Susan Granger’s review of “Miss Sloane” (EuropaCorp)
The topic of corrupt lobbyists couldn’t be timelier, so it’s a shame that John Madden’s dense political melodrama is only mediocre.
Ruthlessly ambitious strategist Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is one of Washington D.C.’s most powerful power brokers. As her story begins, she’s being interrogated by a senior Senator (John Lithgow) about ethical misconduct.
Flashback a few months – to the situation that impelled this investigation.
For a client in Indonesia, Sloane successfully turned a play-for-pay politician’s ‘research’ trip into the vote that doomed a proposed import-tariff on palm oil – which she referred to as a “Nutella tax.”
Then, inexplicably, flipping her stance on a gun control bill, Sloane impulsively quit her job with NRA-supporter George DuPont (Sam Waterston) to join a fledging boutique firm that’s pushing for universal background checks for firearms purchases, tackling the gun lobby’s support of the Second Ammendment.
To the delight of her idealistic new boss, Rodolfo Vittorio Schmidt (Mark Strong), Elizabeth brings most of her young staff with her, except reluctant Jane Molloy (Alison Pill) who refuses to be poached.
Wheeling and dealing on Capitol Hill, making sure “you surprise them and they don’t surprise you,” Elizabeth eschews any personal life, preferring to hire a hunky ‘escort’ (Jake Lacy) to satisfy her sexual needs.
Determined to ‘win’ at all cost, Elizabeth eventually crosses the line by manipulating one of her dedicated protégés, Esme Manucharian (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), forcing the young woman to face an episode of gun violence in her past that she’s deftly kept hidden.
Novice screenwriter Jonathan Perera crams far too much talky confusion into this cautionary tale. It eventually becomes so convoluted and contrived that even talented director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”) can’t unscramble it.
In addition, it becomes increasingly impossible to empathize with Elizabeth, which differentiates this role from the similarly dedicated character that Chastain played in “Zero Dark Thirty.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Miss Sloane” is a flat 5, despite its formidable leading lady.
