Politics is a dirty business in ‘Miss Sloane’
Chastain’s icy lobbyist lands at the right time
Just in case you haven’t had enough political discord and Washington wheeling-and-dealing this election cycle, the intelligent, timely and twisty thriller Miss
Sloane introduces an antiheroine feared by Republicans and Democrats alike. Jessica Chastain is all hellfire and high heels as powerful Washington lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane in the film ( out of four; rated R; in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles, expands nationwide Dec. 9), directed by John Madden ( Shakespeare in
Love) and written by first-time screenwriter Jonathan Perera (who’s unabashedly channeling his inner Aaron Sorkin). Equally icy and savvy, Sloane has no patience for hippies, naïve Millennials or the old boys’ club, whose glass ceiling she’s pretty much pulverizing with a jackhammer any chance she gets.
Sloane has made some allies but many more enemies working for a high-profile lobbying firm that’s fighting a new anti-gun bill with strict regulations on firearm sales. When she’s pitched on a plan to get more women supporting the gun lobby — which she finds laughably ridiculous — Sloane bolts for a smaller bunch of D.C. scrappers who champion the legislation, burning bridges but also seemingly doing the right thing.
While certain members of her team — such as earnest up-and-comer Esme Manucharian (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) — have a moral high ground to stand on in regard to gun control, Sloane is motivated by the thought of winning at all costs, rules be damned. As she tussles to get the votes needed to pass the bill, her own past indis- cretions threaten to derail everything when she’s investigated by a Senate committee and a Democratic congressman (John Lithgow) who’s not a fan of corrupt lobbying practices.
Chastain is scary, chilly, yet extremely likable as the hard-charging insider. In meetings and on the job, she has no filter, though as the movie progresses, the actress shows necessary cracks in her character’s cold exterior. She leaves the more emotional side to her personal life, in her dealings with enigmatic male escort Forde (Jake Lacy) but also in the few times she breaks down in isolation for a cathartic cry.
Madden has surrounded her with a murderer’s row of character actors. One of the best in Hollywood right now, Michael Stuhlbarg ( Arrival), is superb as Sloane’s colleague-turned-foe Pat Connors, and Mark Strong does a nice job as the head of the boutique firm who poaches Sloane and tries to find her warm (or at least somewhat ethical) center.
The Newsroom regulars Sam Waterston and Alison Pill — who play key roles in Sloane’s old firm — also perform well with the Sorkin-esque machine-gun dialogue.
After the election, it’s hard to think any political situation is farfetched, though Miss Sloane does its best to test that theory. The main character gets away with saying and doing some pretty insane things, though the film’s primary players who have shady dealings — which is, honestly, most everybody — face their indiscretions one way or another.
So in that sense, Miss Sloane projects a fair bit of Hollywood fantasy on stark reality.