Molly’s Game (available on Netflix)
Ready for another based on real life movie? I will answer for you, heck yes! And for answering yes, you get a fabulous movie starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Kevin Costner, how did I miss this jewel?
Jessica plays Molly Bloom, who wrote the same titled autobiographical book in 2014. Molly was a world class mogul skier, who had an unfortunate skiing accident in 2002 while trying to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Molly’s father a psychologist and college professor, played by Kevin Costner, was relentless in coaching her which of course caused conflict within the family.
With her injury ending her competitive skiing career, Molly decides to deviate from her father’s prescribed path of attending law school, and she decides law school can wait, she wants a year off, and her path leads to Los Angeles.
In LA, she gets a job as a bottle service waitress at a very popular club, patronized by Hollywood moneyed elite. There she meets Dean, a snobby real estate developer he likes her attitude, and ends up offering her a job as his office manager. Molly soon discovers a majority of her office responsibilities are organizing Dean’s weekly high stakes poker game. This isn’t a friendly neighborhood game, Dean’s attendees are successful businessmen, bankers, movie stars and professional athletes who have an initial buy in of $10,000. Molly soon has the game’s profits and proceeds in spreadsheets, and she is handsomely tipped by all the players. Molly sees the potential for growth in the game and is recruiting new players which makes the most successful player, Player X very happy. Dean isn’t happy with Molly’s newfound independence and appreciation for the game, attempts to put her in her place, which backfires, which ends in his firing of Molly.
But Molly, who has all the players contact information, decides to start her own game, rents posh hotel rooms, hires staff and is now hosting Player X and friends, becoming wealthy herself. But Molly, is always very careful to keep the game legal, at least as legal as illegal gambling can be, no skimming money, keeping an honest game etc.
That is until, she finds that Player X has been funding less successful players. X covers the losses of players, and of course charges them exaggerated interest on the loans. Now, this is just the type of illegal betting, that Molly has been avoiding.
When she blasts X on his unethical business dealings, X and friends desert Molly and her game, she’s out of business.
Molly decides she and her game need a change of pace, and off to the east coast and NYC she goes. She recruits models and waitresses of high-end restaurants and clubs and soon has a new group of wealthy poker players. So many in fact, she is holding games 5 or 6 days a week. Unfortunately, her East Coast players differ than the West Coast, in that she is now hosting poker parties to Russian and Italian mafia members. Molly holds a lot of IOU’s from players and there comes a time when we starts to become concerned with the cash outlay. Against, her better thoughts, Molly begins to skim some proceeds to cover the outstanding money due her by the players. This is definitely illegal, and she knows it.
Unfortunately, not all her players are nice guys, and it all comes crashing down when the FBI arrests one of her West Coast players, Doug, for a Ponzi scheme who then starts giving up everything and anything that could help him get a plea.
Molly concerned with the arrest, decides to end her games in NYC, quickly leaves and spends the next two years in Colorado with her divorced Mom. It’s at this time, that she writes her book, only including people who had previously been named by Doug.
Even though it’s been a few years since her book, the FBI comes knocking on Molly’s door and she is arrested for illegal gambling and money laundering. Enter Idris Elba, as her reluctant lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who sees the compassionate Molly, who at her own peril is shielding her players identities from being disclosed.
This is such a good movie; I don’t know how I’ve missed it skimming thru Netflix. Thank you, Julie, for the suggestion!
You can’t go wrong with this movie, it’s a quick two hours, twenty minutes.
Molly’s Game is rated B plus.
As for a beverage, at the end of the game, as Molly is finishing the count, she is shown drinking what I believe to be a scotch or whiskey in a short glass. There you go, whatever brand you prefer.
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