Molly's Game

Going in: I hadn't heard that it made a dent in anything. I thought it looked interesting, but not critical. I saw this on a plane: one of the ones with the viewscreens right in front of you.

Popcorn: 6/10. It was okay. I didn't mind it but it didn't scream at me either. I might rent it once, maybe. Definitely won't buy.

Art: 6/10. This wasn't horrible. There was one moment when the actor's accent peeked through and another where the story felt like the character had one disaster after another, but they weren't entirely linked together. But other than that, it was okay.

Acting: 2/3. It was pretty standard with the exception of the leads. My only problem there was that Idris Elba's accent peeked out every now and then which made me look for it. Chastain had more to work with.

Music: 1/2. It wasn't horrible, but it didn't stick out either.

Filming: 1/2. Again, it wasn't all that great but still not bad.

Art Dept: 1/2. Most of the set designs were inside. Nothing was bad but nothing stood out either.

Editing: 1/2. Pretty standard, although I started noticing pacing problems towards the 3rd act. I think this was more story than editing.

Story: 2/4. Most of the story was good, especially thematically at the end. They were pretty clear about it, about what drives us. But, the second half of the movie left me impatient. Usually, there's one thing that just crushes someone. But this was defeat after defeat. It was like watching a slow descent into hell. Things didn't from good to bad, there just a whole bunch of huge disasters that increasingly got worse.

Directing: 2/3. Not much to say here. It was an okay movie, but nothing that really stood out save for Chastain's performance every now and then.

Production: 1/2. It was a good story and a good team. Biopics are hard. Sometimes they just feel like they belong on the small screen. This was one of them.