Christmas Movie Favorites

 I'm often asked, as a Movie Guy, what my favorite movie of all time is, what's my favorite scary movie, what's my favorite Christmas movie.  I never have a definitive answer as I love so many movies for so many different reasons.  However, in the spirit of this Christmas holiday, I've decided to make a list of my favorite Christmas movies . . . as of right now.  This list changes over the years, but this is my top 22 right now.

22. Gremlins 1984 - Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) receives an unusual gift for Christmas, a pet, a Mogwai.  Billy names the pet Gizmo, in honor of his father (Hoyt Axton) an inventor of unique gizmos that someday might be his claim to fame.  There are three simple, but important rules to care for the Mogwai: they don't like bright lights, don't get them wet, and definitely don't ever feed them after midnight.  It isn't long before Billy accidentally breaks the rules resulting in devious imps called Gremlins who wreak havoc on their small town.

21. Bad Santa 2003 - Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox) are conmen who pose as department store Santa and Elf to get the inside edge for robbing the place blind.  Willie unintentionally befriends a boy (Brett Kelly) and falls for a girl (Lauren Graham) and, like the Grinch, somehow finds a bit of true Christmas spirit buried deep inside.  It's rude, crude, crass, irreverent, filthy and funny.  A Christmas movie that is definitely NOT for the whole family.

20. A Charlie Brown Christmas 1965 - For the longest time, I've wondered why the theme song to

Charlie Brown and the Peanuts cartoon series should be considered a Christmas song.  I got my answer this year.  The Peanuts cartoon strip, created by Charles M. Schultz, first appeared in print in October of 1950. It gained in popularity and other familiar characters were introduced to the strip and Hallmark started using their likeness in greeting cards in 1960.  A Charlie Brown Christmas aired on NBC in 1965 and was the first time fans got to see their lovable loser brought to life.  This launched a series of many television specials and a handful of movies featuring the Peanuts gang over the decades, but the Christmas special was the first, and also the first time we heard their theme song as written by Jazz musician Vince Guaraldi.  The Christmas special also introduced the world to the popular, barely there Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

19. The Polar Express 2004 - Based on the best-selling 1985 book by Chris Van Allsburg.  It featured state-of-the-art 3D animation turning Tom Hanks into one of the most realistic cartoons to date.  Hanks showed off his vocal acting chops providing the voices of the train Conductor, the hero boy's father, the hobo on the train, the narrator, and Santa Claus himself.  It's the story of a boy teetering with doubt about Santa Claus who is invited aboard a magical train, "The Polar Express", destined for The North Pole to meet the jolly old elf himself.  It's a unique story that has lasted for decades and has brought that wonderful imaginative world to life with the most amazing animation to the film's date.

18. Die Hard 1988 - It is often debated whether Die Hard should even be considered a Christmas movie, though many declare its place definitively and many others have just accepted it.  New York police officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) flies to Los Angeles where his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) has moved to take a prestigious job at the Nakatomi Towers.  The company is having its annual Christmas party when a group of highly trained and heavily armed terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) take the employees hostage as they attempt a huge Christmas heist.  McClane is the only able to save the day as Die Hard sparked a handful of blockbuster movies featuring the right cop in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Filled with action and humorous one-liners, Die Hard deserves to be somewhere on almost everyone's Christmas movie list.

17. Miracle on 34th Street 1947 - The real Santa Claus (Edmund Gwenn) confronts a drunken Santa about to appear in Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.  He is convinced to take over the role and becomes the store's Santa.  He is so popular, the increased business could also be its undoing if anything goes wrong.  Dorris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), the Macy's executive who discovered the man, secretly has him evaluated for sanity that quickly gets out of control with an entire court hearing to determine his sanity.  

16. It's a Wonderful Life 1946 - George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) has given up on his dreams and aspirations to stay in the small town of Bedford Falls, to run the family-owned Savings and Loan, to keep the town alive and to keep the greedy banker Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) from taking over everything.  The pressure gets to be too much for him and he wonders if everyone would be better off without him.  An angel Clarence (Henry Travers) is sent from heaven to show him that life in Bedford Falls wouldn't be so wonderful without him around.  It's a true Christmas classic but it falls a little bit each year on my list of favorites as I see more and more what a temper Bailey had.  I know it's more indicative of the time the film was made, but it does tend to distract me from the overall theme of the movie each time I see it.  Right now, it sits as one of my favorites, but down at number 16.

15. Disney's A Christmas Carol 2009 - Direct from the classic Christmas story by Charles Dickens, Disney pulled out all the stops with some of the most realistic cartoon animations ever created with Jim Carrey performing the lead role of Ebenezer Scrooge.  We all know the story of the miser being visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as his stone cold heart is warmed by seeing how he has affected those around him, but the Disney  animated version is a visual spectacle that is jaw-droppingly beautiful and terrifying.

14. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 - It might seem that Jim Carrey was made to play animated Christmas characters as he donned the green Grinch suit for the live action version of Dr. Seuss' classic.  "Every Who down in Whoville loved Christmas a lot.  But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville did not." And Carrey plays the role of the Grinch to absolute perfection in this charming movie.

13. Jingle All the Way 1996 - 1996 is also the year the Tickle Me Elmo doll was the must-have gift of the year.  If you didn't get this for your kid,  you were a bad parent.  This led to fights, brawls, anger, tears and a mayhem that has not been seen since.  It wasn't the first time a toy had this effect.  This phenomenon was the basis for Jingle All the Way.  Little Jamie (Jake Lloyd) wants what every boy wants, the Turbo Man action figure for Christmas.  His busy father (Arnold Schwarzenegger) forgot to buy it and scrambles with many others at the last second to try to save his family's Christmas by finding the doll.  Hilarity ensues as he and a mailman (Sinbad) go toe-to-toe tearing up the city looking for the doll.  It's the most popular Christmas movie, but I think it deserves more credit than it gets.

12. The Santa Clause 1994 - Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is an executive at a toy company.  His son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) spends this night on Christmas Eve.  The two inadvertently kill Santa Claus.  To quiet his son, Scott puts on the suit and climbs in the sleigh binding him contractually to become the next Santa.  Scott tried to keep the magic of Christmas and Santa alive for his son, though not necessarily a believer himself.  Now he must keep the crazy secret hidden from his family and co-workers as he transforms permanently into Santa.

11. The Nightmare Before Christmas 1993 - Tim Burton's claymation spectacular became an instant classic as Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, stumbles into the world of Christmas.  He tries to recreate the magical wonder, but ends up destroying the holiday for millions of children in this dark and beautiful movie.  Though the movie is called Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton himself did not direct this.  He was busy on Batman Returns (a Christmas movie that did not make my list).  Instead, he turned his ideas over to his pal at Disney Henry Selick to direct the movie.  It took 3 years to make the movie and they were able to film one minute of the film each week.  The effort was well worth it in this phenomenon.

On to the top 10:

10. Fred Claus 2007 - Like Jingle All the Way, Fred Claus is another one that slipped by many and doesn't get the credit it deserves.  Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) is Santa Claus' (Paul Giamatti) brother.  While Santa is busy all year preparing to take care of the children of the world, Fred is busy skating by trying to find the one big thing that will set him up for life.  He wants to invest in his next idea, and reluctantly turns to his brother for help.  Santa agrees, but only if Fred will come to the North Pole to help with their Christmas preparations for a few days.  Fred agrees and turns their world upside down as both brothers are finally able to see Christmas through each others' eyes.  There's a great scene at the end of the movie that I haven't seen in any other Christmas movie.  Once the presents are all delivered, the elves run to the Globe to watch the delight they were able to bring to all the children of the world on Christmas morning.  I think it's funny and cute and original and it sits at number 10 on my list right now.

9. The Muppet Christmas Carol 1992 - I have no idea how many versions of Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol have been made throughout time, but there are three that made my list.  I already talked about Jim Carrey and I'll get to number 8 next. Jim Henson's Muppets have one of the best retellings for me.  Kermit the Frog is Bob Cratchit and Michael Caine plays Ebenezer Scrooge as narrated by Gonzo.  It's a fun and different but true to the book telling of the classic story with some songs that have to be in every Muppet movie and I loved it.

8. Scrooged 1988 - Xavier Cross (Bill Murray) is a television executive who, like Ebenezer Scrooge, is a cold-hearted, career-driven man who has lost his way.  Also like Scrooge, Cross is visited by three ghosts to show him who he used to be, who he has become, and where he is heading if he doesn't change his ways.  It's a common Christmas story told in a unique and hilariously touching way.

7. The Santa Clause 2 2002 - Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) has been Santa Claus for nearly 10 years now, but it could all come to an end if another one of the stipulations of being Santa is not met.  Santa has to be married.  As if dealing with his rebellious son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) and preparing for Christmas for the world wasn't enough.  He has to find a wife.  Fortunately, they all work together to find the solution.  Charlie has been acting out because he is burdened with the greatest secret in the world that he can't tell anyone.  His antics force Scott to interact with the school's principal Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell) who has also lost a bit of her Christmas spirit along the way.  There are two things that make me rank this sequel higher than the original on my list: first was the scene at the school's Christmas party that Santa's magic turns into a true party; and second was Santa finding a Mrs. Claus and I'm definitely a sucker for the good guy finding the good girl.

6. Elf 2003 - Buddy (Will Ferrell) snuck into Santa's (Ed Asner) magic sack.  Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) raises him as an elf, but he never fit in.  Eventually the truth is told to Buddy and he embarks on a journey to New York to find his biological father (James Caan).  Buddy struggled to fit in with the elves at the North Pole and finds it just as difficult to find his place in New York with the humans, but his endless joy and Christmas spirit begin to inspire his family, his coworkers and eventually the city of New York.

5. Miracle on 34th Street 1994 - This classic was redone from the 1947 original.  Santa is played by Richard Attenborough and Macy's is now Cole's Department Store and the executive Dorey Walker is played by Elizabeth Perkins.  Instead of Walker having Santa evaluated by a psychiatrist, Cole's competitors at Shopper's Express set him up to be arrested.  It is up to lawyer and neighbor Bryan Bedford (Dylan McDermott) and Dorey's daughter Susan (Mara Wilson) to prove his innocence in a remake that I feel surpasses the original.

4. Home Alone 1990 - The McAllister family has gone to France to celebrate Christmas abroad, but their left the son Kevin (Macauley Culkin) at home alone.  He believes his wish to not have a family came true, but his dream turns into a nightmare as two hapless criminals (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) try to rob the house.  Kevin defends his home and longs for his family who find a way to reunite through a series of Christmas miracles.

3. A Christmas Story 1983 - All Ralph (Peter Billingsley) wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder B. B. gun.  His mother, his teacher and even Santa all tell him he'll shoot his eye out.  There are so many memorable moments in this film.  The neighbor's dogs, the leg lamp, the pink bunny suit, the queen mother of dirty words, the bullies, the triple dog dare, Santa, the little piggy eating, the Christmas duck dinner, and the B. B. gun for sure.  This one never gets old.

2. White Christmas 1954 - Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) served in the military together and become one of the most successful performing duos.  They end up in Vermont together with another performing duo, sisters Betty Haynes (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera Ellen).  The lodge in Vermont is run by their former Major General Thomas Waverly (Dean Jagger) and is bleeding money.  Wallace and Davis use their fame to gather their old troop back together and put on a Christmas show that saves the lodge.  The music, the misunderstandings, the romance, the comedy all come together for one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time.

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 1989 - Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) are hosting their families for Christmas and this movie is jam-packed with some of the funniest and most-quotable Christmas scenes from any holiday film.  The road rage, the cutting of the Christmas tree, his pretentious neighbors, Mary the department store clerk, 25,000 lights on the house, the swimming pool, cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), the RV, Clark's boss (Brian Doyle-Murray), the SWAT team.  It's non-stop fun that still rings hilarious 27 years later.

Star Wars: Rogue One Review

3.5 Stars

 

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . ."  Those iconic words lit up the screen for the eighth major Star Wars film, just a year after Episode VII: The Force Awakens revitalized the franchise with director J.J. Abrams calling the shots.  Star Wars: Rogue One could also be called Episode 3.5 as it takes place approximately 20 years after Episode III ends and leads right into Episode IV: A New Hope.  Rogue One was not directed by Abrams, but rather the English director Gareth Edwards who doesn't have much of a library of directorial credits.  Most notably, he has directed Monsters (an alien invasion sci-fi drama) and Godzilla in 2014.  Both of those films boasted intense special effects which played into his Star Wars debut.

A lot happened at the end of Episode III.  Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) reluctantly fought and defeated his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) who was burned by lava over most of his body.  Anakin was saved and became the dark sith lord Darth Vader made up mostly of machine to keep him alive.  He was seduced by the dark side for its potential power, namely that of saving his beloved wife Padme (Natalie Portman) from death, something he could not do for his mother.  However, Padme died giving birth to twins Luke and Leia.  To hide both children from Vader, Yoda and Obi Wan (the only remaining Jedi) and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits)(one of the few Senators not deceived by Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)) determined their fate.  Bail adopted Leia and raised her to be the princess of Alderaan.  Luke was raised by his uncle Owen and aunt Beru Lars on the desert planet of Tatooine with Obi Wan keeping a distant but watchful eye.

The formation of the Galactic Empire was Palpatine's master plan to take over the galaxy and destroy all Jedi.  With one of the strongest Jedi at his side in Darth Vader, the evil Empire has developed  a powerful weapon called the Death Star.  It's the size of a small moon and has the capacity to destroy an entire planet in seconds.  There is a small, but growing faction of fighters opposed to the Empire called the Rebels.  They know the successful completion of the Death Star would almost guarantee the eradication of their Rebellion.  Rogue One is the story of the Rebellion's mission to steal the blue prints to the Death Star to analyze its design and discover a weakness.  Spoiler alert: they get the schematics to Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), they do find a weakness, and Luke (Mark Hamill) uses the Force to help guide his X-Wings' shot with the accuracy he compared to bullseyeing a womp rat in his T-16 on Tatooine.

But this isn't that story.  This is Rogue One and it's the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones).  As a child, she barely escaped a Stormtrooper attack on her planet.  15 years later, she is a criminal who finds herself in the captivity of the Rebellion.  They promise her freedom if she can help find out what the Empire's plans are.  In doing so, she learns her father was coerced into helping design the Death Star.  This prompts Jyn to not only join the Rebels, but lead their mission to steal the plans to the planet-destroying weapon.

The preview for Rogue One looked just as visually stunning as the recently released Episode VII, even though director Edwards would still be considered somewhat of a rookie based on his very small sample size of projects.  Of course, I was excited because it's a Star Wars movie and I was also curious to see who of our favorite classic Star Wars characters would make some sort of cameo appearance. We already knew Darth Vader was in the film.  Unfortunately, two others showed up, but I'll get to that in a second. I had high hopes for Rogue One, though I cautiously gave it a 4 Star Prediction out of 5 stars.  I had hoped that number would go up after seeing it; however, it looks like it's going to go down.

If you don't want any spoilers, you should stop right here.  Otherwise, here we go.  Right from the beginning, a black screen displayed the blue words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . " and then it jumped right into the movie.  That's right, no scrolling yellow synopsis to let you know what's going to happen.  Then, after the first scene, the title popped onto the screen with no traditional Star Wars theme music that was the score for all seven other movies.  Next, the movie jumps from planet to planet it seemed every 5 minutes for the first half of the film.  Since it jumped around so much, it was hard to keep track, except for the subtitle telling you where you were and what the significance was of its location.  Every other Star Wars movie didn't need that because the dialogue effectively let you know where you were.  Felicity Jones did great as Jyn Erso, however, like the movie itself, she had the unfortunate task of having to follow Daisy Ridley's performance as Rey in Episode VII and it fell a bit short.  She was, however, one of the three bright spots in the movie among a sea of unmemorable characters.  And the final gripe I had with Rogue One was the appearances of Princess Leia and Grand Moff Tarkin.  So how did a 60 year old Carrie Fisher and a Peter Cushing who passed away 22 years ago reprise their roles? Computer animation.  Really good computer animation, but still noticeable and distracting computer animation.  

Okay, enough with the downers.  In addition to an entertaining performance from Felicity Jones, there were two other things that really made this worth watching.  The droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) was a security droid for the Empire before being reprogrammed to serve the Rebel Alliance.  And he was programmed with a snarky personality that has clever one liners in the movie that made him quite endearing.  The other scene that was probably the best scene in the whole movie was Darth Vader showing off what an angry Sith Lord can do with the dark side of the force.  In his own words from Empire Strikes Back, it was "impressive, most impressive."

So, I anticipated 4 Stars, but Rogue One was a bit of a letdown for me.  I'm dropping it to 3.5 Stars as my final rating.  It's worth watching in the theatre, but more of a rental.  I'll definitely be owning it, but that's more because a Star Wars fan has to have all of them in their collection.  If this was a stand alone movie, I doubt I would.  That being said, it made me even more anxious to see Episode VIII next year.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Star Wars: Rogue One Preview

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . ."  Those iconic words will scroll up the screen for the eighth major Star Wars film, just a year after Episode VII: The Force Awakens revitalized the franchise with director J.J. Abrams calling the shots.  Star Wars: Rogue One could also be called Episode 3.5 as it apparently takes place approximately 20 years after Episode III ends and leads right into Episode IV: A New Hope.  Rogue One is not directed by Abrams, but rather the English director Gareth Edwards who doesn't have much of a library of directorial credits.  Most notably, he has directed Monsters (an alien invasion sci-fi drama) and Godzilla in 2014.  Both of those films boasted intense special effects which should play into his Star Wars debut; and, from the preview, it looks like Edwards took more cues from Abrams' work on Episode VII than that of George Lucas from Episodes I - III that earned him harsh criticism.

A lot happened at the end of Episode III.  Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) reluctantly fought and defeated his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) who was burned by lava over most of his body.  Anakin was saved and became the dark sith lord Darth Vader made up mostly of machine to keep him alive.  He was seduced by the dark side for its potential power, namely that of saving his beloved wife Padme (Natalie Portman) from death, something he could not do for his mother.  However, Padme died giving birth to twins Luke and Leia.  To hide both children from Vader, Yoda and Obi Wan (the only remaining Jedi) and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits)(one of the few Senators not deceived by Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)) determined their fate.  Bail adopted Leia and raised her to be the princess of Alderaan.  Luke was raised by his uncle Owen and aunt Beru Lars on the desert planet of Tatooine with Obi Wan keeping a distant but watchful eye.

The formation of the Galactic Empire was Palpatine's master plan to take over the galaxy and destroy all Jedi.  With one of the strongest Jedi at his side in Darth Vader, the evil Empire has developed  a powerful weapon called the Death Star.  It's the size of a small moon and has the capacity to destroy an entire planet in seconds.  There is a small, but growing faction of fighters opposed to the Empire called the Rebels.  They know the successful completion of the Death Star would almost guarantee the eradication of their Rebellion.  Rogue One is the story of the Rebellion's mission to steal the blue prints to the Death Star to analyze its design and discover a weakness.  Spoiler alert: they get the schematics to Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), they do find a weakness, and Luke (Mark Hamill) uses the Force to help guide his X-Wings' shot with the accuracy he compared to bullseyeing a womp rat in his T-16 on Tatooine.

But this isn't that story.  This is Rogue One and it's the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones).  As a child, she barely escaped a Stormtrooper attack on her planet.  15 years later, she is a criminal who finds herself in the captivity of the Rebellion.  They promise her freedom if she can help find out what the Empire's plans are.  In doing so, she learns her father was coerced into helping design the Death Star.  This prompts Jyn to not only join the Rebels, but lead their mission to steal the plans to the planet-destroying weapon.

Like most Star Wars fans, I was delighted to hear of J. J. Abrams and Episode VII and gave it a rare perfect 5 Star rating.  I saw it twice in theatres and immediately bought it once it was available.  The preview for Rogue One looks just as visually stunning, even though director Edwards would still be considered somewhat of a rookie based on his very small sample size of projects.  That is my only hesitation.  Of course, I'm excited because it's a Star Wars movie.  I'm also curious to see who of our favorite classic Star Wars characters will make some sort of cameo appearance.  C3PO, R2D2, Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi Wan, Princess Leia, Boba Fett.  We already know Darth Vader is in the film.  I have high hopes for Rogue One, though I'm going to be cautious and only give a 4 Star Prediction out of 5 stars.  I'm hoping my ranking will go up once I see it.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Miss Sloane Review

 4.0 Stars

 

Miss Sloane is a political thriller about Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain), a political strategist who is recruited  to tackle the issue of gun control in America.  She is notoriously ruthless, highly successful and will do whatever it takes to win for her side of the campaign, possibly risking her career and those closest to her with a win-at-all-costs mentality.  A new proposed legislation requiring stricter background checks for gun ownership in the United States is gaining traction in Congress and Sloane is tasked with spearheading the campaign against her toughest opponent.

After the recent Presidential election and the ongoing issues of gun violence and gun control in America, this movie couldn't come at a more perfect time.  "Lobbying is about anticipating your opponents' moves and launching countermeasures before they can act.  It's about surprising them and making sure they don't surprise you."  Miss Sloane begins with political strategist Sloane sharing this insight into what it takes to win in politics with her firm's attorney as she is being prepped to take the stand on trial at a Congressional hearing.  While nothing is more important that winning, Sloane gets caught up in the cause of gun control and states that this issue is more important than her career, after being warned about the consequences of her questionable actions.  John Madden directed Miss Sloane and he is a seasoned professional having tackled such films as Shakespeare in Love (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Directing), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Mrs. Brown.  He has directed 3 Academy nominated actresses in his career.  However, this is writer Jonathan Perera's first writing credit in his career.  After watching Miss Sloane, I don't think this will be the last we hear of him.  He wove together a series of intricate twists and turns like watching an intense chess match leading up to the final ten minutes that had audiences literally cheering as the full scope of Sloane's game plan was finally revealed and we realize the chess game was won before the match even started.

Chastain is joined by a couple heavy-hitters in John Lithgow and Sam Waterston in what was an upsetting, emotionally-charged, fierce look into the working of our political system and what it takes to make or kill legislation in the United States.  While no action drives the movie, this 132 minute drama had the potential to drag at times.  However, every scene had a point and a purpose that was never left unanswered and it didn't feel like it ran over 2 hours.  Chastain could be up for another Oscar nomination for her performance of the ruthless, insomniac, fierce, lonely, brilliant political strategist.  I originally gave Miss Sloane a 3.5 star prediction thinking it looked like it would be worth the money in the theatres, a movie I'd watch again, and give consideration to adding it to my personal collection. I agree with all of that, and the last 10 minutes of "A-ha" moments made me raise it up to a solid 4 Stars for Miss Sloane.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see. 

 

 

Miss Sloane Preview

Miss Sloane is a political thriller about Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain), a political strategist who is recruited  to tackle the issue of gun control in America.  She is notoriously ruthless, highly successful and will do whatever it takes to win for her side of the campaign, possibly risking her career and those closest to her with a win-at-all-costs mentality.  A new proposed legislation requiring stricter background checks for gun ownership in the United States is gaining traction in Congress and Sloane is tasked with spearheading the campaign against her toughest opponent.

After the recent Presidential election and the ongoing issues of gun violence and gun control in America, this movie couldn't come at a more perfect time.  Lobbying is about anticipating your opponents' moves and launching countermeasures before they can act.  It's about surprising them and making sure they don't surprise you.  The preview for Miss Sloane shows political strategist Sloane giving us this insight into what it takes to win in politics.  While nothing is more important that winning, Sloane gets caught up in the cause of gun control and states that this issue is more important than her career, after being warned about the consequences of her actions.  John Madden directs Miss Sloane and he is a seasoned professional having tackled such films as Shakespeare in Love (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Directing), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Mrs. Brown.  He has directed 3 Academy nominated actresses in his career.  However, this is writer Jonathan Perera's first writing credit in his career.

Chastain is joined by a couple heavy-hitters in John Lithgow and Sam Waterston in what looks to be an upsetting, emotionally-charged, fierce look into the working of our political system and what it takes to make or kill legislation in the United States.  While not boasting any action, this 132 minute drama does have the potential to drag at times.  Though she has been performing for over 12 years, Chastain really rose to fame with her Oscar-nominated role in Zero Dark Thirty, the search and capture of terrorist Osama Bin Laden.  She followed that up with roles in Interstellar and The Martian that leaves no doubt she will come through once again with a brilliant performance.  So, though this film is the end result of a rookie writing project, the experience of the director and actors who are on board to execute it make it work an anticipatory 3.5 star prediction.  Miss Sloane looks like it will be worth the money in the theatres, a movie I'd watch again, and give consideration to adding it to my personal collection.  So, am I right?  We shall see.