Fansided

25 best sports movies, ranked by the dust in your eye

By Mario McKellop

Denzel Washington motivates football players in a scene form the film 'Remember The Titans', 2000. (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images)
Denzel Washington motivates football players in a scene form the film 'Remember The Titans', 2000. (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images) /
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21. Molly’s Game (2017)

Directed by Aaron Sorkin
Starring Jessica Chastain, Kevin Costner, and Idris Elba

Although it has a World Series of Poker, Molly’s Game isn’t on this list because it focuses on a competitive card game. It merits inclusion because it deals with the drive and determination elite athletes cultivate and how those qualities aren’t always good things.

The film follows world-class freestyle skier Molly Bloom (Chastain). As detailed in the film’s stellar opening sequence, the apex of her skiing career was competing in a qualifying event for the 2002 Winter Olympics. However, despite her considerable skill and years of training at the hands of her demanding father and coach Larry (Costner), she doesn’t make it. A one in a million accident occurs and Molly is forced into retirement in the aftermath.

However, though her ambitions of being an Olympian have been crushed forever, Bloom’s remarkable drive and determination remain intact. While taking a gap year before law school, Molly starts working for a realtor who has a side hustle running big money illegal poker games. Not long into her new position, Molly ends up running her own games, which quickly become the hottest in the country. And then she becomes the target of the FBI investigation.

While that life journey may sound odd, it makes perfect sense in the context of the film. From her early adolescence, Molly was conditioned to be the very best at something. And when her ability to do that thing was taken away, she was forced to become the very best at something else. The problem was, her new thing was crime. Because of her single-minded dedication and Chastain’s remarkable performance, it’s impossible not to get a little misty-eyed when Molly’s drive and dedication result in her taking another devastating downward slide.