Earlier this week me and my friend managed to find time to watch a movie called 'Molly's Game'. We watched this biographical film about Molly Bloom, an ex-athlete, who ran underground high stakes poker games for celebrities and businessmen in the early 2000's.
The reason that we decided to watch this film - that is written and directed by Aaron Sorkin - is that we couldn't find any other movie that looked interesting. This was the only one that had gotten reviews that were good enough and that had a solid premise.
In any case, having now seen 'Molly's Game', it has to be said that I have mostly positive things to say about it. Even though there are certain problems with the film that shouldn't be overlooked, these problems in my opinion don't hurt it too much.
So when it comes to the good aspects of the movie, there's no doubt that the gambling scenes in it are entertaining. The movie is at its best when Molly - played wonderfully by Jessica Chastain - organizes and runs these underground high stakes events.
By that I mean that when her unlikely new career path - from a waitress to a gambling hostess starts to emerge (after giving up on her sports career due to a serious injury), that's when the story really starts to pick up speed.
In these enthralling scenes, we have A-list movie stars, famous athletes and businessmen (names changed for the sake of privacy) gambling and taking big risks. The movie shows these celebrated human beings in less than flattering light - to say the least.
During this phase of the movie, it was really fascinating to try to figure out who these characters were in real life. I couldn't help but to feel satisfaction when I was able to pinpoint who the characters' real life counterparts were (Tobey Maguire, Jamie Gold etc.).
In these parts, the movie works not only because of the gambling stuff, but also because the main protagonist starts to get in trouble. Molly gets in legal trouble because of her endeavours and also because the Russian mafia starts to go after her.
The movie also works in these scenes, because in these scenes it knows what it's about. The story doesn't humanize Molly too much or make her - as a businesswoman - seem like she's a good person or that we should empathize with her too much.
That's why it's unfortunate that once we get to those scenes where we're supposed to feel for the character (excluding her getting beaten up) the story feels a bit forced. The scenes don't fit in with the rest of the movie and feel somewhat out of place.
Especially when it comes to the ice-rink scene where she - out of nowhere - runs into her father and has a touchy-feely talk with him, the scene doesn't make enough sense. I just couldn't find it to be believable or consistent with the rest of the movie.
In that sense, when I think about the movie as a whole, it's clear that 'Molly's Game' - even though a fairly good movie - is not a perfect film. It's clear that there are certain moments in the film where the story and the characters don't work that well together.
After all, even though some of these emotional scenes were perhaps necessary for the story to work, they don't fit in as well as they should. The movie's main protagonist isn't as likable and relatable as the writer probably thought she was.
In that sense, if you're thinking about giving 'Molly's Game' a chance as a movie, there's nothing wrong with you if you don't end up liking it that much. You might not like it, because certain moments in the film aren't that plausible storywise.
After all, even though most of the things in the movie are superb and even riveting, especially the scenes where Molly gets humanized aren't that great. They go against the film's ruthless nature and seem pretty inauthentic and misplaced.
At the same time, in case you do end up liking the movie, like me, there's nothing wrong with that either. There's nothing wrong with thinking that the problems in the film weren't that important and that they didn't prevent one from enjoying it.
After all, at least in my case, I found the movie - despite its flaws to be well made. Despite its flaws, I found that 'Molly's Game' as a whole kept me entertained and the good things in it clearly managed to outweigh the bad things in the film.
In that sense, when I think about the movie as a whole, it's clear that 'Molly's Game' - even though a fairly good movie - is not a perfect film. It's clear that there are certain moments in the film where the story and the characters don't work that well together.
After all, even though some of these emotional scenes were perhaps necessary for the story to work, they don't fit in as well as they should. The movie's main protagonist isn't as likable and relatable as the writer probably thought she was.
In that sense, if you're thinking about giving 'Molly's Game' a chance as a movie, there's nothing wrong with you if you don't end up liking it that much. You might not like it, because certain moments in the film aren't that plausible storywise.
After all, even though most of the things in the movie are superb and even riveting, especially the scenes where Molly gets humanized aren't that great. They go against the film's ruthless nature and seem pretty inauthentic and misplaced.
At the same time, in case you do end up liking the movie, like me, there's nothing wrong with that either. There's nothing wrong with thinking that the problems in the film weren't that important and that they didn't prevent one from enjoying it.
After all, at least in my case, I found the movie - despite its flaws to be well made. Despite its flaws, I found that 'Molly's Game' as a whole kept me entertained and the good things in it clearly managed to outweigh the bad things in the film.
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