Trailing Off: "Miss Sloane" (2016)

Jessica Chastain

Welcome to the weekly column Trailing Off in which I take a look at a trailer from the past week and analyze its potential. This will be done using an obnoxious amount of analyzing and personal thoughts on the cast and crew as well as expectations. Coming every Sunday (it's called Trailing Off for a reason), I will attempt to highlight films ranging from new blockbusters to lesser known indies and give them their due. Partially to spread awareness, I do believe that there is an art to the sell and will do my best to highlight why these trailers matter or don't with approval (trove) or disapproval (trash). So please stop by, recommend some trailers, and I will see you next time.

Trailer in Discussion

Directed By: John Madden

Written By: Jonathan Perera

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alison Pill

- Preamble -

In a pleasant twist of things, this week saw an abundance of potential trailers worthy of giving a shot for Trailing Off. Miss Sloane barely beat out Nocturnal Animals for the recap. Admittedly, this is in part because I watched all of the trailers to justify which one had the most content that I felt was worthy of writing about. At the end of the day, I chose the film for a variety of reasons, most notably that I like the general cast and feel that the subject matter is actually pretty interesting. Even if Nocturnal Animals has the benefit of having one of my personal favorites (Amy Adams) in a lead role, I found that trailer a little dull and didn't offer me much to work with. Miss Sloane has quite a bit.

Since this is the Preamble section, I won't go into any specifics. Instead, I will discuss the few obvious things that attract me to this one. For starters, I do think that Jessica Chastain is one of the best actresses currently working. She has developed quite an impressive resume and has worked on everything from The Tree of Life to The Help to Zero Dark Thirty to Interstellar. Even if that's only a sample size of her resume, it's such an impressive range that gives her an easy pass for me. I want to see what else she does, and I assume that Miss Sloane will continue that assurance.

It does help that the supporting cast also looks pretty strong, and the story is pretty striking. It's about fighting gun laws. That's a touchy subject (of which I won't share my opinions on here. I do my best to remain apolitical on this blog), and I do think that it can ruffle feathers with the right kind of dramatic bent. I admit that in an election year it does come across as cinematic clickbait (more commonly referenced as propaganda), but I do think that if you give a film a chance to speak its message, you can at least judge it on its merits, regardless on if you agree. It's what makes movies such a viable medium. Anyways, I want to get into the next section because I do think that the trailer's pretty good.

- Dissection -

I will start by discussing the part that I liked most: the monologue. Jessica Chastain's cold, straightforward speech regarding her desire to win against the gun lobbyists has such an interesting introduction. From a small fragment of the screen, she slowly becomes bigger as she reveals more about her plan. By the end, it perfectly is summarized as a chance to sneak up on the opponent and surprise them. While the cinematic technique may be more jarring than surprising, it does create a fluent metaphor, especially for a trailer that is meant to introduce us to this strange world.

Everything else has a certain familiarity to it. There's the feeling that the gun lobbyists are opposed to Chastain, and that her protests are causing a scene. She seems like a threat that goes beyond the calm demeanor that she has for the rest of the trailer. You become intrigued by watching her deal with the conflict. There's more questions raised than answered, and this somewhat conventional drama suddenly starts to seem more fantastical. It's likely to divide audiences as much as the subject, but it definitely comes with an assured quality that makes you think that maybe the film will have a film literacy as complex and exciting as this trailer.

I admit that Miss Sloane as a trailer otherwise seems a tad familiar and obvious. I do want to believe that Chastain has the capability to bring more to the role. It's just that the gimmick that I discussed in the opening paragraph tends to overshadow everything else about the trailer in ways that make me realize how much I forgive its other sides. Sure, it is fine and I do think that it does plenty to provoke. I just don't know if it works as a wholly satisfying trailer, or if I'm just intrigued by close to anything that Chastain does. Would I have seen this if it wasn't for the trailer? Maybe. Will I see it now? Maybe. Depends on reviews.

- One Sentence Sell -

Jessica Chastain stars in a drama where she takes on gun lobbyists and tries to make a difference in the world.

- Trove or Trash -
TRASH

It's a good trailer, but I come away sort of mixed on how well it worked in wanting me to see the movie. It's fine and it gets the job done, but I think that my desire to see it hasn't shifted that much upon watching it.