Review of Molly's Game (2017) by Kris M — 10 Jan 2018

As are most of Sorkin's movies/tv shows, "Molly's Game" is a thinking person's movie. Sure, there's plenty of cleavage, excitement, violence, and interesting characters, but the script is written by Sorkin -- so there's mostly verbiage here.

Good stuff, for sure, but too much of it. Someone's else's review pointed out that Molly was Sorkin's standard "smartest person in the room" character, and that is so true. While I technically enjoyed the movie, for the first 3/4 of it I had to think "who am I rooting for?" and my answer to myself was -- nobody.

In the end, I was rooting for the Lawyer, played by Idris Elba, who is the most "likeable person in the room." Go figure -- an honest lawyer who anybody would like. I think my husband liked the movie more than I did, and we are both Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) aficionados, but while entertaining I did not think I would watch the movie twice, ever.

I felt this way about the "Steve Jobs" movie as well. I'm still rooting for Sorkin, because frankly, I want to see more smartly written movies for thinking people. BUT, you have to have somebody to root for -- more characters have to be relatable and likable.

Jessica Chastain is a force, for sure, and she's perfect to play this character -- but Idris steals the show as far as I'm concerned.