Aaron Sorkin makes his directorial debut with Molly’s Game which stars Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain. Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews here:
The Guardian: **** “Molly’s Game is another big winner for Sorkin.”
Empire: *** “Sorkin may condemn a world where women like Molly are mistreated by powerful men, but he doesn’t propose any revolution. As such, this feels like a small story, well told, but stopping short of risking anything high stakes.”
The Spectator: “a promising directorial debut from a writing titan, and certainly entertaining.”
Den of Geek: **** “Molly’s Game is an accessible and admiring portrait that plays for and gets more nuance out of its central character than a mere tabloid curiosity, making one of the more entertaining grown-up movies of the season.”
Hollywood Reporter: “Sorkin keeps things rolling relentlessly and gets fine results from the actors down the line, so one has to imagine he’ll mostly continue to direct his own scripts from now on. The film looks sharp and a trio of editors keeps thing pacey despite the 140-minute running time.”
The Independent: **** ” thanks to Sorkin’s caustic, witty screenplay and Chastain’s blazing performance, it never loses its momentum or its fatalistic humour.”
Collider: “while there are certainly a few issues here and there with the script, and the movie could stand to lose 10 or 20 minutes, Molly’s Game offers a compelling chronicle of a complex story spearheaded by a terrific actress doing phenomenal work.”
The Telegraph: *** “Adapting Bloom’s tell-all memoir, Aaron Sorkin makes his directing debut, and his script throws the kitchen sink at it: you certainly get your money’s worth of strutting Sorkinese and cute interrogative banter.”
Radio Times: ***** “It’s a role that demands a wise head, a combative streak, precision comic timing and an occasional air of vulnerability. Chastain nails every single requirement with ease. She’d make a great poker player.”
The Times: ***** “A near-perfect crime drama with an enthralling emotional tangle at its heart.”
Vulture: “Chastain is terrific. The role points up the tension in her between hard and soft, between self-protective frostiness and an empathy that can’t be suppressed.”
Scotsman.com:**** “As a director Sorkin owes more to the slam-bang mayhem of Danny Boyle than the visual elegance of David Fincher, but mostly he gets out of the way of his writing – delivering for good and ill (but mostly good) a full-throttle Sorkin ride.”
The Sun: “Chastaine is fantastic and clearly relishes the chance to feat on this substantial and meaty Sorkin script.”
The Daily Mail: *** “some terrific acting and what is still, fundamentally, a compelling tale of chicanery, greed and power.”
Express: ** “It’s a ripping yarn and Molly (a very mannered Jessica Chastain) is an intriguing character but I never managed to suspend my disbelief.”
Molly’s Game is in cinemas now.