Miss Sloane by Jonathan Perera, with Jessica Chastain

Miss Sloane by Jonathan Perera, with Jessica Chastain

This is a splendid film.

At least that is how I saw it.

Jessica Chastain is phenomenal as the powerful, smart lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane, a complex, sensational woman.

John Madden is the man who has directed Shakespeare in Love and is doing an excellent job at the helm of this film.

Jonathan Perera, as the author of the script, deals with important themes- corruption, gun rights and control.

The narrative is told with mastery, there are flashbacks and we see Elizabeth Sloane in the present, testifying before Congress.

Lobbyists are one of the powerful forces in Washington and many think they control too many politicians.

And the presidential election of 2016 was won in part on the promise to “drain the swamp” and change politics.

Of course, that was empty talk, from a man who has no scruples and has demonstrated he is a con artist.

It is inconceivable that so many have fallen for such a lousy, the most unworthy of all American presidents.

People like me, who used to admire America, its values, democracy, system, accomplishments are left extremely disappointed.

One of the main subjects of the film is the right to hold arms as enshrined in the constitution that is so dated on this subject:

-          "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

As Miss Sloane explains exquisitely, those who have written this down lived in a different age, with antiquated views

-          They used to resolve their disputes, at dawn, shooting each other

Of course, when she uses this argument, with more or less these words, her supporters are horrified, because they know that attacking the constitution, or just appearing to be doing it is anathema and works for the adversaries.

The lobbyist, who used to work for the wrong cause, allowing the planters in Indonesia to extend their palm oil plantations, presumably by cutting down forests, or, in some worse cases by burning trees, an operation which has created catastrophes in the region, has now embraced a worthy, noble cause.

Mark Strong is marvelous in the role of Rodolfo Schmidt, the man who convinces Miss Sloane to join his team.

They try to impose some controls on gun acquisition, which, although sensible, it is met with fierce opposition.

The National Rifle Association is a powerful organization that fights any measure to “limit” the right to bear arms.

Even if the question is to control the buying of automatic rifles, which would make sense only in war, or lunatics who want to get and use them.

As shown by multiple massacres committed in schools, cinemas, involving so many innocents, children and bystanders, the initiatives to try and prevent mad men from getting machine guns and deadly weapons is more than reasonable.

And yet, with its financial wealth and the power to swing elections in favor of the candidate that favors no controls, the NRA has managed to kill any such bill.

-          “Dildos are illegal in Texas, but Joe Public can walk into a sports store and walk out with a shotgun”

This is the line that Rodolfo Schmidt has in the film and it is a brief demonstration of the paradoxes that we can observe in America.

Elizabeth Sloane is in many ways a role model, for her bright side shows a strong, intelligent, dedicated, focused, visionary, hardworking, resilient, brave, tough, unhesitating, determined woman.

She is also intriguing, her dark side can antagonize with her ruthlessness, cunning, readiness to use anything that will make her win, insensitivity, willingness to abandon personal life for her professional success.

Elizabeth Sloane appears to use pills to allow her to work more, up to or more than sixteen hours a day, using male escorts to deal with her desires and showing a lack of compassion and arrogance in the process.

The fact that she is so brilliant one moment and then cold and distant the next make the character ever more interesting and challenging.

This is a wondrous motion picture.