Molly's Game movie review
Barry Carter thinks the true story of Molly Bloom's high stakes Hollywood poker games is the first great poker movie since Rounders.
I was pretty excited to see Molly’s Game being made into a movie because I really enjoyed the book. My review for that actually could almost be used for my review of the movie. It stuck pretty close to the source material and it was just as entertaining.
Whenever a movie with poker scenes in it is released you have to do two reviews, one about the story itself and then another about the poker scenes. Casino Royale, for example, is a great movie but the poker scenes are at times woeful. For the most part Molly’s Game presented poker well, but if you are looking for equity calculations or GTO, you will obviously be disappointed.
Rounders is still the definitive poker movie, in part because it is poker that allows the hero to overcome the villain. Molly’s Game is less of a poker movie in that sense, however, as Molly Bloom was a real life high stakes poker host, it actually does a good job of explaining the ecosystem of a good poker game. There are decent scenes devoted to explaining the impact of rake, how the buy-in impacts the ecology of the game, the importance of not having too many tough players, ethical considerations in staking and the perils of loaning money.
A great ‘rise and fall’ movie
One of the intriguing aspects of the movie is how it hides the real life identities of the famous Hollywood players, because the book does not. Michael Cera plays 'Player X' but he in actuality is playing Tobey Maguire, who comes across as unlikeable here as he does in the book (In fact, if anything, director Aaron Sorkin spares Maguire’s blushes a bit by leaving out some of the meaner things he is said to have done, perhaps for brevity). A quick Google search for fans of the movie will reveal more where that is concerned (or buying the book).
The performances are excellent throughout the movie. Jessica Chastain is a superb lead and holds your attention all the way. Idris Elba plays Bloom’s lawyer and is also brilliant, often funny and has a great show stealing scene near the end. Even Kevin Costner, who I must admit I have never liked that much as an actor, puts in a great turn as Bloom’s Father. Oscars have been mentioned as possibilities with this movie and I would not bet on that, but I certainly would not be surprised.
More than anything, this is a great 'rise and fall' movie alongside the likes of Goodfellas or Wolf of Wall Street, but refreshingly told from a female perspective. It is not as good a ‘poker movie’ as Rounders but it may be a better movie overall. Instead of ramming the poker down your throat it is used as a vehicle to tell a much more interesting story. Which is good news because I’m pretty confident that most movie goers will enjoy it, not just poker fans. If you like the movie, then you also really have to read the book which covers the games in more depth.
It is quite safe to say, in my opinion, that this is the first great poker movie since Rounders.
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