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 The Trial of the Chicago 7 

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 The Trial of the Chicago 7 
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KJ's Leading Idiot

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:15 pm
Posts: 36949
Post The Trial of the Chicago 7
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The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a 2020 American historical legal drama film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. The film follows the Chicago Seven, a group of anti-Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It features an ensemble cast that includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Daniel Flaherty, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Noah Robbins, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp, and Jeremy Strong.

Sorkin originally wrote the screenplay in 2007, with the intent of Steven Spielberg directing the film with mostly unknown actors. After the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike and budget concerns forced Spielberg to drop out as director, Sorkin was announced as director in October 2018, and much of the cast joined that same month.[3] Filming took place in the fall of 2019 in Chicago and around New Jersey.

Originally planned for a theatrical release by Paramount Pictures, the distribution rights to the film were sold to Netflix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released in select theaters on September 25, 2020, and began streaming digitally on Netflix on October 16, 2020. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances, the screenplay, and the modern parallels to the 1960s.


Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:35 pm
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Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:48 pm
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Location: Houston, Texas
Post Re: The Trial of the Chicago 7
This ended up being pretty great. Fantastic performances all around, but to me the biggest standouts were Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, John Carrol Lynch, Mark Rylance and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Frank Langella was great too, because you really despised him and it was cool seeing Michael Keaton in his brief role. I wanted way more scenes with Yahya's Bobby Seale though, because to me he stole the show the most.

B+


Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:33 pm
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Rachel McAdams Fan

Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am
Posts: 14622
Location: LA / NYC
Post Re: The Trial of the Chicago 7
Really strong performances across the board but felt a little pedestrian filmmaking wise. The flashbacks to the actual riot are the most exciting scenes. And the very end is total cheese. B


Sat Oct 24, 2020 12:56 pm
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KJ's Leading Idiot

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:15 pm
Posts: 36949
Post Re: The Trial of the Chicago 7
The performances are really strong across the board but a majority of things happen by what the characters say rather than what's on screen. I understand going in to the movie that its a Sorkin movie so it will be heavy on dialogues because that's his strength but given the nature of the movie I felt the lack of riot scenes brings this down, in hands of a more experienced director this would have been a classic movie. The court room drama needed more tension only Bobby Seale's bickering with the judge leaves an impression. The story overall is great and I felt it was the right decision to explore things from the court room rather than showing them from the beginning.

B


Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:41 am
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The Kramer
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Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:36 am
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Location: Classified
Post Re: The Trial of the Chicago 7
My goodness that last scene took oscar bait cringe to the next level. A guy defies the very conservative judge to a standing ovation while all the old folks shout about "demanding order in my court!!!" It's the exact sort of 'stick it to the man so long as the man being stuck isn't me' type of shit that old rich people love. Thus it is the oscar bait standard, but not so much for me.

The rest of the movie isn't that bad, but it also isn't that good either. I was wavering back and forth between it being a B-/C+ throughout, respecting the performances and the relevance while also losing interest in the story. Maybe it hits different if you were alive during that era, I don't know. The ending brings it down to a C/C- type of film though.

Another issue, in the movie the judge/bad lawyers mention that these people are gonna be spending their 30s in prison. Yet they cast 50 year olds like Sacha Baron Cohen in these roles. What up with that?


Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:14 pm
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KJ's Leading Idiot

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:15 pm
Posts: 36949
Post Re: The Trial of the Chicago 7
Small Axe: Mangrove handles similar subject so much better. I've come down on this a lot after watching Mangrove but the performances are what elevates this movie.


Tue Feb 09, 2021 7:13 pm
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Keeping it Light
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Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am
Posts: 11629
Location: Bright Falls
Post Re: The Trial of the Chicago 7
There isn't really anything to fault this on, it has a great cast, Redmayne stood out the most for me, but I liked everyone and it's neatly directed by Sorkin. It's a page in American history I didn't know anything about really and in other hands this could end up boring, but it's a very flashy film and it's interesting from start to finish. At the same time it felt like missing something and if it was another year I'd say it's a step below the awards films, but among last year it's just one of the better films to come out.

B+


Fri Feb 26, 2021 1:24 am
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