The “Game” is up, Molly

Image copyright STX Entertainment / The Mark Gordon Company

After 140 minutes of Molly’s Game (2 stars on 0-5 scale), I STILL don’t know how to play Texas Hold ‘Em. But I did learn one thing: Aaron Sorkin sure loves to listen to himself write. His screenplay has all the speedy dialogue of  a screwball comedy but not quite enough of the charm. Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Kevin Costner are infinitely watchable — and Chastain has never had more sex appeal — but the frenetic pacing and ill-conceived voiceover structure of Sorkin’s directorial debut are flawed. And except for the strangely sentimental ending, there is very little humanity in this biopic of the woman known as the poker host to the stars. (Maybe if Sorkin had actually named some of those stars instead of using a composite character — played by Michael Sera — the film would have held more intrigue.)

 

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