her to "glamour-up" all the time – a tool she wields with equal parts cyni- cism and enthusiasm. A timely story of a woman break- ing through a man's world, Molly's Game is delivered with typical ver- bal flair from Sorkin, even if the somewhat staid directorial style of his debut fails to match the thrill- ing, stagey bombast of the film's fin- est verbal slugfests. With energetic and intelligent central performanc- es from Chastain and Elba, and an compelling double-story structure, it makes for classy entertainment. Against typical biopic formula, this is not a celebratory whoop- ing race to the finish line... which was anyway denied to Molly at a crucial point in her skiing career. And it's even less of a morality tale, though Molly's unfussy wellspring of integrity will certainly inspire admiration. IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (3D) (12A) 10:25, 13:30, 16:05, 18:35, 21:10 Ferdinand (U) 10:15, 13:45, 16:05, 18:25 Murder on the Orient Express (12A) 20:50 Star Wars: The Last Jedi (12A) 17:30, 20:40 The Greatest Showman (PG) 10:25, 13:35, 15:55, 18:15, 20:45 Pitch Perfect 3 (12A) 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Wonder (PG) 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 All The Money In The World (15) 14:10, 18:05, 21:10, 23:20 Daddy's Home 2 (12A) 14:10, 16:15, 18:30, 20:50 Darkest Hour (PG) 11:40, 14:30, 18:00, 20:35, 23:15 Earth: One Amazing Day (U) 14:00, 18:30 Ferdinand 3D (U) 11:35, 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:00 Insidious: The Last Key (15) 14:10, 16:25, 18:45, 21:00, 23:20 Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (3D) (12A) 11:45, 13:50, 16:15, 18:45, 21:15, 23:00 Molly's Game (12A) 14:05, 18:00, 20:55 Murder On The Orient Express (12A) 14:30, 18:00, 20:40, 23:15 Paddington 2 (PG) 11:40, 14:10, 16:25, 18:35, 20:45 Pitch Perfect 3 (12A) 14:00, 16:05, 18:15, 20:40 Star Wars: The Last Jedi (12A) 11:35, 14:35, 18:00, 21:10 The Golden Calf (PG) 16:10, 20:35 The Greatest Showman (PG) 11:35, 14:05, 16:20, 18:40, 20:55, 23:10 The Star (U) 11:50 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Darkest Hour (PG) 10:30, 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15 The Greatest Showman (PG) 10:45, 13:35, 16:00, 18:25, 20:50 All the Money in the World (15) 14:00, 18:15, 21:00 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (12A) 10:50, 13:35, 16:10, 18:40, 21:10 Ferdinand (U) 11:00, 13:40, 16:20, 18:40 Star Wars: The Last Jedi (12A) 10:30, 14:00, 21:15 Molly's Game (15) 18:10, 21:00 Insidious: The Last Key (15) 11:00, 13:45, 16:15, 18:30, 20:55 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ HALL OF FAME ★ ★ ★ ★ WINNING STREAK ★ ★ ★ GAME, SET, MATCH ★ ★ CONTINUE?MASTER ★ GAME OVER FILM By Teodor Reljic What comes after the American Dream? MOLLY'S GAME (15) ★ ★ ★ This biopic of the real-life "Poker Princess" is rich pickings for the master of rapid-fire dialogue Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut, with a star turn from its already-accomplished lead Jessica Chastain Papa don't preach: Costner and Chastain Lawyer up, Molly: Charles Jaffey (Idris Elba) slowly but surely takes on Molly Bloom's (Jessica Chastain) case in Aaron Sorkin's classily entertaining directorial debut