The Trial of the Chicago 7

I've got a busy week planned full of movies I've put off till now. So let's go. First on the docket is The Trial of the Chicago 7. Steven Spielberg was supposed to direct Aaron Sorkin's script about a decade ago. But we now have Sorkin himself directing his own script. 

The Chicago 7 stand accused of inciting the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins) and John Froines (Daniel Flaherty) are the seven. Their eighth, unofficial member is Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). All are represented, officially or not, by William Kunstler (Mark Rylance). US Attorney General John Mitchell (John Doman) wants to make examples out of the "leftist radicals". Judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella) is ready to convict them. "The whole world is watching" as the protestors put it.

You can already tell this is a heavy ensemble film. 

So let's get down to highlighting the best. Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman gets the funniest lines and moments. He also proves himself perhaps the most insightful of the 7. Strong as Rubin is also funny and proves himself a good man. The most compelling characters are Dellinger, Hayden, Kunstler and especially, Seale. We see how none of them wanted trouble, but trouble wanted them.

Judge Hoffman runs the gamut from arrogant incompetence to arrogant callousness. Prosecutors Richard Schultz and Thomas Foran (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and JC MacKenzie) show themselves as good guys despite their positions. Michael Keaton gets a good cameo as former Attorney General and star witness Ramsey Clark. The characters I mentioned are a memorable bunch. I can go on, but I won't.

The film opens with the eight defendants preparing for Chicago. Editor Alan Baumgarten goes back and forth between them, often having them finish each others' sentences, while we see news of the 60s. The trial comes after that. It's only in flashbacks much later that we see the protests and the riots in Chicago. The film spares no one from the chaos of those scenes. Or the slowness of much of the trial. 

The Trial of the Chicago 7 came out during a weird year. I finally saw it during another. It gives you a lot to think about over 130 minutes. It's got a fine bunch of actors though some stand taller than others. It's ready to watch on Netflix. Chances are, it'll still be there by April.