The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin)

[Philip J. Fry]

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Netflix

[Irish]

Enjoyed on a superficial level, which is the only way I think it can be enjoyed.

A++ for the snappy Sorkin dialogue and the charisma of the cast (particularly Rylance, Cohen, and Keaton).

D- for the reductive and perpetually mealy-mouthed Sorkin politics.

Sorkin isn't a good filmmaker, or even a good writer. 100 years ago he would have a comfortable career in vaudville or speechwriting (same thing, really) and never escaped the midwest. Today he makes movies for Netflix.

[[ETM]]

I can't get over how there's barely an American in the main cast.

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[Peng]

As non-American, I can't attest to the betrayal of various real-life figures' politics here while watching. After some reading, I can see how many will feel legitimately appalling if I knew about them beforehand, but even watching it while lacking the historical facts, I can already see some centrist traces of those complaints in-film, in how these supposedly diverse groups eventually all become almost too one (Sorkinese) viewpoint; Hoffman and Dellinger especially seem neutered from the beginning in opposite directions to arrive at contrived dramatic arcs by the end. Still, as a piece of Sorkin's rhythmic dialogue theatrics, this story with this cast prove pretty engrossing. The overlapped relevance -- not just in America but in Thai unrest this year -- can't help but feel galvanizing to me, even if as usual with Sorkin's films he directs himself, his signature writing style battles mightily with his play-to-the-cheap-seats directorial instincts (the much derided gavel-banging scene, of course, but also Dellinger's family reaction at one point, in which its overwroughtness verges on parody). 7.5/10

[Ezee E]

This almost feels like a Sorkins' Greatest Hits album. Certain dialog seems lifted right from other movies.

[amberlita]

This almost feels like a Sorkins' Greatest Hits album. Certain dialog seems lifted right from other movies.

He's pretty well known for this.

[Ezee E]

He's pretty well known for this.

It's terrible once you pick up on it. I was writing christmas cards while watching, and went, "Wait, this exact line was in Social Network."