If you can make my skin crawl five minutes into a movie, than you have a lot going for you. 

I knew a little bit about Molly’s Game going in. Well… I guess I should say that I knew the movie was about a former olympic hopeful who started one of the biggest poker games in the world. That was it. I didn’t know about the accident, the facts around her arrest, or the myriad of other things Molly went through. After doing a little digging on the web, it turns out that most of the movie was pretty accurate. 

Not the lawyer though… *sad face* He’s entirely fictional. The chemistry between Elba and Chastain was phenomenal. I applaud the casting crew for putting together such a match. 

Here’s the thing about Molly’s Game, it felt like they were trying to make another The Big Short. It had the constant voice overs, the quick back and forth between the scenes, the straight to the facts, and the carefully explained poker rules, which in a way were good for me since I’ve never played poker. Not unless you count five-year-old me with my grandfather and toothpicks. The Big Short was important, and I wanted to know every little detail surrounding a topic that changed our history books. Molly’s life… not so much. 

The voice overs became draining. From the start, the viewer was hit with fact after fact until it was a blur. When I finally started to understand one item, there would be another wave of information or the movie would jump around the timeline. By the time it was over, my mind felt like it had run a marathon. Not a feeling I wanted on a relaxing Saturday night. And did I really learn more with the voice overs? For the story? Maybe. For her life? Nope. Did I care to know every tiny fact? Not even a little bit. 

Could they have done the movie without the voice overs….? I don’t think so. 

I think I’m just bitter because I wasn’t ready for what I got. In fact, I’m surprised the movie was even made when I haven’t heard a thing about Molly before the trailer came out. I know there was a book. Still, not on my radar. But I’m really happy that it was made. There’s a lot to be taken away from her story. I respect her and her decisions and I think the rules should be changed. 

Molly’s Game is a thrilling ride. I’m not a poker fan, so when the story was starting to fade for me, something would happen that had me buckling back in. And those moments with Harlan… no words. The money changing hands was kind of a trigger for me, but we’ll ignore that and yes, that really did happen in her New York apartment (I’m not going to say anything else). As a theatrical movie, this is not just something you’re going to sit down and enjoy. You’re going to have to work for your entertainment. 

I wish I could say something about the directing and the cinematography, but as of late, I’m getting too sucked in to really pick up on anything. I won’t be rewatching this one to take notes though. I’ve only got so much time in the day.

And I almost forgot the most important part - you can find this movie on Netflix. 

Happy Watching

Love Kait