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Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Tree of Life, Interstellar) is terrific as Molly Bloom. The real Molly handpicked Chastain to play her and she's made a great choice.
An Olympic level competitive skier with a highly competitive father/coach (Kevin Costner) her career is shattered after a horrible fall on the slopes.
Molly is personable, smart as hell and resourceful. When she falls into the world of Poker and eventually creates one of the most famous and high stakes poker games in the world.
Her players are Hollywood's elite, wealthy businessmen and the well to do who are anxious to play a private game with the rich & famous. We're talking stakes where players could win or lose $100 million in one night. Tips are good.
When her game is unknowingly infiltrated by members of the Russian mob, her life is turned upside down as the FBI raids her house as if she's a terrorist.
Her morality and scruples 100% intact, she hires high power criminal defense attorney Charlie Jaffey, well played by the reliably great Idris Elba (Thor, Beasts of No Nation, Prometheus).
Written by the king of fast dialogue and intelligent scripts Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network, Moneyball) it's also Sorkin's directorial debut. Let's hope he gets back in that role soon, because this is one of the fastest moving, fascinating true stories I've ever seen adapted for Hollywood.
The veracity and ridiculous ferociousness of the FBI and government in pursuing Molly is startling and off putting. It makes you question what the hell they were thinking.
Chastain is fantastic as Molly and she's matched scene for scene by Elba.
Michael Cera is very good as Player X (rumored to have been Tobey Maguire in real-life), Brian d'Arcy James is terrific and Graham Greene (Wind River, Dances with Wolves) is perfect as a Federal Judge.
Sorkin (A Few Good Men) knows his way around a courtroom and the finale is terrific.
More thriller than biography, MOLLY'S GAME turns over all aces and gets an A. If you haven't seen it, check this one out, it's criminally underrated.
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