Film director John Madden has made some of my favorite films in the romantic genre, but for the past few years he seems more interested in thrillers in their various forms. The turning point seems to have been ‘Miss Sloane‘, a film made in 2016, whose premiere had the misfortune of being scheduled in the weeks after the American presidential elections in November of that year. What happened then you probably remember. The side effect on the launching of this film was that for some of the viewers, fed up or angry or both, there was no joy in watching a drama that unfolded in the corridors of the Capitol. The lead character of the film – a professional lobbyist, ready to do anything and everything to influence political decisions and votes in the American Congress, an ambitious woman for whom career is everything – suddenly seemed old-fashioned, belonging to another era . Revisited now, four years plus three later, the film has enough qualities to be worth a watch. If, however, it continues to have a slightly old-fashioned or perhaps historical atmosphere, dealing with the problems of a past decade, this is not necessarily the problem of the film but of the world around us.
The film’s heroine, Liz Sloane, is a star in the world of lobbyists. The firms she works for have as their clients interest groups that want to promote certain laws in the US Congress or – on the contrary – prevent their approval. They design public campaigns, lobby or pressure senators and members of the House of Representatives to get them to vote in the desired direction. Everything takes place within a legal framework established by laws and parliamentary regulations that are not always very clear. Attempts to bribe or use illegal means to obtain information can easily land lobbyists in jail. Miss Sloane is extremely efficient and has many successes on her CV. The price paid is intense and permanent work (perhaps 22 hours out of 24), the complete renunciation to a family or a private life, and countless enemies accumulated throughout the career. It would seem that nothing can stop her or make her fail. She pursues success at all costs and does not accept defeat. She even seems capable of publicly exposing information from her subordinates’ personal lives. How far she can go and what price is she ready to pay? Even that of her freedom and her own career?
Liz Stoane is the type of person who is difficult, if not impossible for those around her to decipher. Writer Jonathan Perera and director John Madden were inspired not to try to explain her, even though scenes in the film accompany her in her most intimate places and moments. Jessica Chastain is perfect in this role, one of the best in a career with many very good roles. She appears as an iron lady, incorruptible and unwavering from her main goal – to win. We know neither her feelings (if she has any) nor her political beliefs (if she has any). The filmmakers are even neutral on the issue of gun control, with the script providing arguments on both sides of the argument. Precisely because the character’s mask seems impenetrable, the surprise near the end has more impact. A few supporting roles caught my attention: Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays with sensitivity and vulnerability the role of the young colleague whose past secret is shattered by Miss Sloane; Mark Strong (known from many dramatic roles) and John Lithgow (known from many comic roles) appear in the roles of the heroine’s boss and the senator who tries to destroy her career, respectively. The film is well made, has good pace and dialogues, and manages to grab and hold the viewers’ attention. The box office failure of ‘Miss Sloane‘ was undeserved and the film will recover in the future.