Review: Molly's Game (UK Cert 15)

Molly Bloom has had an extraordinary life- she was an Olympic-standard skiier who was accepted to law school, and- whilst working in an office- she got introduced to the world of high-stakes poker. She eventually ran exclusive poker games in Los Angeles and New York, before being arrested by the FBI. All this happened by the age of 35. Now, the story of this extraordinary life has been made into a film, starring Jessica Chastain as Molly. 

I think that it's only a matter of time  before Jessica Chastain gets an Oscar. She's a fantastic actress and she really gets under the skin of this fascinating, flawed character here. Fiercely determined to be the best at whatever she does, Molly takes the opportunity to learn all she can whilst arranging the poker nights for her entitled arsehole of a boss and when she finally usurps him and takes over the game herself- in a real punch-the-air moment, after he jealously fires her- she uses her charisma and contacts to elevate the game from a scuzzy backroom in a Hollywood bar to suites at the most exclusive hotels. How the wheels come off the business and she ends up indicted by the FBI is told in flashback as she prepares to stand trial. It's a truly powerful performance by Chastain who- even when Molly is at her lowest ebb- stands tall. 

Idris Elba is great as lawyer Charles Jaffey, who initially seeks to represent Molly at the arraignment hearing only but ends up taking her case (in a witty yet powerful sequence where he asks her bodyguard to switch places several times so he can get some answers). Jaffey is a principled man, eager to untie the knots around the case, and his exchanges with Molly really spark. He also gets an absolutely barnstorming speech towards the end of the film where he rips into the prosecuting attorneys on Molly's behalf. 
  
Other great performances come from Jeremy Strong as Molly's former boss who introduces her to the world of poker and gives a performance of deliciously entitled arrogance, and there's an intriguing cameo from Michael Cera who plays a slimy Hollywood star known as 'Player X' (widely thought to be based on Tobey Maguire). It's Player X's mocking phonecall after he selfishly dismantles Molly's Los Angeles game that inspires her move to New York, where her downfall begins.  

Molly's Game is the directorial debut of Aaron Sorkin (writer of The Social Network and Steve Jobs, and who also writes the screenplay here). The film is very stylish and stylised; there's a lot of on-screen visuals added to help with Molly's explanations of things (in the opening skiing section, for instance, or in one particularly important hand of poker). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if- like me- you're not massively au fait with poker. To be honest, you don't really need to be: anything important is explained (such as any of the terminology used). 

The script is tight, full of the usual Sorkin whipsmart rat-a-tat exchanges. It falls down in a couple of places- I had a nagging feeling towards the end that the film tries to pin Molly's actions (albeit subconsciously) down to 'daddy issues'. Molly has a fractious and combative relationship with her authoritarian psychologist father (a strong supporting performance by Kevin Costner) but the final confrontation between the two- where Molly has 'three years of therapy in three minutes' just before she has decide whether she's pleading guilty or not- felt to me like an attempt to wrap things up nicely. Despite this, both Costner and Chastain knock it out of the park with emotionally authentic performances. There's also a heavy reliance on Molly's voiceover to discuss people or scenes which sometimes feels a little laboured. Show, don't tell is the cardinal rule. The film is also long- at nearly two and a half hours- but no part feels like padding. 

That said, these niggles weren't enough to derail my enjoyment of and enthusiasm for the film. Take a seat at Molly's game; you won't regret it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Hidden Figures (UK Cert PG)

Telling the previously untold stories of three black women who worked for NASA in the 1960s, Hidden Figures (directed by Theodore Melfi) is based on a non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly.

It was the surprise winner of the top prize- Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture- at the Screen Actors' Guild Awards 2017 but, having seen the film, it's an accolade that's truly deserved as every member of the ensemble is pitch perfect.

It's been a stellar year for impressive female lead roles but Taraji P. Henson is unlucky not to be recognised for her role as Katherine Goble (later Johnson), the mathematician who helps plan the trajectory for John Glenn's Friendship 7 launch. It's a powerful and strong central performance. Katherine is a multi-faceted character- a widow, a mother, a brilliant mathematician, a black woman in a white world with all the attendant prejudices (having to use the coloured bathrooms in a different building, being given her own coffee pot rather than being allowed to use the communal one). She gets one particularly powerful moment when- drenched in a rainshower from coming back from the bathroom- she lays into her boss about her current circumstances when he questions her about where she goes.

Octavia Spencer is strong as Katherine's friend Dorothy Vaughan. Denied a supervisor's position (despite doing the work), Dorothy catches wind that NASA have bought an IBM computer to replace the work done by the manual computing team. Teaching herself FORTRAN and actually getting the IBM to work, she begins to find a new use for herself. Spencer gets some good scenes against Kirsten Dunst, who plays supervisor Vivien Mitchell, including one where she gets to call out Mitchell's implied or unconscious racism (which elicited a big laugh from the audience)

Janelle Monae is the third 'hidden figure', Mary Jackson, who wants to be an engineer. Mary fights through the courts to be allowed to study at a segregated night school in order to get the qualifications she needs to become an engineer. She's the most forthright and outspoken of the three, but it's a really nicely rounded performance. The rapport and chemistry between the three leads is really quite lovely and very believable which lends an authenticity to their scenes.

Other performances are similarly great. Kevin Costner plays Al Harrison, head of NASA's Space Task Group. A stern but fair boss, determined to get to the stars, he comes round to respecting Katherine, letting her in to briefings and giving her clearance needed, much to the chagrin of head engineer Paul Stafford (The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons in a role which allows him to be more than just a Sheldon clone). There's a nice turn by Mahershala Ali as Colonel Jim Johnson, a soldier who falls in love with Katherine despite them not getting off on the right foot. Glen Powell is also good as astronaut John Glenn.

Much like Loving, the evocation of the 1960s setting is exacting- the nascent civil rights movement and the spectre of the Cold War being the most prevalent ones. A scene where Dorothy and her sons are manhandled out of a library for being in the whites-only section and Mary's husband watching a news report of a bus being bombed give weight to the era. There's a good use of archive/cine-footage from the time throughout too.

This is a fascinating film, shedding light on stories that aren't well known. It's got humour, drama, pathos. It's uplifting and a great way to spend a few hours.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Hidden Figures is on general release in the UK from 17th February 2017