Review: Molly's Game (2017)

* * *
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba

If there's one thing you can say for Aaron Sorkin, it's that you have to go out of your way to feel bored watching one of his stories unfold. That's because there's so much going on and everything is moving so fast. Molly's Game, his latest and his directorial debut, runs to almost 2 and a half hours but it doesn't feel nearly that long because it's told in such a nimble, dialogue and incident packed fashion. It also manages the impressive feat of making poker, which may be an interesting game to play but isn't a particularly interesting game to watch, feel entertaining from the distance of an observer (though that may be because while there's a lot of talk about poker in the movie, there's not necessarily a lot of time spent watching it). While Sorkin, a writer known for dynamic screenplays, hasn't historically been celebrated for his ability to write female characters, he's been gifted here with a real life person with a compelling story, and an actress who is so at home reciting his sharp, rapid-fire prose that it feels as if she's already been doing it for a lifetime.

Review: Miss Sloane (2016)

* * *
Director: John Madden
Starring: Jessica Chastain

Like a number of recent entertainments, how you feel about Miss Sloane may be dependent on your feelings about the current political climate. This isn't even necessarily because of the cause at the heart of the film's narrative (gun control), but because of the film's ending and whether you're able to view it as the triumph the film clearly intends it to be. Personally, I can find little joy in a situation where victory belongs to the person most willing to burn it all to the ground (their own life included), though on the whole I rather enjoyed Miss Sloane. A rarity among films in that it not only centers on an unapologetically unlikeable female protagonist, but doesn't make any effort to soften her before the end, fleshing her out over the course of the story but letting her retain her sharp edges, Miss Sloane is anchored by a wonderful performance from Jessica Chastain that allows it to (mostly) transcend the overplotting designed to make her as Machiavellian as possible.

Review: Crimson Peak (2015)

* * 1/2
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain

Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak is a triumph of crafts over storytelling. Its production design and costumes are some of the most glorious of any film I've seen this year, but though del Toro is able to build a creepy, effective atmosphere in the film's middle section, he's not quite able to sustain it for the remainder of the story. The story itself is a classic ghost/haunted house tale, though again, while the film nails the look of it, the actually telling of it unfolds in a largely predictable fashion. But, man, is it ever grotesquely beautiful to watch.

Review: The Martian (2015)

* * * 1/2
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor

If you can say nothing else for it, you have to at least give Ridley Scott's The Martian props for not being afraid to go big. It's a movie that properly earns the distinction as a "spectacle," being an epic and visually stunning science fiction tale, but it's also a thematically big picture, one that seeks to portray and affirm the triumph of human ingenuity and determination, and of the human spirit. It's a feel good movie that's exhilarating rather than mushy, a science fiction story that's more about awe than terror, and a character piece that offers a wonderful showcase for the talents of Matt Damon. To my mind, this is the movie that last year's Interstellar wanted to be but wasn't.

Review: A Most Violent Year (2014)

* * *
Director: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain

J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year is a film about a man who wants to be good in a profession that demands he be corrupt, who wants to keep his hands clean even as they are continuously pulled down into the mud. It is an exceedingly handsome looking film, anchored by a terrific performance by Oscar Isaac playing a complex man at war on all sides - so why does it feel so inert? Chandor's previous film (and only his second directorial effort), All Is Lost, managed to be as dynamic as it was minimalist, stripping away everything right down to the dialogue, but even though A Most Violent Year has more meat wrapped around its bones, it still manages to feel just a bit hollow. It's a competently made, sometimes even compelling film, but its impact just isn't very deep.

Review: Interstellar (2014)

* * 1/2
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain

Whatever else you might say about Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, you certainly can't accuse it of lacking in ambition. This is a film which operates on a grand scale, creating new cinematic vistas which, like Gravity last year, ought to be seen and experienced on the big screen. On a purely visual level, Interstellar is often spectacular. Narratively and thematically it is severely wanting and emotionally empty. The "emotional" part wouldn't necessarily be a problem - plenty of great science fiction films are best described as "cold" or "clinical," after all - but given that Interstellar's story all comes down to the power of love, that lack of emotional impact is a problem. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of talk about feelings throughout, but what does that amount to when the characters are so thin and so much of the dialogue is a re-write or two away from being ready for consumption? But, hey, at least it looks great.

Review: Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

* * * *
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jessica Chastain

In a year seemingly filled with controversial films, Zero Dark Thirty may very well go down as the most controversial (although the Django Unchained action figures may have secured the distinction for that film). The story of the CIA hunt for Osama bin Laden, as experienced through the eyes of one woman, Kathryn Bigelow’s film is brutal, fascinating, and absolutely gripping from beginning to end. Don’t let the debate scare you away: this is a film that ought to be seen, if only for the craft of its telling.

Review: Lawless (2012)

* * *Director: John Hillcoat
Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska

John Hillcoat's Lawless is a competent (albeit blood soaked) genre film that stumbles somewhat whenever it makes a play at being a prestige picture. It takes itself very, very seriously and it aims higher than it can hit, but even though it has some fairly prominent flaws, it is entertaining nevertheless. If nothing else, it makes for a nice medium between the summer popcorn fare and the fall's slate of potential Oscar contenders.

Review: Take Shelter (2011)

* * * *
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain

Take Shelter is a horror film in which no one dies, a psychological story that cares more about instilling a deep set feeling of dread in you than giving you the temporary scares that come from creatures popping out behind corners and massive gore. It's a well acted and perfectly crafted piece of work and so terrifically unsettling that I believe will one day be considered a classic of its genre.

Review: The Help (2011)

* * *
Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain

The North American trailer for The Help did it a great disservice. The impression you may have gotten from the trailer is that this is a feel-good, uplifting chick flick with just a dash of "white people learn important things" mixed in. While The Help is by no means the most searing indictment of racism ever made, it isn't totally lightweight either and it really isn't the typical "oppressed minority seen through the eyes of a noble white person" type story that it might at fist appear to be, either.