***
Dir: John Madden (15, 132 mins)
A hard-bitten lobbyist, known for taking no prisoners, takes on her most powerful opponent, the gun lobby, in this timely, wordy, and worthy tale, that allows Jessica Chastain to coldly chew the scenery as the titular Miss Sloane. Unwilling to represent the gun lobby to get more women to buy guns, she leaves her cutthroat employers and instead aims to get gun ownership in America to be more rigorously checked. This means getting senators on her side, putting her up against her former employers with dirty double dealing being the order of the day. She is not above exploiting others for the good of the cause, but ultimately this will have a price. Chastain excels as the icy Sloane, as does Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the co-worker exploited by her. Ultimately though, there is a Hollywood style ending which doesn’t quite fit with the cynicism before, leaving the film strangely underwhelming despite the talent involved.
Opens Feb 24