Molly's Game

MOLLY’S GAME                 B+                  

USA  Chile  (140 mi)  2017  ‘Scope  d:  Aaron Sorkin          Official Site

Success is defined by being able to go from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

—Winston Churchill

Following a series of written projects that bring to life stories about influential people, like a U.S. Congressman’s influence over the Afghan War in CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR (2007), a portrait of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network (2010), Billy Beane’s introduction of sabermetrics into baseball in Moneyball (2011), or the egomaniacal force behind computer innovator Steve Jobs (2015), Aaron Sorkin’s first directed film is largely a stream-of-conscious exposé where the inner narration reveals all, though better known as the brilliant screenwriter for David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) as well as the highly praised political television drama The West Wing (1999 – 2006).  Calling Fincher from time to time throughout the shoot for directing advice, Sorkin has a created a striking portrait of a highly confident and liberated woman, a fearless role model of sorts, though the film is largely about the male psyche, as she achieved her fame with an acute understanding of how to manage that psyche, skillfully manipulating the various pieces, like players on a chess board, creating the most exclusive high stakes poker games where only the elite are invited, including movie stars, hedge fund managers, big name athletes, Saudi princes, and other power brokers exchanging millions of dollars at the table, with one man losing $100 million dollars one night, paying up in full by the next day in order to be invited back to the next week’s game.  A film where the entitled character is based upon a strong fictional heroine from James Joyce’s groundbreaking 20th century novel Ulysses, among the more complex novels ever written, where her final monologue that concludes the book is one of the most powerful affirmations of life ever humanly imagined.  Born to a competitive and overcontrolling family where her father was a clinical psychologist, Molly became the third ranked American skier in the world with a chance of winning an Olympic medal in the Freestyle at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 before a freak accident in the qualifying rounds knocked her out of the competition, while her younger brother was the #1 ranked skier in the world, World Champion by age 19, eventually drafted by an NFL football team, becoming the only known athlete to ever accomplish that feat.  Headed to Harvard Law School, which is the typical road to success, Molly (Jessica Chastain, who narrates throughout) takes a detour along the way following her accident, heading to the sunshine of Los Angeles, hoping to bathe in relaxation before heading to law school, but an interesting offer occurs along the way that literally changes her life, starting off as a cocktail waitress at LA’s Viper Room before she wis invited by the owner to host a poker game for Hollywood’s top celebrities, catering and managing for real estate club owner Darin Feinstein, aka Dean Keith’s (Jeremy Strong) high stakes basement poker game, listening in and learning everything she could about the game and how it works, eventually staking out her own turf in swank hotels where the buy-in entry fee per player is $250,000, often lost in just the first few hands in this freewheeling style of game.      

Convinced poker is not a game of chance, but a game of skill, she believed she was operating legally in the early 2000’s, never taking any money under the table or for any special favors, she ran an inscrutably clean operation, providing all the amenities, refusing offers from male admirers, where her reputation was built upon concealing the actual identities of those involved, whose names were later revealed in court depositions, including Toby Maguire as Player X (played by the baby-faced Michael Cera), who turns out to be sadistically ruthless, taking great pleasure in crushing and demoralizing losing players, but also Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Dan Bilzerian, Macaulay Culkin, and Nick Cassavetes, as well as billionaires such as Alec Gores and Andy Beal, allowing them to continue their games unimpeded by outside forces.  While building what was ostensibly a man cave environment for some of the wealthiest and most successful men on the planet, Molly was providing an image of herself that projected positively with these men, dressing in short skirts and brazenly revealing outfits, deciding that in a world dominated by rich and powerful men, she would have to present herself in a sexually desirable way, as only then would they pay attention to her and take what she had to say seriously.  Basically what this indicates is that in a man’s world, society values women for their sexual desirability, where had Molly not been so attractive, perhaps none of this would ever have happened.  Nonetheless, doors opened that otherwise would never have opened for her, making plenty of money at an early age, much of it in tips, which lasted over the course of an entire decade.  Perhaps the untold secret to these games was finding players who were willing to play, in other words lose, to the regular sharks at the table, who were always looking for fresh meat they could devour.  That means rotating new players into the games who had a reasonable expectation that they could win, as nobody likes being made a fool of, though this was essentially the goal of the regulars where winning was not enough, as they had to crush their opponents.  Often they got arrogant and a bit big-headed, as did Keith after a string of losses, suggesting Molly was taking too much from him, basically changing the rules of the game midstream, putting her in a less favorable position, which gave her the impetus to start her own game.  Perhaps unsurprisingly she got the regulars to come along.  All of this success came to a screeching halt when she was arrested by the FBI in the middle of the night taking all of her assets in the process, literally forcing her to make a deal, like name names and come clean.  Only Molly refuses to do that and hires a high powered attorney instead, Idris Elba as Charlie Jaffey (actually Jim Walden, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scirica, also a former prosecutor who worked for 9 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York).  Jaffey hesitates before taking the case, intrigued by how well-versed she is on the charges and by her staunch refusal to give up names.               

Chastain and Elba are terrific together, as their high-powered interchanges are exceptional, providing most of the drama to the story, as they are playing out the various positions, including the government’s position as well as her own defense, where it’s clear Molly has turned down every opportunity to greedily profit from her position, leaving millions in debts unaccounted for, refusing to line her pockets, always dealing from a position of strength, which goes back to her childhood and the way she was raised.  Much of it told in flashback, the film creates a strong female persona rarely seen in films, constructed out of a series of moral choices that actually matter by the end, as that’s what she’s ultimately judged upon.  Chastain actually plays her character close to the vest, revealing as little as possible so as not to be seen as vulnerable or weak, offering sympathy and consolation to those in the midst of a downward spiral, actually becoming a voice of reason when the player has otherwise lost all perspective, all of which suggests a commitment not only to the game, but to those people playing in it, befriending them when they need it most.  This perspective is lost in the government’s case, but can be seen by viewers throughout the ongoing narrative, as she’s not a spiteful or selfish character, but thrives on being a professional as she can be.  After leaving LA when one player revolts against her, claiming she’s actually working for him, repeating almost exactly how Keith treated her, with men diminishing her importance, claiming only they have the power, and she’s only a minor character in “their” game.  By following Molly throughout, we’re able to see how conscientious she is, as opposed to the players, who can be viciously cruel.  This is largely a metaphor for how women are treated in this world, even at the highest levels, as men continue to think it’s all about them, single-mindedly thinking they make the game, allowing women to play in it on the periphery, but the huge sums of money are transferred exclusively from one man to the next, with no women allowed in their own inflated perception of power.  It’s interesting to see Sorkin write a feminist perspective in a patriarchal society, as it’s hardly an illusion, exposing a sexist way of thinking that is established from a man’s birthright.  While somewhat contrived, her father (Kevin Costner) comes back into the picture late in the film after Molly resurfaces under the verticality of Wall Street and New York, taking it to new heights, where she loses herself to drugs in order to stay afloat, keeping herself awake, then allowing her to sleep, which is the life of the super wealthy, like Prince or Michael Jackson, who died from the horrific consequences.  She enters that same territory, showing questionable judgment, allowing darker forces to enter her game, fronts for shadowy underworld figures, throwing everything off-kilter, losing all equilibrium to the power of money.  The Feds were never following her, but some of the disreputable players, where she was arrested as collateral damage in hopes of getting to them, but instead she decides to play by her own set of rules.  Altogether absent from this film, noticeably enough, is any hint of love or romance.  Based on a real life character who wrote her own book (that Sorkin adapts), her intriguing life story is more amazing than it seems, especially when considering all that was left out to protect the innocent.  

Star Trek Beyond

STAR TREK BEYOND            C+              

USA  (120 mi)  2016  ‘Scope  d:  Justin Lin              Official Site

Speaking of 60’s idealism - - let’s see what the Star Trek series is up to these days.  Eschewing the exaggerated expense of the 3D experience, one of the things that’s so surprising about the series ever since its earliest conception is the presence of such a variety of life found in the outer galaxies, where we find green people, blue people, orange people, and species of all shapes and sizes, where a diversity of life is expressed through a preponderance of rubber masks, each one shaped uniquely different to reflect a different planet of origin.  While we’re yet two-hundred years or so away from the period portrayed, there is scant evidence so far that the universe looks anything like this.  Still, part of the look of the future comes from the rapidly changing social dynamic that was taking place when the TV series originated in the 1960’s, where the show was ahead of its time in intentionally reflecting racial diversity, something that has proved overwhelming popular through the course of its evolution into movies.  Even today, Star Trek sets a certain social standard that remains part of its original mission, where they’ll kick ass if they have to when provoked into battle, but otherwise they are a peacekeeping mission, one whose intent is to spread peace and brotherhood throughout the universe.  All noble intentions, where the show is like a United Nations mission into outer space, yet the focus of most films remains the action sequences, in particular the spectacular battle sequences, where computer graphics take center stage, yet this has also been the Achilles heel of the movie series, each one having to outdo the previous episodes, forcing the hand of the studios, apparently, as now they’ve chosen none other than Justin Lin, the director of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS sequels three through six, films that simply provide nonstop action sequences.  While there is an art to bringing this relentless earthbound storm and fury into the cosmos, the stylistic mechanism is the same, where the feature attraction, just like Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), is an unending barrage of explosions, where the look of the film has only grown more similar to the ten episode and still counting Star Wars series, both resembling hell and havoc in outer space.  If anything, this only reveals the limits of space saga sequels, as they all look alike after a while, even as they go to such extremes to accentuate diversity in discovered lifeforms.   What J.J. Abrams discovered in his original Star Trek (2009) was tapping into the personalities of the beloved TV series figures, where the next generation of actors playing the same roles duplicated their human characteristics, as that was the most appealing aspect of the original show.  That nearly disappeared in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), ditching Abrams this go round (hired to direct the latest STAR WARS venture), instead concocting a formula for what will likely be a summer blockbuster movie.

While there remain traces of recognizable personality-suited dialogue, none more evident than Scotty (Simon Pegg), who continues to call Jaylah (Sofia Boutella, a surprise breakout star), a newly introduced female alien creature, “lassie” throughout, which couldn’t be more endearing, although one might attribute this to the fact that Pegg is a cowriter of the film, so writing lines for himself, even as others are routinely ignored, comes with the territory, while there are occasional other touches as well, such as Bones (Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy) stealing a bottle of prized alcohol from Chekov’s locker to share with a particularly beleaguered Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), which was also a nice way of paying tribute to the recently deceased Anton Yelchin who played Chekov, as he died in an unfortunate car accident just before the movie was released.  But for the most part, that’s not the draw of this movie, as the familiar characters are overlooked once again, barely used for anything other than window dressing, while continually overshadowed by the larger action sequences, where this may as well be another comic book action figure movie.  The plot is minimal, representing the simplicity of the earlier TV series, whose goal was the cram as much as possible into a shortened 50-minute running time, where mostly they sat around chatting on the deck of the USS Enterprise until they approach an unknown space ship, hailing it for identification before all hell breaks loose if the ship has malicious intent, where the entire budget is spent establishing alien looks and uniforms, perhaps a few scenes on a foreign planet, along with some ship-to-ship battle scenes largely viewed from the hectic panic and anxiety of the bridge, where the familiar characters are thrown about like ragdolls, while Spock (Leonard Nimoy) usually offers a last minute suggestion to the Captain (William Shatner), who initiates last second evasive maneuvers to escape from harm’s way once again.  That’s pretty much the format, as they all have a good laugh about it afterwards, though there are meandering excursions along the way, some constituting an entire episode, but the Enterprise crew from the television show spent much of their time in close quarters on the bridge, where the banter of their dialogue, in good times and bad, filled time and space, where it was their personalities that was the draw.  The pattern from the very beginning was that Kirk hogged most of the action sequences as well as the scenes on the ship, where many in the original cast came to despise William Shatner and his gargantuan ego, though as the series waned there wasn’t much action to speak of, as it was such a low budget operations.  Now we’re talking about a budget of nearly $200 million dollars.  Three years into a five year mission, the Enterprise pulls in for shore leave, where certainly one of the dazzling set pieces is Yorktown, a Starbase re-envisioned into a thriving, modernistic METROPOLIS (1927) in outer space, complete with architectural marvels of intersecting, multi-directional arches, each with its own unique urban skyline, given full futuristic scope, all built inside a protective bubble, like living inside of a snow globe without the snow, retaining its specially designed shape when turned in every which direction, suggesting it provides its own gravity field.   

Little has changed except they’ve all grown a bit older, where a middle-aged existential crisis seems to dominate Kirk’s thoughts, finding it harder to tell “where one day ends and the next begins,” reassessing his career ambitions, thinking he might seek a promotion, where perhaps it’s time to offer the ship to the command of Spock (Zachary Quinto).  Meanwhile, Spock’s undergoing his own inner transformation, having been informed of the death of Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), making him especially sensitive to the survival of the Vulcan species, thinking he may need to leave the Enterprise to play a leadership role on the planet of New Vulcan.  Of course, when the two have a momentary pause to discuss their thoughts, neither one utters a word, too embarrassed apparently to bring it up, saving it for later.  Also if you blink you may miss the insinuation that Sulu (John Cho) is gay, seen wordlessly placing his arm around his partner, who is carrying their baby daughter.  That’s a tell-tale sign that something’s about to happen, as a distressed vessel of unknown origin suddenly approaches the Starbase pleading for help, with a single person Kalara (Lydia Wilson) arriving in an escape pod, suggesting her ship is stranded in a region not yet explored by Starfleet, resurrecting the Enterprise to the rescue.  But the move proves disastrous, as an enemy is lurking to ambush the unsuspecting crew, overwhelming their ship with a flock of tiny metallic ships that resemble killer bees, containing huge destructive capabilities, literally sawing the ship in half, with some of the crew escaping in rescue pods while the main section crashes to the planet surface, where now Kirk is in the exact same position as Kalara, a captain separated from his ship and crew.  Krall (Idris Elba) boards the ship taking the entire crew prisoner, including Sulu and Uhura (Zoë Saldana), frantically searching for an artifact seen earlier, though it was viewed with little importance at the time, while this commander considers it the essence of his mission.  Scratched up from the bumpy landings, Scotty lands on the planet surface alone, Kirk arrives with Chekov, while Spock and McCoy are stranded as well, where communication devices are inoperable.  Scotty is impressively rescued by Jaylah, displaying a warrior mentality, a lone survivor of an alien community destroyed by Krall, where she has skillfully survived in the interior of a lost Starship, the USS Franklin, an earlier vessel that went missing over a hundred years ago.  While primitive by state-of-the-art modern standards, it’s a relic from the past, yet has been modified by Jaylah’s ingenuity, including the protection of an invisible shield around it in order to remain undetected.  Scotty gets to work and quickly makes the needed repairs, eventually reunited with the other Enterprise officers, forming a plan to storm the prison and rescue the hostages.  Meanwhile Krall has been torturing the crew in search of the artifact, handed over to him by Kalara, who sabotaged Kirk and the Enterprise, as the device is the missing piece of a deadly weapon that can disintegrate lifeforms in seconds, which is immediately put to a grisly test with Kalara.  With his mission completed, Krall leaves to attack Yorktown, followed by all his killer bees, with plans afterwards to go after the entire Federation. 

But first, Kirk must re-power the Franklin after a century spent in mothballs, where the plan is to energize the rescued crew back to the ship, an extremely handy device that is featured prominently throughout this film, saving some of the heroes at precarious moments, as the rescue mission doesn’t exactly run smoothly.  Nonetheless, it’s a harrowing moment followed by an even more daunting task.  By reviewing the ship’s logs, Kirk and Uhura are able to identify Krall as Balthazar Edison, the former captain of the Franklin, whose life was prolonged, yet warped and physically deformed by his planet’s technology.  But the logs show his growing resentment and disillusionment when he and his crew have been left stranded by Starfleet, where his increasingly paranoid belief is that this was deliberate, that the words of the Federation are a hoax that hold little meaning, turning into an angry and maniacal renegade soldier holding a personal vendetta against the Federation, much like Special Forces Commander Colonel Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), who must be wiped out in order to stop the spread of his venomous ideology.  Having fought the early wars that led to the success of the Federation, he has now gone rogue in his obsession to destroy them, where he was searching the universe for the ultimate weapon to accomplish the task, believing he now finally holds it in his hands.  It’s a race back to Yorktown to save that world from the incendiary fury of a seemingly invincible madman with a doomsday weapon, as they race across the galaxies to meet him head-on.  But first they have to solve the little problem of the killer bees, surmising there must be a unifying coordination directing their actions that needs to be altered and disrupted, creating a disconnect within their electrical circuitry.  Something as old-fashioned as radio transmissions seems to do the trick, causing interference within their unifying transmissions.  Jaylah has a thing for Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” Public Enemy - Fight the Power - vidéo Dailymotion YouTube (5:16), playing a significant role in her formative years, which would have made an excellent choice, linking the STAR TREK series to the streets of urban America in Do the Right Thing (1989), but the musical selection instead becomes a much safer choice in the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” Sabotage - Beastie Boys - Vevo YouTube (3:02), wreaking havoc within their operating systems, causing them all to self-destruct.  In the high-powered confusion of this neutralized invasion, however, Edison, returning to his original form and shape, has been unleashed into the anonymity of an unsuspecting public carrying his deadly device with him, with plans to flood the ventilation systems.  Like King Kong (1933) climbing to the top of the Empire State Building, Edison has similar aspirations, where Kirk has to head him off, going mano a mano in hand-to-hand combat, becoming a battle of wills, each trying to gain the upper hand.  “You won the war!” Kirk shouts at him, “You gave us peace!”  It was that very peace that left Edison alone in the universe without a purpose, a victim of his own delusional obsessions, though it’s clear both men are cut from the same cloth, Starship captains from different eras, mirror images of one another, both hell-bent on carrying out their mission, where good and evil have a common root, but produce decisively different outcomes.  In keeping with the times, the story turns into a paranoid thriller about stopping a suicide bomber, where all of humanity hinges in the balance.  Although it’s an outer space apocalyptic melodrama, the format is the same as any western, where in this continuing saga, there’s never any doubt about who’s going to win.