Movie tip

Molly’s Game

This is one of the most thoroughly entertaining movies I’ve seen in a while — an engrossing story (all the more so for being true), a never-better star, and a writer-director who can kill it on both fronts. The star is Jessica Chastain, bringing brains, toughness and glamor to the role of Molly Bloom, a one-time Olympic skiing hopeful who ended up running a high-stakes poker game favored by Hollywood stars in the oughts. The writer-director is Aaron Sorkin; you expect whip-smart, breaking-the-sound-barrier-fast dialogue from him, and you get that here, but Sorkin also proves himself a skillful director in this, his debut behind the camera. (And because of all that, I’m willing to overlook a few clunky moments, particularly that act-three scene between Chastain and Kevin Costner.)