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The true story of Molly Bloom, a beautiful, young, 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, unbeknown to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led people to believe. – STX Films

Molly’s Game is based on Molly Bloom’s real life memoir of the same name. The film is written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. This is the directoral debut of Sorkin, who has proved himself time and time again to be a master screenwriter.

This is Jessica Chastain’s movie. She plays Molly Bloom and she spends the most time on screen with us and narrates the movie. Chastain is a force on the screen, her beauty and acting commands your attention. There were plenty of good performances in Molly’s Game but nobody came close to Jessica Chastain. She is clearly an excellent actress but it certainly helps that Molly Bloom is a fascinating person. Micheal Cera, Idris Elba and Kevin Costner all brought there “A” game as well. It is quite possible that Molly’s Game contains Michael Cera’s best performance ever. Cera plays an amalgamation of celebrity jerks who played in Molly’s poker games. I’ve never seen Cera so confident and powerful in a role before.

This is Sorkin’s first time in the director’s chair and he did a fine job but that’s really it. Nothing jumped out at me and made me think, “wow that was brilliantly shot.” Sorkin did a better job then I’d ever do my first time. What really makes Molly’s Game worth watching (and believe me it’s worth watching) is the performances and the crazy true life story of Molly Bloom. How does someone go from an Olympic level skier to running poker games for celebrities and gangsters? The story is absolutely compelling. Sorkin presents the story through flashbacks. We see the present then we jump to the past to see how she got there. That style of storytelling makes Molly’s Game all the more enthralling.

Molly’s Game is over two hours long but it flies by. This isn’t some crazy high stakes (no pun intended) action thriller but it feels real (probably because it was) and kept me on the edge of my seat. I know absolutely nothing about poker but still loved watching it. Molly’s Game is something everyone can enjoy just based on the incredible true story of Molly Bloom.

I give Molly’s Game a 9 out of 10, would watch again.

“Switch seats.”

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