Molly's Game

Agent Coulson · 15-08-2017 8:46pm #1

Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut starring Jessica Chastain.

Based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.

Mr E · 16-08-2017 8:08am

Looks excellent.

mikhail · 16-08-2017 3:17pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Aaron Sorkin's

Well, I'm sold.

Agent Coulson · 05-10-2017 6:21pm

Second trailer.

JP Liz V1 · 07-10-2017 10:19pm

I predict Oscar noms for Aaron Sorkin and Jessica Chastain

Mrcaramelchoc · 07-10-2017 10:24pm

Hmmmmm just because sorkin is involved doesn't mean it has Oscar potential.

Mr E · 03-01-2018 1:03am

Saw it tonight and loved it. I've heard reviews that said it was too talky and too long, but I don't agree with either. It was very entertaining, Chastain was fantastic and the supporting cast were all top notch (Chris O'Dowd was a bit strange though).

There were two stand-out scenes near the end - the one in the park was superbly written.

I'm going to get the book too.

I'd love to see this get a few nominations in the Oscars (best screenplay and best actress at the very least).

tony stark · 03-01-2018 1:38am

Looks brutal from the trailer. I hate the “we talk so fast and snappy, we’re so kweel” conversation snippets. Did Sorkin write “the west wing”? , it looks like that rubbish

tunguska · 03-01-2018 1:55am

Saw it last night and its a cracking film. Jessica chastain has the oscar in the bag so paddy power would be wise to suspend all betting asap. Idris elba is also very good as is kevin costner who seems to be having something of a career rivival playing father figures. My only gripe is that it wouldve been an even better film if sorkin hadve handed over the directing reigns to someone like david fincher because at times he seems to let things losen up a little. But anyway its still very good and today i bought the book so they got my money both ways.

Mr E · 03-01-2018 6:07am

tony stark wrote: »

Looks brutal from the trailer. I hate the “we talk so fast and snappy, we’re so kweel” conversation snippets. Did Sorkin write “the west wing”? , it looks like that rubbish

There should be a new superhero movie out soon, don't worry.

tony stark · 03-01-2018 9:27am

Mr E wrote: »

There should be a new superhero movie out soon, don't worry.

Ha! The dialogue is pretty similar from Sorkin as it is in a Marvel movie so no thanks! Just expressing an opinion that I don’t like his style. It’s pseudo intellectual. Just an opinion.

Glebee · 04-01-2018 11:16pm

Went with the Mrs last night to the cinema and as there was nothing else on picked this without having a clue who was in it or what it was about so was not expecting a whole lot from it. Boy was I wrong, great film in my opinion. Defo 8/10 stuff and worth a watch. Id love to know the real names of the players in the poker games though..... Jessica chastain is very good in it and not hard on the eye either..

jimmii · 04-01-2018 11:26pm

Glebee wrote: »

Went with the Mrs last night to the cinema and as there was nothing else on picked this without having a clue who was in it or what it was about so was not expecting a whole lot from it. Boy was I wrong, great film in my opinion. Defo 8/10 stuff and worth a watch. Id love to know the real names of the players in the poker games though..... Jessica chastain is very good in it and not hard on the eye either..

A lot of the players are known. The stories of some of the other players are just as insane! The not famous players are probably more interesting than the familiar names.

Off to see this on Sunday looking forward to it.

callaway92 · 05-01-2018 1:44am

Glebee wrote: »

Went with the Mrs last night to the cinema and as there was nothing else on picked this without having a clue who was in it or what it was about so was not expecting a whole lot from it. Boy was I wrong, great film in my opinion. Defo 8/10 stuff and worth a watch. Id love to know the real names of the players in the poker games though..... Jessica chastain is very good in it and not hard on the eye either..

Tobey Maguire and Leo DiCaprio were both Player X (who was actually a few different people) - wanting fish to play with them then.

Really enjoyable movie - the two and a bit hours flew. Something very charming about Idris Elba.. v likable guy.

Jessica Chastain was brilliant as always

Agent Coulson · 12-01-2018 6:22pm

I went to see it this afternoon and loved it I was actually thinking Player X was Ben Affleck.

Jessica Chastain always has a feel of old time Hollywood to me.

Interview with the real Molly Bloom

tony stark · 12-01-2018 6:39pm

Is it worth a watch? Detest Sorkins dialogue normally. Too America, fast talking, cheesy, I’m so clever rhetoric rubbish but I’m stuck for. something to see with the mrs Saturday. Is it different to the trailers? Don’t think I could manage 2 hours of brutal quips and those knowing glances at the brilliance of what a character has just said!

jimmii · 12-01-2018 7:21pm

tony stark wrote: »

Is it worth a watch? Detest Sorkins dialogue normally. Too America, fast talking, cheesy, I’m so clever rhetoric rubbish but I’m stuck for. something to see with the mrs Saturday. Is it different to the trailers? Don’t think I could manage 2 hours of brutal quips and those knowing glances at the brilliance of what a character has just said!

I would look for something else to be honest. I'd probably go with all the money in the world or three billboards over Molly's game.

jimmii · 12-01-2018 7:48pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I went to see it this afternoon and loved it I was actually thinking Player X was Ben Affleck.

It's likely they were being quite liberal with exactly who it was but it was Maguire who was the main big name in the actual game the majority of the time. In the book she is pretty positive of most of the other players but absolutely tears into Maguire. To base it on anyone else would be a bit of a departure and a few things in the film that player x does are done by Maguire in the book. If any of the regs at the game were going to be referred to as playing a superhero it definitely would have been him over the rest at the time too.

Glebee · 12-01-2018 8:07pm

Its defo worth a watch.

misstearheus · 13-01-2018 1:13am

I actually just spotted this Thread on the front page of Boards yesterday and I had saw a Clip for this Movie and thought it looked really good and would love to go but have no-one to go with! Is there any Thread in this Section to see if any peeps would like to accompany others to a Movie if they're in the same area or anything like that?!?

Agent Coulson · 13-01-2018 1:20am

I went on my own this afternoon and had the whole cinema to myself.

I love when that happens.

NinetyTwoTeam · 13-01-2018 1:34am

tunguska wrote: »

Saw it last night and its a cracking film. Jessica chastain has the oscar in the bag so paddy power would be wise to suspend all betting asap.

Lol, I'll take any bet you want on that, you can have 50/1. I enjoyed the film a lot but she hasn't a hope of winning best actress.

Yeah player X is pretty much Tobey Maguire.

LuckyLloyd · 13-01-2018 9:21am

Very enjoyable with some solid performances. As a former poker player it has some of the most realistic poker I’ve seen on film. A good start to the season film wise.

jimmii · 13-01-2018 10:32am

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Very enjoyable with some solid performances. As a former poker player it has some of the most realistic poker I’ve seen on film. A good start to the season film wise.

Apart from the bit where the pot is ~1.3m and then post flop it goes bet 200k then raise to 300k!

Ohmeha · 13-01-2018 8:14pm

Thoroughly flawless and entertaining film

Tony EH · 13-01-2018 9:15pm

That trailer is incredibly annoying, but this looks like a good film with an interesting story.

NinetyTwoTeam · 15-01-2018 1:37am

Yeah I didn't think the trailer was good either, and like I said I enjoyed it but it was far from flawless.

My main gripe is that it is narrated straight through from beginning to end, instead of just showing what's happening they show you and tell you at the same time. That's fine in small doses but this was all through. If you read any of the book it was even worse because it was like having someone read out a book you already read, while acting it out as well.

Also the film and book really tries to paint Molly in a positive light and I'd say she did a lot more shady stuff that wasn't put in. She's on drugs but you never seen a drug dealer or anyone else doing them (i guarantee there was plenty of sniffing/pills in a game like that with those rich dudes). And I highly doubt she just let people off debts without some kind of pressure. You can't keep paying winners while letting losers welch like it showed.

Strange as well that she had no romantic entanglements whatsoever the entire time, even if as she says she wouldn't date the players (which I dunno if I believe), she has all these daddy issues but is single for years on end?

Some stuff about Tobey Maguire that didn't make it in the movie but was in the book: the Shufflemaster machine they used wasn't bought by Molly. Maguire bought it and insisted they start using it because he was afraid players would think he was cheating because he won so much. He used to bring it to the game. Then he told Molly he was going to start charging rent on it at 200 bucks a week, after it was himself who insisted on using it.

And they really should have put this in: he once made a show of Molly trying to force her to jump up on a desk and bark like a seal for a 1k tip, and when she refused that is when he started going against her. Dunno why they left that out.

p to the e · 15-01-2018 1:09pm

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

Yeah I didn't think the trailer was good either, and like I said I enjoyed it but it was far from flawless.

My main gripe is that it is narrated straight through from beginning to end, instead of just showing what's happening they show you and tell you at the same time. That's fine in small doses but this was all through. If you read any of the book it was even worse because it was like having someone read out a book you already read, while acting it out as well.

Also the film and book really tries to paint Molly in a positive light and I'd say she did a lot more shady stuff that wasn't put in. She's on drugs but you never seen a drug dealer or anyone else doing them (i guarantee there was plenty of sniffing/pills in a game like that with those rich dudes). And I highly doubt she just let people off debts without some kind of pressure. You can't keep paying winners while letting losers welch like it showed.

Strange as well that she had no romantic entanglements whatsoever the entire time, even if as she says she wouldn't date the players (which I dunno if I believe), she has all these daddy issues but is single for years on end?

Some stuff about Tobey Maguire that didn't make it in the movie but was in the book: the Shufflemaster machine they used wasn't bought by Molly. Maguire bought it and insisted they start using it because he was afraid players would think he was cheating because he won so much. He used to bring it to the game. Then he told Molly he was going to start charging rent on it at 200 bucks a week, after it was himself who insisted on using it.

And they really should have put this in: he once made a show of Molly trying to force her to jump up on a desk and bark like a seal for a 1k tip, and when she refused that is when he started going against her. Dunno why they left that out.

I agree with the notion that we're getting a lot of this from Molly's point of view and it basically paints her as the smartest person in any room. I imagine part of her reasoning for not naming names was more for safety than anything else.

Chastain was extremely good in the role but that's it. There was nothing that set off "Oscar" alarms. Personally I have a gripe with people getting awards for playing real life characters with copious amounts of source material over fictional characters who have to develop a character.

One part that may have been lacking was explaining poker/hold'em. I was fine with all the terms as I've played but my significant other was lost.

Overall an enjoyable film in which Tobey Maguire (definitely him) comes off as an insufferable, obnoxious ass. 7/10

bnt · 15-01-2018 4:49pm

tunguska wrote: »

Saw it last night and its a cracking film. Jessica chastain has the oscar in the bag so paddy power would be wise to suspend all betting asap.

Not so fast: she's up against the likes of Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), and Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). The latter already has an Oscar to her name, but that hasn't stopped Meryl Streep from picking up a few. And Streep will be in there too, for The Post.

callaway92 · 15-01-2018 5:19pm

jimmii wrote: »

Apart from the bit where the pot is ~1.3m and then post flop it goes bet 200k then raise to 300k!

What about the hand where Mr X made the guy that had the nuts fold :rolleyes:

Loved the movie

NinetyTwoTeam · 15-01-2018 6:13pm

callaway92 wrote: »

What about the hand where Mr X made the guy that had the nuts fold :rolleyes:

Loved the movie

Yeah that was actually explained all wrong. 'The Nuts' doesn't mean just the best hand between whoever is playing. The nuts means that based on the board, it is the highest hand that anyone could possibly make. If you have the nuts you are unbeatable no matter what the other guy is holding so you would never fold no matter what, and in fact in most games it is illegal to fold or check the nuts on the river as such play could indicate collusion.

And just to put this Chastain Oscar talk to bed, check the odds on paddy power and you'll see what her chances are. McDormand has it in the bag. Ronan only won the golden globe (she was 1/3 odds on) because for that she was in the comedy or musical category, now that she has to go against Frances forget it. Jessica was good but not an Oscar performance, and as I said in a previous post a gambling movie ain't beating a mother who is fighting for justice to a rapist movie.

jimmii · 15-01-2018 6:40pm

callaway92 wrote: »

What about the hand where Mr X made the guy that had the nuts fold :rolleyes:

Loved the movie

Yeah that was ridiculous! Presumably it didn't really play out like that. If player x was The Rock and had also been training as a Jedi then it might have happened like that but other than that I think somethings got lost along the way. If that hand played out the way it did until the river the guy would totally have slow rolled the hell out of him and insta-quit the game :pac:

littlevillage · 16-01-2018 2:36pm

Overall enjoyed the Movie.... some dialogue, a bit annoying.

BTW : Referring to that Poker scene with Mr. X. Sometimes the player holding "the nuts" might not actually be aware that they have the best possible hand available, soo its not inconcievable for that player to fold. Remember we are told that they played for days on end and tooks Alcohol and drugs etc.

and what about Tobey Maguire, what a bad-ass ?? moves him up a notch in my book

https://youtu.be/za_dGWIUGQg

Rumpy Pumpy · 18-01-2018 1:01am

My god, that cleavage.

tusk · 18-01-2018 1:16am

I really liked it. Solid performances all round. Love Sorkin dialogue, so that was a positive.

Definitely don't see it as Oscar worthy though.

Mrcaramelchoc · 18-01-2018 9:55am

Rumpy Pumpy wrote: »

My god, that cleavage.

Its up for an Oscar to.

p to the e · 18-01-2018 10:46am

Rumpy Pumpy wrote: »

My god, that cleavage.

I said to my girlfriend on the way out that those two should be up for best supporting actress Oscar. She wasn't impressed. I was.

NinetyTwoTeam · 21-01-2018 7:07am

littlevillage wrote: »

Overall enjoyed the Movie.... some dialogue, a bit annoying.

BTW : Referring to that Poker scene with Mr. X. Sometimes the player holding "the nuts" might not actually be aware that they have the best possible hand available, soo its not inconcievable for that player to fold. Remember we are told that they played for days on end and tooks Alcohol and drugs etc.

and what about Tobey Maguire, what a bad-ass ?? moves him up a notch in my book

https://youtu.be/za_dGWIUGQg

In my local we play a tournament for about 30 quid a man. Even pensioners with a nights worth of Guinness in their belly will know if they have the nuts, but I guess it's possible.

And if you read what she said about Maguire in the book you wouldn't be admiring him. I put some of it in a previous post in this thread, but he was a colossal prick, a bully, possibly a cheater (staking a player in the same game)extremely greedy despite being rich (charging rent for the shuffle machine that he himself bought and insisted they use, gave the lowest tips), took the game away from Molly after she wouldn't bark for him on command, charged outrageous vig on a 600k loan, swore on his mother's life in a game of cards and was lying (kind of funny, I would have instacalled)

And that's before we even get into Spiderman 3 and the jazz club scene.

FunLover18 · 21-01-2018 2:40pm

I can't remember the last time I left the cinema feeling that angry, I was absolutely seething after this. I wanted a movie and what I got a was some sort of power point presentation accompanied by the occasional dramatisation.

I was anxious going into this film as I know that Sorkin is very much a one-note writer but this like something written by a child; "I did that, I went here, I felt this, this is Player X, he's like this, etc, etc". When writing a book, they say "show, don't tell", when making a film, you shouldn't have to say this because it should be obvious when you've got massive cameras with which you can literally show the audience. I genuinely cannot understand the praise this film is getting (I can't help but wonder if it's just because it has Sorkin's name attached), people often complain about bad exposition in movies and treating the audience like simpletons but at least those films try to work it into the dialogue as opposed to interrupting the dialogue to tell you what it means

Player X: *laughing* You're so ****ed!

Narration: I'd lost the game.

Me: No f*cking ****!!

The film even repeats the same

cinemax version of myself

joke. People laughed the second time and I felt like standing up and shouting "They've already made that joke and it wasn't even that funny the first time!"

There is one truly great scene with Kevin Costner and I may revisit that as I YouTube clip but aside from that I absolutely hated this film.

Wombatman · 21-01-2018 9:46pm

Enjoyable 7/10.

Interesting story obviously. Not sure what that movie hoped to achieve though. The quantity of legal stuff was a little unnecessary considering the guilty plea. I guess it was a good backdrop for Sorkin to show off his skill with dialogue and interplay. Costner just bumping into her skating in the park was ridiculous. Most of the poker player characters were convincing apart from Chris O'Dowd who appeared to have brain damage. The glitz, glamour and Chastain hotness was a bonus.

NinetyTwoTeam · 21-01-2018 10:12pm

FunLover18 wrote: »

I can't remember the last time I left the cinema feeling that angry, I was absolutely seething after this. I wanted a movie and what I got a was some sort of power point presentation accompanied by the occasional dramatisation.

I was anxious going into this film as I know that Sorkin is very much a one-note writer but this like something written by a child; "I did that, I went here, I felt this, this is Player X, he's like this, etc, etc". When writing a book, they say "show, don't tell", when making a film, you shouldn't have to say this because it should be obvious when you've got massive cameras with which you can literally show the audience. I genuinely cannot understand the praise this film is getting (I can't help but wonder if it's just because it has Sorkin's name attached), people often complain about bad exposition in movies and treating the audience like simpletons but at least those films try to work it into the dialogue as opposed to interrupting the dialogue to tell you what it means
Player X: *laughing* You're so ****ed!

Narration: I'd lost the game.

Me: No f*cking ****!!

The film even repeats the same
cinemax version of myself
joke. People laughed the second time and I felt like standing up and shouting "They've already made that joke and it wasn't even that funny the first time!"

There is one truly great scene with Kevin Costner and I may revisit that as I YouTube clip but aside from that I absolutely hated this film.

Yeah I felt the same. The whole thing was told not shown, it was like Casino for Dummies.

Mrcaramelchoc · 21-01-2018 10:54pm

It wasn't a bad film.but i have one question.what kind of an accent was idris elba using?

sydthebeat · 21-01-2018 10:59pm

Yeah, father in the park NOT being a mental breakdown was the point at which I said thanks but no thanks to that story line.

Enjoyable enough film if you turn your head off at the door.

sporina · 03-02-2018 11:50pm

i watched the movie and enjoyed it - though i am not familiar with the true story?
I have a Q though... why did player x move the game and get rid of Molly? Was it because he felt that she didn't flirt with him or because he knew she knew he was racketeering and so would have one over him?

in any event I enjoyed it though not my usual cuppa - felt it was edgy and fast and nicely shot

NinetyTwoTeam · 05-02-2018 3:48am

sporina wrote: »

i watched the movie and enjoyed it - though i am not familiar with the true story?
I have a Q though... why did player x move the game and get rid of Molly? Was it because he felt that she didn't flirt with him or because he knew she knew he was racketeering and so would have one over him?

in any event I enjoyed it though not my usual cuppa - felt it was edgy and fast and nicely shot

He was just extremely greedy and spiteful, he thought Molly was making too much on tips, and he got mad that she wouldn't get on top of a desk and bark like a seal for a 1k chip (which was in the book but not the movie). I dunno why they didn't go more into it, was the most interesting part of the book for me. Maybe afraid Tobey would sue them.

Mike Litoris · 04-05-2018 1:24am

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Knew nothing of the story so found it fascinating. Man, Toby McGuire is some bcks!

Try_harder · 15-08-2018 11:12pm

I thought Coster's scene in the park ruined the film! Mansplained her to herself.

Kirby · 10-11-2019 4:33pm

Try_harder wrote: »

I thought Coster's scene in the park ruined the film! Mansplained her to herself.

Thats what a therapist does. People literally pay them obscene amounts of money for the privilege.

If her mother had been the therapist and sat on the bench instead would you think the same thing?

If you go looking for sexism, you are sure to find it.

flasher0030 · 25-04-2021 10:25am

I had never heard of this. Looked up a a couple of reviews and saw that it got mainly positive reviews.

I watched it last night and, wow - it was just fantastic. It's nearly 2.5 hours long but at no point drags. I do like a bit of poker myself so I found that side of thing enthralling.

If you watch the film, have a look at the real-life story afterwards. Personalities such as Di Caprio, Damon, Afleck etc were connected to it.

I would definately recommend this.

Molly's Game

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