Review of Miss Sloane (2016) by Thomas D — 10 Dec 2016

I'm starting to like this actor-director team of Jessica Chastain and John Madden. The Debt, released a few years ago, is a solid, stylish thriller. And Madden continued that trend with Miss Sloane. It's an intricately constructed and intelligent political thriller with one of the best female lead performances of the year.

Sometimes I like to go into movies without knowing anything, and that's how I approached Miss Sloane. Besides maybe seeing a TV spot or two, I knew little about the details regarding this project. With that said, I have to admit that I thought this may have been based on a true story until roughly the mid-point in the movie. The sharp dialogue and realistic tone gave me the impression that this story definitely occurred at some time or another. Of course, movies have a way of enhancing plot to make it feel the most cinematic, and that's the path this film began to take towards the second half.

Both approaches are fine on their own, but I think it was jarring seeing the two coincide with one another in the same film. The first hour felt like I was just eavesdropping on real-life events about real people, while the second hour felt like something out of a John Grisham novel (perhaps not ironically, a novel of his can be seen in some of the scenes). So while I don't feel that John Madden necessarily succeeded in making one cohesive film, he absolutely succeeded in making a dang entertaining thriller.

In the world we live in now where celebrities can be politicians or even the President of the United States, it was nice seeing a film about people who clearly know their stuff, and are prepared at every corner to discuss these issues. Right from the opening shot, Chastain as Sloane tells us that lobbying is all about foresight and being one step ahead of your opponent. This can be applied to all occupations, but especially to the world of politics. So in relating to real-world events, the character Elizabeth Sloane was a refreshing face to see. Of course, she doesn't always play by the rules or law for that matter, but the film never glorifies this lifestyle, like some news outlets do these days. If the film was about true events, I don't know that these people would get what they deserve in the end, but because it's the movies, these characters most certainly do.

Sometimes the fast paced dialogue heavy scenes are too much to handle, especially for a guy like me not always privy to this side of the world, but the gripping performances and an unpredictable plot prove to be more than enough to satisfy causal moviegoers. Miss Sloane is a win for me.

+Chastain & Madden are a good team.

+Feels realistic, but the entertainment trumps all.

+Gripping thriller.

-First & second half feel like two separate movies.

8.1/10.