Coming off his directorial debut Molly’s Game, Aaron Sorkin is back expanding his focus from a deeply personal character study to the capturing of a far larger injustice within The Trial of the Chicago 7. Focusing on the true unjust and controversial trial of a group of men who have been charged with conspiracy after a set of peaceful riots turned violent, the film stands out as hauntingly relevant and powerful. Yet as the runtime advances it also becomes clear that the film is unwilling to step up to the next level of depth within this conversation.
Being not just a directorial effort from Aaron Sorkin but also an original screenplay, it should come as no surprise that the dialogue is incredibly well crafted and engaging. Where Sorkin’s screenplays have thrived in the past by finding larger emotions within smaller personal stories, The Trial of the Chicago 7 stands as a much grander and larger narrative.
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There are nearly a dozen perspectives that trade the focus of the film all held together by the events of the trial and various stories that come naturally through these events. Despite this complex and large collection of perspectives, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is overall smooth in its structure, never feeling like the narrative size got in the way of its effectiveness. The screenplay also continues Sorkin’s tradition of having face paced and witty dialogue that is able to suck audiences into the drama without trivializing it’s content.
It does greatly help that the ensemble that the film builds is flawless and powerful. Every single actor is delivering a well crafted and inspired performance. The casting is perfect with every character naturally playing into the strengths of their actors, allowing the performances to feel realistic and effortless.
Where there are undoubtedly the loud moments of yelling and comedy, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is also a film that thrives in it’s quiet sense of overwhelming dread. Specifically in the performance from Eddie Redmayne, the film has the confidence and skill to slow things down and have characters meditate and think on their situation. Finding out just how deep in the rabbit hole they have found themselves. The overwhelming sensation of the enemy these men find themselves across the ring from subtlety builds and grows in an effective and haunting matter.
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This is the point where the social relevance floods into the film. It is impossible to hear a conversation regarding peaceful protests being turned violence, and the unfair hostility of the police, and not immediately connect the dots to the modern day conversation surrounding the same subject. It is depressingly haunting to hear the lack of development in the conversations between 1969 and 2020, and it is this connection that pushes The Trial of the Chicago 7 to be one of the most relevant films of the year.
Yet it is also this connection that sadly makes the film feel underdeveloped at times. Despite having a substantial 129-minute runtime, it feels as if the film could have used another 30-minutes of runtime to flesh out multiple of the conversations within the film.
The characters of Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella) all clearly have nuanced and complex motivations. Yet all sadly fail to be given the correct times and scenes to fully flesh out their motivations. And the conversation itself surrounding the protests feels generally basic. By framing the conversation in a court of law, the debate over the morals of the protests and the resulting violence is defined by its legality rather than purpose.
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Where the film feels relevant and it touches on incredibly powerful topics, it never feels like The Trial of the Chicago 7 uses its talents to say something truly inspired or unique. There is a distinct lack of nuance within the film’s narrative which has already been surpassed by the global news cycle due to recent events.
It is hard to fully fault the film for this as the shooting finished before the current day Black Lives Matter protests and resurgence in the moral debate of violent protests. But it undeniably will affect the viewing experience of the film for plenty of audience members.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 might not be the most revolutionary film of the year when it comes to thesis, but its craft and basic effectiveness is undeniable. There are countless thoughtful moments and choices both by those on screen and behind the camera which builds a really solid feature overall. Even if the story doesn’t quite hit the lasting gut punch that it should.
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