Miss Sloane

Miss Sloane

Starring Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alison Pill

Directed by John Madden

The Story:
Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is one of D.C.'s most formidable lobbyists, and someone who doesn't give up and doesn't lose.  She is fast talking, hard hitting, and often draws her own lines of ethical behavior, which lands her in some deep trouble with Congress.

She worked for a conservative lobbying firm who want to press the issue of gun control and trying to convince women in particular to become favorable to having less taxing gun control laws, but she chooses to abandon the firm and join Rodolfo Schimdt (Mark Strong) and his group - a small, ragtag lobbying firm who is pushing for stricter gun control laws - instead, mostly because she desires the challenge to take down a big corporate identity.

She unleashes all her lobbying know-how and intellectual prowess to turn the public - and Congressmen - to their side, despite the nearly impossible hill to climb, while her former partners hatch a plan to completely discredit her and put her in prison.

The Synopsis:
For many people, the idea of politics are a very sore subject, especially this year.  So when a highly political movie like "Miss Sloane" comes out, it's very tempting to ignore it and watch something a little more entertaining.  I felt the same way, and was about to give "Miss Sloane" a pass until I heard Jessica Chastain was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, and Oscar might soon follow.  So I had to check it out.

Going into the film I didn't expect to really enjoy or understand it, and they did use a lot of political jargon that I didn't fully grasp, but there was a unique blend of making the language mildly understandable, plus it had a specific start and end time that added to the excitement.  It wasn't a slow, tedious, monotonous tale but rather was filled with tension, excitement, and firmly cemented Jessica Chastain as one of today's most talented actresses.

The story is simple and is probably one that's happened in real life, but not to the extremes the movie tells.  A small lobbyist group wants to go against the big gun corporation, and the film turns into a David vs. Goliath story, with a little twist.  On the left is the group for stricter gun laws, and it includes a bunch of ideological younger students who strive to do the right thing and make things better for everyone.  On the right is the lobbyists against stricter gun laws, and they're your traditional political bad guys: older, richer, morally bankrupt and unemotional.  What makes this film different is that there's a bridge between the two, and that's Elizabeth Sloane.  She has one foot on the right (with her tough-as-nails attitude, win by any means mantra) and one foot on the left (showing a true determination to see her side win).

The film takes on a devious duet of diatribes as Sloane's team and the other team go head-to-head in order to garner favor of Congressmen, as both blur the lines between legal and illegal, ethical and unethical, and it becomes a tennis match as one side gains the advantage, only to lose it to the other side, and back and forth.  Ultimately it comes down to the final scene and the winner is clearly revealed, only, after Miss Sloane stated at the beginning of the film, the ultimate trump card is revealed. 

Apart from Chastain's terrific outing, there's two standout performances that really drive the film home.  As an intellectual, passionate gun control advocate, Gugu Mbatha-Raw brings the character Esme to life by showcasing not just her intellect, but her vulnerability and sincerity as well, and is a character that's the closest to Elizabeth, even though it brings her troubles due to Sloane's insatiable desire to win at any cost. 

The other performance goes to Forde, played by Jake Lacy, who is a male escort Sloane hires to take care of her personal needs.  He's the only character in the film to not have a D.C. connection, and it was a refreshing side story to see Sloane being the most human around him and the two form an unlikely friendship.

At the heart of the film is Jessica Chastain, who brilliantly acquired the technical jargon enough to deliver her lines at a pitch-perfect, fast-paced speed that shows why everyone feared Miss Sloane and dreaded going up against her.  She exuded confidence and technical prowess even with just her facial expressions, and knocked the performance out of the park.  If it were in lesser hands, the film would've been an unmitigated mess, but because of Chastain's performance it elevated it to one that will surely be recognized as the awards season sets sail.

The Summary:
Even though it's about the darker side of politics, and after a rather tough political year we'd rather forget, "Miss Sloane" shouldn't be a film that should be ignored, due to a once-in-a-lifetime performance by Jessica Chastain.

The Score: A