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Winning hand as  Sorkin makes directorial debut

A shifty lawyer advises the central figure in Molly’s Game: “Don’t break the law when you’re breaking the law.” 

Despite this sage legal counsel, the central character in Molly’s Game sinks into a morass of criminality which spins out of her control, in Aaron Sorkin’s compelling new drama which opens nationwide this week. 

The film is based on the real-life tale of Molly Bloom, a one-time champion US skier who as a teenager aspired to reach the Olympics. 

Notoriety

But fame, or notoriety, comes to her in a different way when the tabloids name her the Poker Princess. 

Aaron Sorkin (the West Wing, The Social Network) both scripted and directed this tale of how Molly Bloom ran underground and highly exclusive high-stakes poker game for ten years before finally getting arrested by the FBI. 

As usual, Sorkin is brilliant at exposition. He shows child prodigy skier Molly as she suffers a catastrophic back injury which leaves her at a crossroads. 

Her father (played by Kevin Costner) has drilled her in worldly ambition and the drive for success. 

At a key moment, with her skiing ambitions at an end, Molly postpones her plans to go to law school in favour of learning the ropes of running a poker school.

High-stakes

She sets up her own high-stakes game, upping the ante in both glamour and professionalism.

Her clients include actors, hedge fund managers, tech founders and, unknown to Molly, the Russian mob. 

She believes she has remained above board, by paying her taxes, avoiding racketeering, and following her lawyer’s advice. 

But she is drawn into a web of intrigue and falls foul of the mafia who want a cut of her lucrative poker matches.

When the FBI finally swoop, Molly refuses to do a deal and trade the private lives of her gamers for a lighter sentence.

Molly’s Game has all the hallmarks of an Aaron Sorkin production, with lightning-fast dialogue overlaid with a pace-filled narration. 

Sorkin clearly admires his central character and has written and directed a fast-paced drama about how Molly Bloom built up a fortune and then lost it again, through running illegal gambling dens.