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For a movie to be considered an awards level movie it needs to have at least the following: awesome cast, a compelling story and Aaron Sorkin writing the script. For this reason, I believed The Trial of the Chicago 7 would be an easy contender for next year's best picture. The Trial of the Chicago 7 will premiere in the United States on October 16th, 2020 on Netflix. The film is based on the true story of the "Chicago Seven, a group of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy in 1969 and 1970, inciting to riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and counterculture protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois, on the occasion of the 1968 Democratic National Convention."
After watching the movie, I can tell you that while it's incredibly well filmed, written and acted I also was left a little disappointed. This isn't to say I thought the movie was bad. Not at all actually, that's the problem when you have a talent like Sorkin making movies. It's all about how you handle expectations and maybe for me I let myself down on this one but I can't help but feel that the flaws I had were valid. For the record however, this review like all my other reviews will be kept spoiler free. For this movie in particular, it may be hard to convey certain issues I had but I will do my best.
To begin with let's start with the positives and how do we not start with anything other than Aaron Sorkin I mean wow can this guy write a scene? Famous for writing movies such as The Social Network and Moneyball, Sorkin yet again is able to make a boring conversation seem so interesting and compelling. He has the remarkable talent to take the most boring person in the world and make him compelling and interesting. (Mark Zuckerberg anyone?) This film is no different, Sorkin has again proved he knows storytelling and he knows what makes for a meaningful conversation. On the flip side of that the directing is well done as well. Sorkin incorporates an interesting filming style of filming characters talking from far away but close enough to see their body movements and mouths talk. While this may seem jarring, I promise once you see the film it actually is quite genius. With that, he also incorporates what seems to be original footage from the real life riots that don't take away but actually adds to the gravity and brutality of the riots. Another positive is the cast and for me the stars of the film are Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance and Jeremy Strong. The other cast members were great as well but these three stole the show for me.
Unfortunately, even though I liked the movie and believe me I did enjoy it, I also have to be honest and explain that there were elements in this film that just didn't work for me. For one, Sorkin unfortunately tries to add elements to the film that are seen in The Social Network. He constantly is showing things that are in the past and then the present day. While it works for The Social Network, for me it was incredibly jarring and unnecessary for this film. Another negative for me happens to be one that is unavoidable when you tell this story and it's that of Yahya Abdul-Mateen's character Bobby Seale. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Yahya Abdul-Mateen and he was the thing I was looking forward to most but his character and the reasoning for his character to be there was confusing and almost pointless with how the film concludes. This leads me to my biggest issue with the movie and its that the filmmakers almost expected you to know the ins and outs of this story before going in and watching it. For me, I didn't know much going in and although I don't expect the filmmaker to force feed me exposition and explain every detail, you do have to help the audience understand what the overall story was by the end of the movie and even though for the most part you will, there are things that are still unexplained and confusing.
To be fair to Sorkin and the film however, this is a good movie and I think most people will like it for the most part. The movie has exceptional things about it and it executes certain scenes excellently but there are also a few head scratches here and there. Look, is this Sorkin's greatest work? No, not in my opinion but film is subjective and others might think differently. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a film that is by no means perfect, but it tells an interesting story and is worthy of a watch in my opinion.
Grade: B