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.

Zero Dark Thirty Review

4 Stars

On September 11, 2001, a terrorist group known as Al Qaeda carried out the worst attack by a foreign country on US soil.  In the decade that followed, several covert and overt operations have been carried out in retaliation against those responsible for the attack and in efforts to track down their elusive leader, Osama Bin Laden.  Zero Dark Thirty is the story of the success of a small military group knows as Navy SEAL Team Six in accomplishing this goal.  Maya (Jessica Chastain) is a new CIA operative and she has the uncomfortable job of overseeing the interrogation of prisoners after the Al Qaeda attacks.  Although she is reluctant to be a part of it, Maya truly believes this is the only way to get any viable information as to the location of Osama Bin Laden. After a decade of pursuit, Maya is sure she has discovered Bin Laden's whereabouts, and SEAL Team Six is sent to capture or kill the terrorist mastermind, but she is the only one confident in her findings.

As I stated in my preview, I said this looks to be an emotionally charged, gut-wrenchingly uncomfortable, frustrating movie.  Director Kathryn Bigelow did a marvelous job.  I'm not sure why there was so much hype over the torture scenes.  Like it or not, they happened.  This movie doesn't glorify or demonize them.  It was a part of the war.  They way she handled it was flawless.  Showed enough to understand what was going on, but torturing captives wasn't the point of the movie.  The point was the hunt for Bin Laden.  She addressed the topic, presented it and moved on.  Very well done.  

Another concern I had was that movies like this tend to do three things: point out how inept and inefficient our government is, demonize an entire race of people because of a small faction of radicals, and glorify the actions of those following orders as brave heroes. Again, Bigelow is to be commended for sticking to her story, Maya's hunt for Bin Laden.  It wasn't filled with gratuitous anti-American government sentiments.  It wasn't filled with anti-Muslim or anti-Pakistani rhetoric.  It didn't glorify torture.  And the final chapter of the movie with SEAL Team Six going into the compound and doing their job was breath-taking. 

All-in-all I was very impressed and gave Zero Dark Thirty a solid 4 stars.  I would definitely see it again and there's a good chance I'll see this in my personal collection some day.  Well done.  So what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Zero Dark Thirty Preview

On September 11, 2001, a terrorist group known as Al Qaeda carried out the worst attack by a foreign country on US soil.  In the decade that followed, several covert and overt operations have been carried out in retaliation against those responsible for the attack and in efforts to track down their elusive leader, Osama Bin Laden.  Zero Dark Thirty is the story of the success of a small military group knows as Navy SEAL Team Six in accomplishing this goal.  Maya (Jessica Chastain) is a new CIA operative and she has the uncomfortable job of overseeing the interrogation of prisoners after the Al Qaeda attacks.  Although she is reluctant to be a part of it, Maya truly believes this is the only way to get any viable information as to the location of Osama Bin Laden. After a decade of pursuit, Maya is sure she has discovered Bin Laden's whereabouts, and SEAL Team Six is sent to capture or kill the terrorist mastermind, but she is the only one confident in her findings.

Based on actual events, Zero Dark Thirty looks to be an emotionally charged, gut-wrenchingly uncomfortable, frustrating movie.  Movies like this tend to do three things: point out how inept and inefficient our government is, demonize an entire race of people because of a small faction of radicals, and glorify the actions of those following orders as brave heroes.  The preview, unfortunately, looks like it has the real potential to accomplish all three of those.  More than ten years after 9/11, many are still left with doubt and questions about how the attacks on our country actually happened, and many more are still cynical about our countries military response to those attacks.  Although I don't know anyone, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, who doesn't agree it was a victorious day when we found and killed Osama Bin Laden, this film is sure to make everyone take a moment to reflect on what it took to get him and ultimately poses the question: does the end justify the means?   

This type of movie is difficult as a viewer because you are constantly debating how much is Hollywood liberty with telling an entertaining story, and how much is actually true.  Regardless of how much of either is represented in Zero, I just hope I don't walk away feeling like this movie was propaganda of any kind towards the United States, Pakistan, or any military branches.  With all the hype, I'm hoping for 4 stars.  With all the controversy, I'm not expecting more than 3.  So I'll call it in the middle and predict 3.5 stars.  Am I right?  We shall see.