Let the line for the best films of the year line up behind this one.
During the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, many riots ensue and now, eight men, from different peaceful organizations are put on trial. And it is a long and bizarre trial with a prejudice and slightly senial judge, Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella). He makes it harder and harder for defense counsel (the great Mark Rylance and Ben Shankman) to get anywhere with cross-examination and he is especially cruel to the lone African American defendant, Bobby Sears's (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's) attorney is in the hospital but he isn't allowed to defend himself, which is just ridiculous, and there are plenty of twists and turns along the way, including what defendant Abbie Hoffman (the shockingly great Sacha Baron Cohen) insists is true from the beginning, this is a political trial and it is, though the jury won't know it as the key witness, the former attorney general under President Johnson who found that the police started the riots but now that Nixon is President, things are different. And then there is the real reason so many were hurt in Chicago, the police cracked open Rennie Davis's (Alex Sharp's) skull. He works for the Student for a Democratic Society and it inspires Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) to get super pissed off, and everything went south quickly. Police brutality is nothing new, it's been happening for decades, and they were just trying to peacefully protest the Vietnam War.
Aaron Sorkin is an Academy Award winning screenwriter and this is certainly one of his best films, condensing a ridiculously long trial into something palatable without missing a beat, or really anything important, wrapping everything up nicely in the end, though the happy isn't necessarily a happy one but it does show that the prosecution's attorney, Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) does have a heart. Each character (out of the main characters) is crafted with a distinct personality and is brilliant. The acting is impeccable and nothing seems to be out of place, editing in actual news footage flawlessly. This is not a film to be missed. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-John Carroll Lynch, as a life-long pacifist, Jeremy Strong as Abbie's right-hand man who falls in love with a mole, and the lesser known Noah Robbins and Daniel Flaherty finish out the Chicago 7.
-Schultz does convince the judge to declare a mistrial for Bobby Sears, which is only fair considering he was only in the city for four hours.
-Pay attention for a small role from Kelvin Harrison, Jr as Fred Hampton, the leader of the Chicago branch of the Black Panthers.
-Two of the sympathetic jurors are sent threatening notes allegedly from the Black Panthers, though that is a bunch of hogwash. That mystery is never solved.
-There are some great lines in this film, my favorite is probably Lynch's David Dellinger telling Abbie that of course he has money on him, he's a grown man.
-Michael Keaton also has a killer cameo, even though he basically portrays the same character as he does in Spotlight, another superb film.
-The lead defense counsel, Bill Kunstler is charged with twenty-four counts of contempt of court throughout this trial.
-A five month recovery from a gallbladder surgery is very long.
-It should never be okay for a defendant to have to appear in court bound and gagged, that is just appalling.
-Tom Hayden would eventually go out to be a representative and would also marry and cheat on the lovely Jane Fonda.
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