It wasn’t until I walked out of Molly’s Game, the drama written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and starring Jessica Chastain, that I realized something big was missing from the plot-line.
Unlike other female-led films there was no intense and sweeping romantic sub-plot and no male savior cruising in just in time to save the day.
There was actually nary a sex scene to be seen. And yet, the story-line, script and characters keep you engrossed in the events unfolding on screen right until the very end.
The film is based on the autobiographical book penned by Molly Bloom. A women who, after being terribly injured while training as an Olympic-class skier, escaped the clutches of her overbearing father and moved to Los Angeles where she inserted herself into the top tiers of Hollywood and beyond and started running the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game.
The opening scene of the film features Chastain’s Molly being awoken in the middle of the night by nearly 20 FBI agents, all who are standing outside her apartment door wielding automatic weapons. This kind of an opener quickly gives you an idea of the level of tension you’ll be living with for the remainder of the film’s run.
WATCH: Mamamia Entertainment Editor Laura Brodnik chats to Molly’s Game star Jessica Chastain.
Throughout it’s run, the movie smoothly back flips between Molly’s present day courtroom battle and her past crazy nights spent running poker games for powerful, sleazy men in opulent hotel rooms.