Miss Sloane

"Lobbying is about foresight, about anticipating your opponent's moves, and devising counter measures. The winner walks one step ahead of the opposition. It's about making sure you surprise them, and they don't surprise you."

Miss Sloane is a political thriller -- a sub-genre that, when done well, can be especially gripping. From the beginning of the movie, I was fully onboard. Despite not being a John Madden fan (I feel his back catalogue is tame at best), he has impressed me on this occasion.

Jessica Chastain plays the lead and is superb -- I’m a fan. Jessica has an ability to portray emotion in a way that other thespians only wish they could conjure.


The film follows Miss Sloane, a sought after lobbyist in D.C. who, through a course of events, ends up taking on the Second Amendment. What follows is a well-paced picture, which unfortunately will likely be overlooked for awards due to its early position within in the film awards calendar.

The whole cast pull their weight; Gugu Mbatha-Raw is especially worth a mention, and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of her based on this role.


My Score 8.5



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Nocturnal Animals

 

 That won't work. No signal here. You're not supposed to leave the scene of an accident, that's a crime.

This tense thriller tells the story of Susan Morrow, an art dealer played by the very talented Amy Adams. Amy always oozes style and has a knack for bringing true emotion to the character without saying a word. From the opening shot, this film is beautiful. The cinematography by Seamus McGarvey is stylish, almost coming to life throughout. There are echoes of his work from Atonement, I feel.

Tom Ford as director, who as hard as I find it to say, has managed to do a good job with this film. In almost every scene, he doesn’t relent in pitching his "brand"; but let's overlook that on this occasion as I think he’s managed to successfully avoid the cliched “style over substance”.

Jake Gyllenhaal does a great job as both Tony Hastings and Edward Sheffield. Edward’s novel that Susan is reading is what gives this film its darkness, as she almost immediately senses a veiled threat, but can't stop reading. This is the true soul of the movie, bringing to life the feeling of helplessness and how real life situations ultimately change you in both the physical and the mental. At its bare roots, this film tells the story of one man's journey through life and how harsh life truly is, while we also see how our past mistakes can haunt us to our very core.

I was gripped by the surroundings, whether we are in Susan's bourgeois prison she has created for herself, which at times feels like a dream; or in Edward’s novel, with the harsh and twisted reality he has captured on the pages. The slow pace will ultimately lose some, but I feel it works with the melancholy setting of Susan Morrow’s world, while Tony Hastings deals with ruthless reality in a harrowing, dusty Texas.

This film is worth the journey, even if at times you wish it was quicker, and in some ways more bumpy.

Worth a mention are both Michael Shannon as Bobby Andes and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ray Marcus. The aforementioned add an element of redemption and cruelty that should not be overlooked.

I give Nocturnal Animals a 8 out of 10  

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