It’s being tipped for awards already. This looks essential.
It’s very seldom that a screenwriter can get film lovers excited, but as fans of The West Wing will know, Aaron Sorkin is no ordinary screenwriter.
Directors may be regarded as auteurs for their visual style, it’s very rare that writers are instantly identifiable for their dialogue. Sorkin is the exception.
Think of that famous courtroom scene in A Few Good Men when Jack Nicholson’s character, Col. Nathan R. Jessep, screamed “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!” at Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise).
How about that brilliant opening from The Social Network when Erica Albright’s (Rooney Mara) back and forth with Mark Zuckerberg went faster than an Olympic table tennis match?
All this without mentioning the fact that Sorkin somehow managed to make a superb sports film that featured hardly any scenes of the actual sport being played. That’s Moneyball in case you haven’t seen it.
Simply put, Sorkin is one of the finest writers in Hollywood and his directorial debut film is earning some very impressive reviews.
Molly’s Game is based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba), who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.
Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.
At present, the film has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it’s already being talked about as a potential Oscar winner, especially the remarkable Jessica Chastain.
Vanity Fair – “Sorkin has made a canny, disjointed thriller of process and exposition, a sort of Goodfellas riff with a nerdy twist.”
The Hollywood Reporter – “In his overdue directorial debut, Sorkin both entertains and makes you lean in to absorb every detail of this wild tale, which boasts a stellar cast to help tell it.”
Variety – “A dense, dynamic, compulsively entertaining affair, whose central role makes stunning use of Chastain’s stratospheric talent.”
CineVue – “Molly’s Game is an exhilarating, superbly crafted crime drama.”
Take a look for yourself.
At present, Molly’s Game is scheduled for release in the UK on 26 December.
