Review by John Delia
Jessica Chastain gives brilliantly “wicked†performance in the film Miss Sloane as a lobbyist caught in the middle of a Senate Bill debate. She’s so good at projecting the persona of a strong woman that the ladies may even have cop an attitude following the show. Just kidding guys. Or maybe not. Right now she’s in my top picks for an Oscar.
While Chastain makes the film a winner, the subject matter and idiosyncrasies of the plot, may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Hopefully from the recent election most everyone will know what a lobbyist does and if not, you’ll get an ear and eyeful from this film. Making his film a blend of nasty and urgent, director John Madden delivers a strong woman who takes her message to the Senate with a bold attitude.
Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain), one of the highest paid woman lobbyists in Washington, D.C, works for a top firm Cole, Kravitz & Waterson. On one particular day she’s called into a meeting by firm boss George Dupont (Sam Waterston). At the meeting she’s asked to head-up a committee to get women to oppose the powerful gun bill that’s on the floor of the Senate. She balks on the assignment, but Dupont’s insistent not wanting to lose the expected revenue for the powerful NRA.
Photo Credit : EuropaCorp
Following the meeting Sloane resigns from the firm and accepts an offer by the opposing lobbing firm headed up by Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong). Making his film a blend of nasty and urgent, director John Madden delivers a strong woman in the central role who takes her message to the Senate with a bold and tenacious stand. He turns the camera on Chastain giving the audience a front row seat on a fight that’s dog eats dog. The camera close-ups show the anger, insightful and directness of a confident, clever and well informed lobbyist as she sets her sights on winning.
As stated from the start of this critique, Jessica Chastain gives an awesome performance that should get her in the top 5 for nomination of both an Oscar and a Golden Globe. As Sloane she’s a beast and a predator who eats nails for breakfast and light bulbs for lunch. She depicts this woman you do not want to meet in court, at a Senate committee meeting, or even on a bus as she’ll not only win an argument, but take your seat as well. Her character may not be likable, but to women she’s a champion.
Photo Credit: Kerry Hayes © 2016 EuropaCorp à France 2 Cinema
In support there are several top players that make Chastain’s performance shine. As her right hand person while at Cole, Kravitz & Waterson, Jane Molloy, played by Alison Pill, is her workhorse getting the dope on everyone and everything she needs to convince Congressmen to help he boss lobby a cause. When Sloane leaves the firm however, Molloy becomes her nemesis. The role gets a very good fleshing out by Pill who’s character faces some tight situations while working for the gun lobbyist group.
On the other side of the coin the woman being assigned to help Sloane at her new firm Esme Manucharian (played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) digs right in to work with her new boss. She’s a good a wizard as Molloy, but her loyalty overshadows her counterpart. Not as competitive as she would like, Sloane keeps Esme at arm’s length not lettering her into her personal life. When it comes to digging up facts she seems to have no equal, except Sloane herself.
Miss Sloane has been rated R by the MPAA for language and some sexuality. If you are not familiar with political lobbying, go to Wikipedia for a quick tutorial.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good film that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole 2 hours. (4.5 of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Alison Pill, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Waterston and John Lithgow Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Lacy
Directed by: John Madden
Genre: Drama, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexuality
Running Time: 2 hrs. 12 min.
Release Date: December 9, 2016
Distributed by: EuroCorp
Editor’s note: Professional lobbyists are people whose business is trying to influence legislation, regulation, or other government decisions, actions, or policies on behalf of a group or individual who hires them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying