Director: John Madden
Writer: Jonathan Perera (Screenplay)
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, John Lithgow, Alison Pill, Michael Stuhlbarg,
Plot: In the high-stakes world of political power-brokers, Elizabeth Sloane is the most sought after and formidable lobbyist in D.C. But when taking on the most powerful opponent of her career, she finds winning may come at too high a price.
Tagline – Make sure you surprise them
Runtime: 2 Hours 12 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Nice Political Thriller
Story: Miss Sloane starts when Madeline Elizabeth Sloane (Chastain) a lobbyist who has a massive reputation in DC, when her latest job is presented towards her, to help swing the votes to back the remain of the gun control laws, she isn’t willing to help out and gets approached by Rodolfo Schmidt (Strong) who is leading the campaign to bring in stricter laws.
Elizabeth continues to show how the connections in the town, the country and companies will help her try to swing the votes to get the legislation through, showing Rodolfo and his team just what they are up against.
Thoughts on Miss Sloane
Characters – Madeline Elizabeth Sloane is a known powerhouse lobbyist who strikes fear in the people she goes up against including senators. She does have morals though, which sees her going against her boss’s wishes jumping ship to the rivals in the gun legislation. She will use tactics that other members of the team don’t know are coming, some which are illegal, while dealing with her own vices behind closed doors. Rodolfo Schmidt is the man that hires Elizabeth, taking her away from her old job to lead the campaign, he wants to win, will gives her an offer that she can’t refuse that doesn’t tie her down after the case, only he has one rule, nothing illegal. Esme Manucharian is one of the new team, one person that Elizabeth looks towards as potential, even if she has her own plan for her. We do get to see the old team that is looking to plan to use what they know to take on Elizabeth and the judge who is trying to get to the bottom of the case, seeing if she broke any laws along the way.
Performances – Jessica Chastain is fantastic in the leading role, she shows the completely cutthroat character she has working in DC, she is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. Marl Strong is great in the supporting role, while the rest of the cast know how to make the impact in their scenes through the film.
Story – The story here follows a cutthroat lobbyist who jumps ships to help fight for a new bill to restrict gun control in America, as we see how both sides are looking to get victory over the other and how Miss Sloane would use her own tactics to make sure she gets ahead of the game, even if her enemies are waiting in the wings to see her fail. This story does show us how important the change required in the gun laws are and shows how political the battle will become between the two sides looking to get the upper hand in the fight. We do seem to focus more on the use and playing of people over trying to get the bill through, showing how the political game isn’t about doing the right thing, its more about who you know and how you can use them in your own favour.
Thriller – This does show how the political battles going on when trying to get a law change and how trying to get a bill through and how people will do anything to get a win.
Settings – The film is set in DC, it shows how people know how and where to be for getting the upper hands on each other.
Scene of the Movie – The hearing.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The amount of work it takes to get a needed change to the law put through.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting thriller that does show the importance for change in the law and it shows how people will use their power to help or hinder the change required.
Overall: Political Thriller 101.
