CinemaNerdz

Movie Review: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Mike Tyrkus

Over half a century has passed since the events portrayed in the outstanding courtroom drama from Netflix, The Trial of the Chicago 7, took place and, given the current politically charged times, our relationship with authority and authoritarian rule hasn’t gotten any less prickly.

When first envisioned, the protest accompanying the Democratic National Convention in 1968, was intended to be a peaceful protest of the war in Vietnam. But, as most protests of the period went, this one quickly turned violent as police and members of the National Guard used force and violence to quell a supposed riot. The accused organizers of the alleged riot—who included Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Les Weiner, and Bobby Seale—were subsequently charged with conspiracy and inciting a riot, resulting in one of the most infamous trials in American history.

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, the film is a showcase of everything that is exceptional about Sorkin’s work. There is the obvious way with dialogue that the man has, but this is also a movie that showcases his growth as a filmmaker more so than his previous directorial offering, Molly’s Game (2017). Throughout the film’s two-hour plus running time, there is a sharp, quickness that is, at the same time, indicative of Sorkin’s other work and something that heralds a gifted director quietly developing a mastery of his craft.

Starting amidst the disarray that was the norm in politically-charged 1968, the film quickly introduces all of the players that will quickly become household names across America. Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp), and Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) are all afforded succinct backstories that sufficiently setup the roles they will play as the film rolls along.

Sacha Baron Cohen (right) in “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

The remarkable tactic utilized here though is that the film doesn’t follow a chronological timeline of introducing the players, then showing the event, then progressing to the trial, and finally examining the aftermath. Instead, Sorkin chooses, with the help of Alan Baumgarten’s editing, to essentially jump cut the movie several months after the riots and opt to tell the story through dialogue and several visceral flashbacks that prove far more effective than any type of linear storytelling might have accomplished. Stellar cinematography by Phedon Papamichael gives the film a definitive vibe from the seventies that is probably only missing the grainy films tock that would complete the illusion of this being some sort of time capsule relic rather than a contemporary film about history.

Even though the film bespeaks of Sorkin’s work as writer/director, it is clearly a project that would be nowhere near as impressive or entertaining as it is without the stellar cast assembled to bring it to life. In addition to the aforementioned players, of whom Cohen and Redmayne are exceptional standouts, the film boasts notable performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Richard Schultz, the man prosecuting the protestors; Mark Rylance as William Kunstler, the primary attorney for the seven; Michael Keaton as former Attorney General Ramsey Clark; and a tour de force performance from Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman, who appears to be falling into the abyss of incompetence just after the commencement of the trial’s opening remarks.

Although it is only Sorkin’s second film at the helm, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is easily his best (so far at least) and clearly makes one eager for his next offering, it whatever form it may take.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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