Political lobbyists have a reputation on a par with – if not below – politicians themselves these days, so the idea of a feature film devoted to a lobbyist spinning their dark art is perhaps an unlikely one. But in the sure hands of Shakespeare in Love director John Madden, Miss Sloane proves to be a welcome surprise.
The film plays like an extended version of an episode of The Newsroom or The West Wing, but Aaron Sorkin is nowhere to be seen on the film’s credits. Instead, the script is from first-timer Jonathan Perera, who wrote it on spec. And, credit where it’s due, Perera injects a degree of subtlety and nuance that perhaps isn’t exactly Sorkin’s forte. Just when you think you know where this film is going, it confounds you. That said however, Perera does play the climactic scene very conventionally, with a lot of verbiage – and more than a little incredulity.
The titular character is Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain), a lobbyist with a large and prominent Washington firm. A chance encounter with rival Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong) however sees her jump ship to Schmidt’s much smaller outfit to take on the challenge of a career – campaigning for the passage of a law (dubbed the Heaton-Harris bill – and there may be a sly British political reference there) requiring background checks for all gun sales. Not only does this pit Sloane against the powerful US gun lobby, it also will mean going up against her old firm; much to the chagrin of her former boss George Dupont (Sam Waterston). She gathers a small team to work on the campaign with her, which includes Esme Manucharian (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who seems to find special favour with Sloane. But given the hot-button issue and the power of her opponents, Sloane knows she is in for the fight of her life.
It would have been so easy for Perera to make this a routine black-hat/white-hat drama. What he does so cleverly though is to show that these types of issues are messy and complicated, precisely because people are messy and complicated. The character of Sloane herself is a portrait of ambiguity. She seems to be doing what she thinks is the “right thing”; but the way she pursues her campaign is dubious at best and illegal at worst. She presents as a paragon of professionalism; but her personal life is something of a trainwreck. Even the campaign itself becomes a subject of considerable confusion when events take a dark turn. If there is a real “bad guy” in the piece, it’s Congressman Ron Sperling (John Lithgow), who is conducting an inquiry into Sloane’s tactics (which doubles as the film’s framing device).
As mentioned, the climactic scene is problematic; not just because it involves having Sloane give a long speech but because it doles out a fairly implausible “deus ex machina” solution to her dilemma. Although it’s not a true silver bullet (as evidenced by the coda at the end), it nonetheless feels unsatisfying, and undoes some of the good work from earlier in the film.
Director Madden (whose last film was The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) knows his way around a film set and, as you might expect, Miss Sloane whips along. This is slick, professional filmmaking. Any rough edges have been buffed off, giving you the chance to enjoy the story without distraction.
Given the powerhouse main character, the film needs a powerhouse lead performance and Jessica Chastain delivers just that. Her timing is impeccable, and she conveys both Sloane’s ruthlessness and her (closely-guarded) vulnerability with verve. Against her big performance, some of the other characters become a little lost in the mix, particularly Mark Strong, who is surprisingly a little understated as Schmidt. John Lithgow (The Accountant) and Sam Waterston (The Newsroom) do pretty much what you expect them to do; but Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Free State of Jones) stands out as the dedicated but naive Esme.
Despite being heartily sick of politics at the moment, I enjoyed the ride of Miss Sloane. Fans of political thrillers will find plenty to like here, as will anyone who enjoys their movies with a little polish.
Director: John Madden
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, John Lithgow, Mark Strong, Sam Waterston
Release Date: 2 March 2017
Rating: M
David Edwards
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
