by Conan Simmons – January 8, 2021 – 6:29 am
Large protests turned into violent rioting during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago during the presidential campaign of 1968 is the backdrop to an engaging courtroom drama, the latest from writer-director Aaron Sorkin.
Briefly setting up the catalyst event and just as briefly introducing the multitude of characters, the opening minutes of Sorkin’s film serves as a short prologue before settling into the courtroom months later where eight defendants are faced with the most uncompromising and prejudiced, Judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella).
As the young, assistant prosecuting attorney Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) begins his opening statement he barely gets through a whole sentence before Judge Hoffman interrupts and the entire trial spirals into a circus of characters verbally juggling humorous quips and legalese jargon.
The eight defendants are on trial for allegedly starting the infamous riots in August of 1968. While it is true that several of them travelled from out of state to protest the Democratic National Convention it had already been determined that the riots were instigated by the police. However, after the fact, when Republican president Richard Nixon took office and a new Attorney General was appointed, replacing Ramsey Clark (Michael Keaton), the decision was made to make an example of some of the organizers of the protest.
The organizers included Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp), Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins), John Froines (Danny Flaherty), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch) and Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).
Judge Hoffman, who insists on not having his name associated with Abbie Hoffman, makes it immediately clear how he is going to rule the case regardless of jury input. He sees the trial as merely a formality but allows it to drag on out of a sense of duty.
Most of the defendants are represented by William Kunstler (Mark Rylance), except for Bobby Seale whose lawyer was sick and unable to make the trial date. Judge Hoffman repeatedly insists that Seale is in contempt of Court whenever Seale tries to defend himself. In the film’s most horrifying scene Judge Hoffman orders Seale out of the room to be “dealt with”. He is savagely beaten then returned to the courtroom bound and gagged. In real life this incident spanned several days, in the movie it happens in about five minutes.
‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ is one of the best films to come out in 2020 and it’s a Netflix original. Sorkin’s directing builds on the sure-handedness he showed with his directorial debut, ‘Molly’s Game’. Sorkin, perhaps wisely, avoids flashiness and allows the actors to hold the screen as they deliver his finely written dialogue. Fans of ‘The West Wing’ will definitely enjoy this film though it does fall a little short from Sorkin’s best known script, ‘A Few Good Men’.
Using the crowd chanting “The whole world is watching.” repeatedly in the film Sorkin makes very clear reference to the events of 1968 and how they compare with protests in recent years, especially the Black Lives Matter protests of last summer.
It’s not a perfect movie as some characters are left on the sidelines. The biggest fault with the movie may be in its ‘West Wing’-like ending that doesn’t quite make clear the outcome for some of those sidelined characters.
The actors themselves are all in fine form and there will most likely be several nominations in the lead and supporting actor categories at awards shows coming up. Mark Rylance is the film’s best chance as the determined defending attorney with Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen both executing the dialogue perfectly in memorable roles. Frank Langella makes Judge Hoffman one of cinema’s most frustrating villains and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II does an excellent job as the oppressed Bobby Seale.
Aaron Sorkin will also be nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with a good chance at being nominated for Best Director. Sorkin first had the screenplay finished back in 2007 with Steven Spielberg attached to direct but due to the Writer’s Guild strike and budgetary concerns the film didn’t come to be until now.
Look for ‘Trial of the Chicago 7’ to also be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It has major competition in the form of another Netflix original, Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’, and it assures that Netflix has its best chance ever at becoming the first streaming studio to win the coveted top prize.