Molly's Game

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Based on the book “Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker” — a memoir by Molly Bloom — the film “Molly’s Game” tells the story of a champion skier who became a poker madam. And as a result found herself the target of an FBI investigation.

“Molly’s Game” is currently dealing its cards at Tropic Cinema.

There are five good reasons to catch this at your local movie house:

1. The true story is fascinating, how Bloom created a multimillion-dollar underground poker empire that attracted Hollywood celebs, pro athletes, business tycoons, and even the Russian mob as customers.

2. The cast is stellar, with Jessica Chastain as Molly. She’s backed up by Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Chris O’Dowd, Bill Camp, and Graham Greene.

3. The script was written by Aaron Sorkin, known for his machine-gun dialogue. He the guy who gave us TV’s “West Wing” and “The Newsroom.” He also wrote such movies as “A Few Good Men,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Moneyball,” and “Steve Jobs.” And he won an Oscar for his adaptation of “The Social Network.”

4. This is Sorkin’s directorial debut.

5. “Molly’s Game” has already picked up two Golden Globe nods (Best Screenplay and Best Actress). And you can expect some Oscar action too.

“Like it or not, this is the movie I wanted to make,” Aaron Sorkin says. “It was an irresistible story to me and I badly wanted to write it.” 

He saw Molly Bloom as “a romantic and idealistic sense of integrity and character … a unique movie heroine that we hadn’t seen before.”

Jessica Chastain agreed with this assessment. She saw the timely theme of a woman who seizes power in a world dominated by wealthy and powerful men. Molly fights patriarchy in all aspects of her life, from her controlling father to her battle with the government.

“I think people are going to be surprised that at the end of the movie you feel something that you are that you’re actually uplifted by a movie that was about a woman runs a poker game,” adds Aaron Sorkin.

Here, Sorkin has dealt himself a winning hand.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com