Miss Sloane — Blue Fairy Film Blog

Political thrillers are only good when they focus on the intrigue and maneuvering of a person or entity, and not the actual political climate of our modern day. As a perfect example we have Miss Sloane, which is more of a vehicle for the incomparable Jessica Chastain than it is a true takedown of the gun lobby. The sensationalism and dirty tactics used by the lead character, Elizabeth Sloane, are quite entertaining for their bare knuckled brevity, but by taking focus away from the issues at hand the film trivializes grassroots activism and the true political antics of modern day America.

Honestly, this was probably just ill-timed. It was released in the fall of 2016, and was marketed like Oscar bait. The issue at hand was the implementation of gun control, and while it’s an issue that needs more attention, and reform is at hand, it should not be the backdrop for a film like this. This is not a film with an edgy issue thrown into relief thanks to an interesting plot. Instead, this is a film that really is all about Sloane: from her neuroses to her addictions to her hardnosed personal ethics, there’s nothing about this film that isn’t obviously pandering to the idea of a one woman army. While sensationalism can be entertaining, throwing in mass and school shootings to illustrate how bad her opposition is, feels gross. It doesn’t matter how well writer Jonathan Perera or director John Madden cover their asses with an indictment against the NRA, it’s still using the idea of real dead kids to create your narrative.

Miss Sloane was a box office bomb for this reason, and because a taut political thriller starring a woman doesn’t sound intriguing to Middle America in any capacity. For what it’s worth, the film is just the right amount of entertaining. Elizabeth Sloane is well-spoken, caustic, intelligent, and deeply flawed, an archetype we’ve all come to love. The supporting cast is well chosen and performs at the highest levels. Certain future star Gugu Mbatha-Raw is just the right meld of complex person and plot device, Mark Strong remains the ethical backbone that stands in comparison to Sloan’s bravado, and Michael Stuhlbarg is a perfect adversary to his former employee.

I think all the right people were chosen to work on this film, from the cast to the director to the lighting grips, but no one should expect us to swallow so many glaring faux pas in one sitting. Jessica Chastain, one of the greatest living actresses of the last ten years, deserves better than this. She is becoming increasingly pigeonholed thanks to Zero Dark Thirty, and I just wish she had more opportunities to do something besides genre pictures, because even acting in this mess she shone through with graceful ease.