The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, John Carroll Lynch, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Frank Lengella, and more.

The Intro:
Oscar season has begun! Making a strong case is the new Netflix exclusive, “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” This film tells the story involving the uprising during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Bolstering some pretty big names both in front of the screen and behind, I was pretty on board from the first look of the trailer.

IMDB Summary:
“The story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.”

The Oberrating:
I was quite impressed with this flick. The story carries its dramatic and thrilling tag quite well. Enough that it kept me invested in the film during its entire duration. This is much to the efforts of the performances by quite literally everyone. The good guys had me cheering and rooting for them and the bad guys were so despicable and got my blood boiling. Carrying the torch for the good guys is easily Sacha Baron Cohen. My lord, he was excellent. As comedic as he was, his character was the real deal and telling it how it was. Additionally, Yahya Abdul-Mateen performed his ass off. The pain that was trajected from his performance was felt, and it symbolized, I imagine, the very pain African Americans feel today. Between Cohen and Mateen, my goodness, let us get those nominations ready.
Vice versa, Frank Langella plays as Judge Jullius Hoffman, and if there was any symbol of evil, it was this man – at least from how the film portrays him. Langella gave us a disgusting and unfit to preside judge and all I wanted was retribution for the Chicago 7 (8). Excellent antagonist performance by Langella.

As I said prior, the story is excellent. It was entertaining to watch it unfold as far as raw film storytelling goes. Whether you have a side to the actual historic event or not, neutrally viewed, it was a well done story.

The Wrap-Up:
I do not like to rate historical films like this higher than a 4/5. Aside from historians and people who actively research and learn about the events, most people do not know the nitty gritty details. Those are typically left out of films for more reasons than one. So basing it off of the film experience, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” was rock solid and one not to be forgotten.

Rating: 4/5