OSCARS 2021: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Aaron Sorkin is, simultaneously, one of the most acclaimed and divisive screenwriters out there right now. His hyper-verbal style is immediately distinctive and his ability to work bold political statements into his work has been acclaimed. At the same time, his writing has been rightfully accused of being didactic, self-congratulatory, and not as deep as it seems. Both camps are entirely right but this hasn't stopped Sorkin from becoming a star writer and an Oscar winner.  He made his debut as a director a few years back with “Molly's Game.” You get the impression that “The Trial of Chicago 7,” his second feature, is the type of movie he wanted to make all along. Inspired by important history events, it's a film that announces right from its first scene how important it is too. In other words, it's the most Sorkin-y Sorkin to ever Sorkin.

For those who didn't pay attention in high school history class, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” follows the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots. The Chicago 7 are: Leader of the Yippie movement, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin; Tom Hayden, president of the Students for a Democratic Society; David Dellinger, leader of the anti-war MOBE organization; as well as activist Rennie Davis, Lee Weiner, and John Froines. (Plus Bobby Seale, chairman of the Black Panthers, who had nothing to do with the riots.) They are charged with inciting a riot, after cops began to beat the demonstrators. The film follows these events and the following trial, where desperate lawyers tried to defend the Seven from a clearly antagonistic judge. 

Sorkin's writing style is obviously present all throughout “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” It's a movie largely made up of people standing around and trading witty banter and sharp one-liners. Seemingly to signal his ability as a director, Sorkin makes sure to infuse his style in every part of the movie. The movie's editing is fast-paced and black-and-white historical footage is sometimes cut in. The music ramps up in big, dramatic ways during the story's biggest and most dramatic moments. Structurally, the story leaps around in time. We begin before the riots, skip ahead to the trial, flash-back to the events in question, and even include characters reflecting on things in the future. Sorkin really wanted us to know that he could direct the hell out of this movie.

It's all too evident why he chose this time to make this movie too. “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is a historical film clearly meant to be about how the more things change, the more they stay the same. This is a film about people protesting injustice. They are enraged by a clearly corrupt government that performs illegal acts all-but in the open. (Rumblings of Watergate are all over the story.) Young people take to the street to protest and are attacked and beaten by a belligerent, actively hostile police force. Authority figures do everything in their power to silence these voices. Furthermore, racial tension and racism inform the entire plot. These things were true in 1968 and they were true In 2020.

At times, it really works. When recreating the riots, the film truly hits in the heart. The intensity ramps up, the violence goes down. You, the viewer, start to feel angry about the horrible abuses of power that happened then and continue to happen now. Yet, other times, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is hopelessly self-absorbed in its own importance. The film swells with feeling when Bobby Seale, repeatedly denied a chance to defend himself, is gagged and chained like a slave before the court. Judge Hoffman – no relation to Abbie – is depicted as a cartoonishly evil stuffy old man. The emotional finale of the movie has Hayden reading off the names of men who died in Vietnam. This is a movie full of big declarations and huge feelings. It is eye-rolling and self-indulgent just as often as it works.

But I get why some people love Sorkin so much. The dude writes parts for actors full of theatrical emotion and sharp dialogue. This is great for someone like John Carroll Lynch – as Dellinger – or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, as Seale. These are subtle actors who largely underplay it, making their big displays of emotion extra meaningful. For performers like Sacha Baron Cohen and Frank Langella, as the two very different Hoffmans, it's a chance to overact in gloriously entertaining ways. Cohen, who has been wringing laughs out of upsetting the squares his whole life, is especially on-the-nose casting. It's very theatrical, perhaps going against the movie's status as a recreation of historical events, but it's worth watching.

At least Eddie Redmayne, usually an obnoxiously showy actor, actually underplays it to some success as Hayden. Ultimately, “The Trial of Chicago 7” occasionally works really well. When mining feelings about recent events when depicting past events, it's very successful. Yet you can't ignore the overwhelmingly Sorkininess of it all. This is a movie is undeniably high on its own supply and that style can only go on so long before it becomes self-indulgent. No, I'm not surprise a movie like this would catch the Academy's attention. While highly entertaining and momentarily stirring, “The Trial of the Chicago 7's” need to show-off is at odds with its desire to bring reality to life. [6/10]