Miss Sloane (2016)

Democracy is broken and Miss Sloane is a breakdown of how. It is an indictment of money and influence in American politics, a portrait of everything that is wrong with Washington. And it is fairly compelling entertainment. Structured as a gladiator match Miss Sloane is battle royale between evil and not so evil. And the ending, the sucker punch, is as satisfying as any twist ending you'll see.

Director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, The Most Exotic Marigold Hotel) takes the esthetics of an Aaron Sorkin script filmed by Oliver Stone and pares it down, both in pacing and rhetoric, to a more palatable pace. He lays out all the pieces, gives us just enough suspense and drama, and then nails the final hit.

Jessica Chastain is getting a lot of praise for her role. I think she's a very talented actor and here does competent work but nothing about her performance here blew me away. Fitting with the film, which seems to be intent on making its story accessible, Chastain's performance is clear and hits all the right notes, but never felt dangerous. Like the title of the film, about as vanilla as they come, the film is clever and succinct but never revolutionary. If only the characters actions could be translated to the real world.

Miss Sloane remains both entertaining and elucidating. Madden and company have delivered a strong film. The most disappointing part was leaving the theatre knowing little was going to change.

Miss Sloane
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Alison Pill, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Waterston, John Lithgow
Director: John Madden
Writer: Jonathan Perera