Reel Entropy

Images courtesy EuropaCorp.

Ever since they started putting TV previews ahead of the trailers in movies, they’ve had a strange affinity for advertising sultry, off-primetime dramas hinging on a single character. Shows like Hawthorne or The Client List, whose advertisements are simply a barrage of out-of-context maximum-drama moments from stars who could no longer make it in Hollywood. Miss Sloane mostly feels like an extended pilot for one of those shows — though that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Like the series it feels akin to, the movie focuses intensely on its lead character, Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain), a fast-talking, no-nonsense, amphetamine-popping Washington lobbyist. Sloane is hand-picked to lead the fight against a bill going through the senate that would require background checks on all gun sales, closing the infamous gun show loophole. Unexpectedly, Sloane refuses, and ends up leaving the firm and taking charge of the push to get the bill passed. Working against colleagues of several years, Sloane is staring down not only the wealthiest lobby on the hill, but a set of opponents who are intimately familiar with her tactics and vices.

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