Review of Molly's Game (2017) by Gabriel R — 18 Jan 2018

Molly's Game is the cinematic memoir of Molly Bloom whose skiing career ended after a fall. I haven't read the book (yet) or read up on the history that inspired the movie, so this review is just drawn from the film.

Trained from a young age by a severely demanding father to win, Molly searches for a second act and by a stroke of good (or bad) luck finds herself running a poker game for her dirtbag employer. Eventually, she comes to run one of the most exclusive and expensive poker games in the world, at the cost of her health, happiness and dignity.

The movie doesn't sugarcoat the underground poker lifestyle, her use of drugs or the ill effects irresponsible gambling had on some of her players. However, Molly's motives for running the game are perfectly understandable and one can't help but admire her determination and ingenuity, as well as her willingness to wrestle with and share what lead her to go down this road.

Molly's Game is a story about failure, how we deal with it (for good or bad), how it teaches us and how, despite our failures, we can retain our integrity when the cards are against us. I highly recommend this movie.