Film Preview: Molly’s Game (2017)

Page Revisions:

(August 20, 2017) Original
(October 8, 2017) New Trailer (#2) / New Poster (#1)
(December 24, 2017) New Posters (#2-#3)

Release Date:

November 22, 2017

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The true story of an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. Her players included movie stars, business titans and unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob.”

Poster Rating: C- / B- / D

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Review: (#1) As much as we all love Jessica Chastain, this design doesn’t make the film look interesting or exciting. It’s dull enough that people will wonder who it isn’t, but won’t be enticed to see the film.

(#2) It’s not like this design concept hasn’t been used before. It has. Others have done it better, but this does have a lot of strong visual elements that speak to the film and the character well. (#3) This is a boring design with a dull background, vague gambling and elegance hints and then the film’s two stars, neither of whom can carry a design by itself.

Trailer Rating: B- / B+

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Review: (#1) An interesting premise bungled by a poor trailer execution. Everything unravels too quickly and seems like we end up with too much of the story given away to us. What’s the point of seeing a movie if we think we’ve already seen it.

(#2) The stakes are elevated in this second trailer, which puts more at the forefront enabling the audience to see why there’s some drama to be had in the film and seeing Chastain work is another exciting factor.

Oscar Prospects:

Jessica Chastain is a solid Oscar contender and Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay will be in the running, but whether the film can move beyond those two categories will depend on how good the film actually is.