The Trial of the Chicago 7 Review

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a new film by Aaron Sorkin, writer of such films and television series as The West Wing, A Few Good Men and The Social Network. In The Trial of the Chicago 7, he also takes on a directing role as well, and brings to life the story of one of American history’s most infamous court cases.

In August 1968, leftist groups across the country, having been disillusioned by the Democratic Party’s ability to nominate a compelling candidate in opposition to the Republican nominee Richard Nixon, led a massive protest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. This event, which was supposed to be a peaceful one, eventually broke out into violence in the form of police riots.

What the film covers is the ensuing trial, as eight prominent leftist figures are arrested and charged with conspiracy to start riots. The proceeding court case included several elements that betrayed it as the result of intentional corruption within the judiciary, with a judge that was openly hostile to the defendants, key witnesses and testimonies being barred from the jury, and one of the defendants, Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, being tried without legal representation whatsoever.

The film is, from a narrative perspective, quite good. Its witty dialogue and energetic editing style make it highly engaging, and the themes of corruption and direct political action are strong throughout. The camerawork is fairly standard, but it’s made up for in the strength of its writing, pacing and acting. The cast, which includes Eddie Redmayne (whom I normally dislike), Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Michael Keaton all do a really good job here, and most of them are given plenty of opportunities to shine.

The story bounces through a ton of events, characters and perspectives, and even in its two hour and ten minute runtime it feels like it very nearly bursts at the seams, but Sorkin’s script does an excellent job of fleshing out almost all of it, and while I think some of it falters – Eddie Redmayne’s Tom Hayden’s arc feels particularly rushed in the end – I think far more of it is handled well.

As much praise as I could give it, though, I do think there are some key ways in which The Trial of the Chicago 7 falls flat. When we’re talking about adapting stories as comparatively modern and politically charged as this, it is incredibly important to emphasize why these stories are relevant and what we can learn from them being retold. While it’s fairly obvious what the parallels between the events of this film and the current day are – and I suspect Aaron Sorkin was counting on us recognizing them – it doesn’t do nearly as good a job as I’d like at thoroughly exploring these parallels.

The film seems to treat this story as an isolated event rather than a part of the complex and ongoing political struggle that has been occurring in this country for most if not all of its recent history. There’s a line in the film where Sacha Baron Cohen’s Abbie Hoffman, when asked if he feels contempt for his government, responds that he thinks the systems of our democracy are wonderful things currently inhabited by vile people. If it truly was the people and not the system that were bad, then why do situations like this keep happening? Why have we spent the last four years in the same boat? The Trial of the Chicago 7 has no answers to these questions because it doesn’t even think to fully ask them.

As a film and as a dramatization of a historic event, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is very, very good. I predict it will be nominated quite a lot at this year’s Oscars, and it may even deserve a couple of them – as I mentioned before, its writing and editing were particularly good. But, if Aaron Sorkin intended – as I suspect he did – to get us to consider the parallels between our current political situation and past events, then I don’t think it digs deep enough to truly deliver any real insight. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a good film, but a wasted opportunity at truly profound political commentary.