Film - Molly’s Game

Having just found out the dog I’ve been pining after while seeing her in my neighbourhood for the last 2 years is called Molly, every time I now see her, I want to call her Molly’s Game.I digress.The game in this case is the private gambling room that Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) runs, having learnt some tricks by being the hostess for her ex boss’s game. She's a former skier with an Olympian attitude towards success but her early sporting endeavours leaves a difficult relationship with her coach/father, played by Kevin Costner.Molly decides she can run her own poker game and takes her boss's players with her to a new location and hires other ladies to be the hostess. I get the feeling this does not bode well. Molly earns an even bigger fortune, again on tips alone as far as I can see until the players want higher stakes and she can't cover their losses. They move on (or back) and Molly is forced to start again in New York, increasing her drug intake to deal with the pressure. One dodgy player and a couple of mafia guys later and the FBI have something to say about that.This is a dialogue-heavy Sorkin saga so you do have to watch (listen) closely to keep up. It’s good to see the see old Idris Elba playing Molly's lawyer, speaking Sorkinesque which seems quite different from his usual acting pickings. In fact, this relationship is probably the most interesting part of Molly's Games as it’s all a bit indulgent and overbearing.6½/10