It is a testament to Sorkin’s pen and the actors involved that even if he’s not much of a director, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is absolutely riveting
It opens on Lyndon Johnson footage—and proceeds to engage all the players in a sort of round-up montage all before the opening titles.
Cutting, rat-a-tat trademark Sorkin dialogue- “apparently I’m paying you for your wisdom”
Since 1992 with A Few Good Men (this too, an engaging legal drama)- Sorkin has been one of the best screenwriters and writers of dialogue period- and this does not disappoint.
Every character in the cast speaks in Sorkin. It isn’t reality- but that’s ok- Wilder, Woody, Bergman all write the same way. Everyone comes off as strikingly clever
The ensemble amazes all the way on down – Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance—but nobody comes away looking better than Sacha Baron Cohen. He’ll go down being known for Borat—but what a role for him here. Certainly a best supporting actor should be coming.
Sorkin uses Abbie Hoffman’s (played by Baron Cohen) stand-up comedy to intertwine with a flashback and court testimony in another well-edited sequence
The finale is weak. It is as if Sorkin doesn’t trust the writing and the performance enough so he has to pump in the emotion with the swelling music- it cuts the legs out from under the scene
Recommend but not a top 10 of the year quality film. I hate comparing films like this but Sorkin’s lack of visual prowess is in sharp contrast to fellow screenwriter-of-a-generation-like talent Charlie Kaufman and his 2020 film I’m Thinking of Ending Things
I had built a lot of good faith in this film until the finale. I cringed the moment that music cue cut in so suddenly, it felt like such a jarring contrast to everything else. But credit where it’s due, I really admired the editing, dialogue and performances here.
I had built a lot of good faith in this film until the finale. I cringed the moment that music cue cut in so suddenly, it felt like such a jarring contrast to everything else. But credit where it’s due, I really admired the editing, dialogue and performances here.
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