Jessica Chastain demonstrates female intelligence as a successful lobbyist.
MISS SLOANE
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
“Miss Sloane” is all about being a successful lobbyist, being a confident woman, living as a wounded soul, and self-sacrifice in order to create some meaning in one’s life.
The mention of lobbyists has been batted around in the last few elections, without any real understanding of what they do. “Miss Sloane” fills in all the blanks and then some.
The most recent election over-shadowed this film, because it deals with some of the hot topics, like gun control and female leadership. No one is ready for either, especially as entertainment. But, entertaining it is.
Jessica Chastain carries this film with elegance and strength. This is what strong, intelligent women look like, how they behave and how they think. She is not an anomaly.
Her character, Miss Sloane, shows us what women need to do in order to be successful in a man’s world. She needs to sacrifice marriage, emotional health, physical health, having children and trust. A very high price to pay.
If it were a woman’s world, she could let her guard down, she could express her feelings about things, she could trust others not to stab her in the back, and she could form lasting, win-win relationships.
It would be a nurturing, warm and friendly environment. Marriage and children would definitely be a priority.
Being a lobbyist is depicted here as being almost as ugly as our last election process.
There are some good men in Miss Sloane’s world, however. Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong), who is head of a law firm opposing the National Rifle Association proposals, throws her a life raft to work for him, instead of for the NRA.
Mark Strong also played opposite Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty,” as George, a senior CIA supervisor.
Miss Sloane finds herself forming emotional attachments to male escorts. Jake Lacy plays Forde, who is sexy, compassionate and, means it, when he says that he does not reveal his clients.
The other women in this film are also wounded souls in many different ways.
Director, John Madden, who directed the “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” films and “Shakespeare in Love,” makes this film hard to second guess. Every second is engaging, surprising, entertaining, and educational, with an excellently assembled cast.
1/13/2017 – Miss Sloane