2018 Oscars Challenge: [13] “Molly’s Game” – Best Adapted Screenplay

“MOLLY’S GAME”
Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Based On “Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker” by Molly Bloom

Director: Aaron Sorkin
Producers: Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal, and Matt Jackson
Cinematographer: Charlotte Bruus Christensen
Editors: Alan Baumgarten, Elliot Graham, and Josh Schaeffer
Composer: Daniel Pemberton
Distributor: STX Entertainment
Release Date: December 25, 2017
Run-time: 140 minutes

FILM SYNOPSIS: After an injury forces her to abandon her dreams of being an Olympic skier, Molly Bloom enters the world of underground, high-stakes poker. For almost a decade, she runs the most exclusive tables in New York and Los Angeles, until her arrest by the FBI forces her to defend her reputation at any cost.

Jessica Chastain was robbed by Meryl Streep. Granted the Actress in a Leading Role category was stacked this year and the Academy tends to love both Chastain’s and Streep’s work, but in my personal opinion, Chastain deserves the nod more than Streep. “The Post” could easily have been Tom Hank’s movie with Streep as a supporter. Sure, Streep’s character owned the paper, had everything to lose, and made the ultimate big decision, but if Christopher Plummer in “All The Money In The World” is a supporting actor, than I feel like Streep could have been sold as a supporting actress. Even without that distinction, Chastain deserved the final slot more just because she carries “Molly’s Game.” It’s a story centered around her and she nails it. She’s obviously strikingly gorgeous and she fills that particular part of the role exquisitely, but she also brings a life to this character that feels so real-to-life and unlike anything I expected going in. She’s charming and driven as hell as Molly Bloom. She never feels lesser than the men standing in the room, even if those male characters are presented as being stronger, smarter, or shiftier. Although Chastain’s best days are likely still ahead of her and she wouldn’t have probably won in this category anyway, she still very much deserved the nomination.

Like with “The Disaster Artist,” which missed out on James Franco’s acting nomination but grabbed a Best Adapted Screenplay as its only nomination, “Molly’s Game” does the same. It does so, not just on its own merits, however, but because the Academy tends to love Aaron Sorkin’s work. His two previous nominations came from “The Social Network,” directed by David Fincher and which actually took the gold that year and “Moneyball,” directed by Bennett Miller. Now, on “Molly’s Game,” Sorkin takes the directing chair as well as the writer’s chair and delivers his fast-talking, dialogue heavy adaptation of the memoir written by the real life Molly Bloom. Although the script gives Chastain one of her best leading roles yet and delivers some amazing speeches, especially the one delivered by Idris Elba in a meeting with the prosecution, it simply doesn’t have the steam going into the Oscars to even be a contender. “Call Me By Your Name” has all that steam, winning awards left and right. “Molly’s Game” has won nothing but a few critics awards here and there. It deserved a nomination in a big way and Chastain definitely got robbed, but against the 89 year old James Ivory, it has no chance.

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