Jessica Chastain delivers a noteworthy performance in this biographical film about Molly Bloom, an American skier whose Olympic dreams were cut short by injury and who subsequently found herself managing highly profitable poker games within the United States. After her skiing career is impacted, she moves to Los Angeles and begins assisting "Dean" (Jeremy Strong) with his already thriving, though somewhat unsophisticated, poker operations. Recognizing a chance to elevate the entire enterprise, she decides to operate independently and quickly attracts many of the city’s wealthiest individuals to her luxurious hotel suite for high-stakes games involving millions of dollars. The movie chronicles her successes and setbacks as she navigates the blurred lines between legality and morality, while also encountering the FBI and certain mob figures eager to take a share of her earnings. When law enforcement eventually intervenes, Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) steps in to help clear her name. It's not a particularly fast-moving film, I must admit. Her voiceover narration contributes to slowing down the pace somewhat—as do the recurring flashbacks exploring her complicated relationship with her parents (Kevin Costner portrays her father), and Elba’s character doesn’t truly get a chance to stand out until one or two scenes near the conclusion. Despite this, it provides an intriguing look at how substantial sums of money can be won or lost by people who generally maintain respectable reputations; and just how cutthroat both that world and the United States Government could be. Though I had higher hopes, it’s still a film worth seeing, as Aaron Sorkin's typically sharp and polished writing feels noticeably absent here.

Source on TMDB