Call me, “Mr. Tell.” Some years ago – never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse thanks to a new poker craze … sorry, channeled Moby Dick for a moment there, and believe me, when poker insanity hit, I got my White Tail handed to me more than once. I was so bad that I failed at strip poker, a game where there are no losers.
Shortly after the century turned, the entirety of our sporting nation got into poker. A lot of people, especially men, dabbled while assuming they were good at it. I mean, how could you not be good at poker? After all, the athletic skills involved in poker are mildly more forgiving than, say, playing ice hockey, and identifying a face card is slightly easier than a Cover-2 defense. Heck, just memorize some vocab: “flush,” “river,” “flop,” “Maxwell house,” “Swedish grandmother,” etc. and you’re home free. Many, many men literally paid a price for these wrong assumptions. And now that our national Texas hold ‘em nightmare is (relatively) over, perhaps we can gain some perspective from the endeavor.
Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) ran a high-end poker game in Los Angeles for six years, and then a higher-end one in New York for another two. How did she fall into the biz? A combination of desperation and luck. After failing the Olympic moguls trial –and failing doesn’t quite capture the level of detail shown to us; the science of Olympians is front-and-center here— Molly retreats to El Lay and gets a Gal Friday job for a sleazeball. Her shady boss holds a big name/big stakes/small venue game for local celebs burdened by excess wealth. Instantly, the double standard unfolds: while the smattering of the El Lay who’s-who men show-up all decked out for a night of couch potato, Molly is dressed down from her dress down to her heels. If nothing else, however, Molly is a quick study and soon learns fashion, poker, the players, and the necessary atmosphere to shanghai the game itself. The sad part is however smoothly the El Lay game runs under her supervision, she still needs the backing of amoral, A-lister, A-hole “Player X” (Michael Cera) to make her game happen.
The flashbacks of Molly’s semi-legal offenses are delivered from conversations between Molly and her reluctant attorney, Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba). Charlie doesn’t want Molly’s federal case for myriad reasons, not the least of which is the FBI seized Molly’s assets in order to have her rollover on the celebrity poker list; it is only in her integrity and refusal to do so that makes Charlie take on the case. This is the crux of the film – writer/director Aaron Sorkin insists upon Molly’s integrity even during her drug habit. As the material is based on a tell-most from Bloom herself, it is up to us to determine whether we believe it. The case is convincing; if you have the option to get your life back v. penniless and in jail and all you have to do is name names, would you roll or do you rock?
Much more than a simple poker exhibition, Molly’s Game is a character study and a backdoor #metoo confessional. Normally, I don’t like Jessica Chastain, but her naturally cold demeanor works perfectly in this film. This is a portrayal of modern feminism and Molly’s alluring asexual manipulation of men is on constant display. As Charlie notes, “you look like the Cinemax version of yourself.” And it’s true; she does. Yet, the look is all for show. The only other actress I can reasonably see adopting the sexual-yet-aloof attitude this role required is Charlize Theron. It’s easy to see Chastain’s Molly as the person who gave up a high-powered law career to control weak men. And, of course, such begs the question: why did the law target Molly, whose crimes are relatively minor and executed out of self-preservation? Was there sexism involved? Is it the same kind of sexism that requires Molly to host her Game from the guise of a top-shelf escort in contrast to the Oscar Madisons who play it?
Few people in the world can teach and entertain at the same time, and Aaron Sorkin heads the list. After watching the never-dull Molly’s Game, I know more about poker, skiing, parenting, morality, and a score of other issues. Do you want to feel smart? Attend a movie written by Aaron Sorkin. Now, that said – there are a number of points in which the narrative has me … puzzled. How could someone so sharp, so intuitive, and so dedicated to her craft as Molly not know she was often hosting members of the Russian Mafia? And while I fully support the idea of near-Olympian, near-Supermodel, near-genius, near-felon, and near-human Molly Bloom, I’m not sure I was buying the “Playmate 
Mensa Club,” either. Yeah, I’m calling your bluff, Sorkin/Bloom; let’s see what you got.
Molly’s Game seems to be another film lost in the year-end Oscar shuffle. I’d almost call it a severe misplay; the movie holds a full house, but can’t get any bets on the table. It’s a shame in that it almost certainly won’t get deserved recognition as one of the best films of 2017, yet it’s good in that the under-the-radar approach has, thus far, avoided the army of empowered RW trolls who feverishly attack any perceived threat to white male power. [Editor’s note: I spoke too soon; the rating has dropped a full point on imdb in between writing and publishing; I’d bet anything the RW troll army is at work here] Molly’s Game sure doesn’t have a whole lot of nice things to say about white males, especially with how they treat females. Personally, I wish there were five to ten more films like this every year.
This new ‘Mer’can poker is a trip:
Protestors, just button your lip
No one has your back
Rules by King and Jack
And every Queen in the deck is worth zip
Rated R, 140 Minutes
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Genre: Battle of the Sexes
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Single women competing in a man’s world
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Misogynists
