Miss Sloane

Director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love,” the “Exotic Marigold Hotel” movies) expertly juggles the various subplots while never losing his main focus, which is to showcase Jessica Chastain’s nearly infinite palette of acting shades.

As a dramatic thriller, it does what it needs to do to keep the audience involved and interested, even if some of its most theatrical tricks and twists are more the products of a writer’s invention than actual Washington D.C. activities.

Chastain fully commits to her boss-bitch persona, even if we only obliquely learn why she might have chosen such a lonely, mercenary life.

It answers most questions by the end, except the most important one: Is the devil in Miss Sloane, or is Miss Sloane the devil?

Chastain is a wonder. Her character could give Cersei Lannister in "Game of Thrones" lessons in cunning and wreaking vengeance.

Miss Sloane is a powerfully conceived thriller with something dead at its centre: there is no reason a female protagonist must be good or well-behaved, but she must at least be interesting.

Heavy-handed message movies don’t come more harrumphing than “Miss Sloane,” a clunky dramatization of the gun-control argument liberals still don’t understand is being conducted solely among themselves.

Jessica Chastain kills this role. Overall the cast was very good and the movie did a great job in making something of this nature seem absolutely thrilling.

Miss Sloane is the movie made for Jessica Chastain to shine. The story is hard to follow because we are immersed in the little-known world of lobbyist, for that the plot turns out to be original. Basically what it’s portrayed here is the female character from the 20th century, strong, independent women that get the job done and are much more capable than many men. However Miss Sloane takes these to the edge in a very interesting way, the combination of attributes in the protagonist reveals the true nature of rising concept: the contemporary femme fatale. In this person the attraction is not the only weapon, instead she uses wit as proactive measure and reading and authenticating people as deceive measure. Not blinded by that, we also get an insight to Sloane’s inner self and how all said before is a much-needed shield. The situation is that within the plot you are always waiting for something but cannot understand what, making this picture insanely dependent of its outcome. Jessica Chastain is marvelous here giving out a rollercoaster of emotions.

Jessica Chastain plays a shrewd DC lobbyist who takes on a major bill in a series of career changing moves. Her performance dominates almost every frame and it's often commanding. She also gets a bit too steely at times. If Aaron Sorkin had been the screenwriter (instead of first timer Jonathan Perera) his crisp way with words would have made the intricacies of the interactions and the continuous twists more compelling. The brusque style with which every dilemma is dispatched reminded me "House of Cards," which I didn't love. As it stands, it's a slick looking (slightly too long) drama with a usually-compelling story and a harsh, but forceful performance by Chastain.

Le film a le mérite de dresser un portrait peu amène des pratiques du lobbying, très prisées aux Etats-Unis et notamment de celui des trafiquants d'armes euh je veux dire des vendeurs d'armes à feu et des défenseurs du Second Amendement, le droit inaliénable de pouvoir flinguer quand tu veux, où tu veux. On y suit une super biznesse woman et working girl de compétition (Jessica Chastain au top) prête à tout pour faire voter une loi interdisant le port d'armes aux criminels déjà condamnés, quitte à mordre un peu la ligne jaune, car la profession de foi ici, c'est le cynisme d'une partie d'échecs avant tout, quelle que soit la "cause" qu'on promeut. Hélas, si on apprécie les louables intentions et la dénonciation qui va avec, la personnalité de Miss Sloane se révèle incohérente (bien qu'elle plaira aux féministes, c'est un fait) dans ses allers et retours entre une "fin qui justifie les moyens" et ses atermoiements très naïfs à la Caliméro (une Machiavel -Machiavelle donc- qui nous sort un discours sur la morale, on aura tout entendu...). En outre, le film tente de tirer maladroitement sur la corde sensible et ça se voit un peu trop, en plus de s'étirer en longueurs. La super miss apparaît par ailleurs comme une super héroïne qui a tout prévu : il faudrait l'embaucher dans l'équipe de Mission Impossible ! Le bilan est donc assez mauvais finalement même si la curiosité nous a fait tenir sans piquer du nez jusqu'au bout, de par son sujet éminemment polémique et politique.

This movie is dead on arrival. Muddled, overlong, overwritten and without an atom of humor. The first-time screenwriter is young enough to feel pointless zipping back and forth in time is clever, when it actually dissipates whatever dramatic effectiveness the story might have had. The filmmakers obviously believe they have something important to say about government and gun control. They are mistaken and we pay the price for their mistake for well over two dull hours. Chastain, a truly remarkable and versatile actress, has never played such a thin, one-dimensional role. She must have chosen the script because she also felt it had important things to say about gun control. Or perhaps it appealed to her as a total star vehicle, with Chastain appearing in -- and dominating -- nearly every scene. It's the kind of naricisstic, sanctimonious part Barbra Streisand would sell one of her houses to play. The clunky dialogue and awkward speechifying goes on and on and on, finally ending with a "twist" that makes the audience yawn and say so what. Jessica, please do your political preaching on your own time. Don't waste your talent and our time on bungled "message movies" like this one.