Based on a true story of the tenacious Molly Bloom (Chastain), "Molly's Game" is the story of an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before becoming a target of the FBI. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans, and unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffrey (Elba), who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe. (Gary Reber)
Special features include the featurette "Building An Empire" (HD 05:03), upfront previews, and a Movies Anywhere digital copy.
The 1080p AVC picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, upconverted to 2160p with greater resolution and luminance, was photographed digitally in Panavision® using the Arri Alexa Mini and XT camera systems and sourced from a 2K master Digital Intermediate format. The imagery is nicely natural with a rich and warm color palette. Hues are vividly saturated throughout. Contrast is well balanced, with the imagery virtually all photographed in interior settings. Black shadows and shadow delineation are honest and not stylized. The production design does feature well-crafted lighting, which enhances the sense of dimension. Resolution is terrific with fine detail exhibited in facial features, skin pores, women's makeup, hair, expensive and stylish clothing, and object texture. This is a great-looking picture with a rich setting centered around gambling that is a real looker. (Gary Reber)
The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is dialogue and narration focused, as Molly Bloom guides through the complex gaming protocols. Molly's dialogue and narration are evenly presented. Other dialogue is nicely integrated spatially. Atmospherics are realistic. Surround envelopment is pretty much limited to the music score, which occupies limited width across the soundstage. Deep bass surfaces only rarely. Overall, the soundtrack is effectively crafted throughout and is perfectly complementary to the storytelling. (Gary Reber)