MISS SLOANE review

MISS SLOANE

starring Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong

directed by John Madden

A review by Helen J. Reynolds

Politics is a toxic subject to talk about, yet addictive to watch. TV shows like House of Cards or The Westwing prove the audience, and politically driven movies like Zero Dark Thirty grab the awards.

Miss Sloane is a fast-talking, stylish and intriguing movie. It follows Jessica Chastain as Elizabeth Sloane, a driven, unsentimental, drug-addicted lobbyist. However, for once she's fighting the good fight and trying to get guns in America background checked (the gall!)

The plot keeps you hooked until the end and is full of political backstabs, as you might expect, yet at it's core this is a character movie. Miss Sloane is nothing without its leading lady and Chastain is an interesting choice. While she's starred in political movies before (The Debt, Zero Dark Thirty), here she's given something a bit different. Beautiful and ruthless, without a doubt, but what I found so engaging about her character is that it's really gender neutral. 

Sloane drives the story but the way she talks, the decisions she makes, even her lifestyle and relationships, they're not dictated by her gender. It's roles like this that make award categories come into question. Did Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) really match Viola Davis (Fences)? They certainly didn't share the same amount of screen time and yet both walked away with this year's Best Supporting Oscar, according to their gender. Had there only been one award that was non-gender specified, I've no doubt in my mind who would have taken it. 

Of course, saying that Sloane's character is gender neutral could suggest it's an unemotional performance, which it certainly is not. Chastain gives vulnerability to her role; her drug dependency and difficulty maintaining personal relationships is what draws us to her. However, Sloane has her guard up as well as a hell of a lot of plotting in the background. Most of the time we can't guess what she's really thinking or feeling. It's this uncertainty with who she trusts, who she plans to betray and what her true end goals are, that make the movie so watchable. The fact that she has weaknesses, like any human being, allows us to see her corruption and her disregard for other people without detaching ourselves away from the character. She does bad things but I never feel like I want to see her burned at the stake.

Other performers play off Chastain in a way that keeps you guessing. Mark Strong is the boss that takes a chance on Sloane; Gugu Mbatha-Raw is the lamb-to-the-slaughter; and Michael Stuhlbarg gives the chess game its opponent. Jake Lacy also makes an appearance as the male-whore who tries to figure Sloane out.

The ending is perhaps a little over-done and with one minor plot hole, but when a movie sets itself high stakes, you expect a big payoff and that's what you get here. You'll hate politicians just the same as before but the ride is definitely an enjoyable one. 

A combination of:
Shame (2011) 
The Debt (2010)
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)