The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Trial of the Chicago 7
Starring Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Rylance, Frank Langella
Directed by Aaron Sorkin

It's often a gamble to involve a load of A-list celebrities in one film, with the outcome usually siding on the disastrous side than the marvelous. Films like "Movie 43," "Rock of Ages," "Valentine's Day," "New Year's Eve," and "Mother's Day" were filled to the brim with actors and actresses who are world renown, but the final product was, simply, atrocious. Yet there's other films like all the "Avengers" films, "The Lord of the Rings," "Spotlight," "Knives Out," and many others that were hugely successful and acclaimed due to the indelible talents on screen (and the precise artistry off-screen). When it comes to a true-life story, throwing in a vast, talented cast sounds like a good idea, and with "The Trial of the Chicago 7," was indeed just that - a grand idea, producing a film that's surprisingly timely given it occurred in the 1960s, filled to the brim with some of cinema's most talented actors, with one of cinema's most powerful and skillful directors and writers behind the scenes.

In August of 1968, Students for a Democratic Society leaders Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Reenie Davis (Alex Sharp) joined with Youth International Party leaders Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), along with National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam founder David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), founder of the Black Panthers Party Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins) and John Froines (Daniel Flaherty) to hold peaceful protests in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention to protest the ongoing War in Vietnam. The results were anything but peaceful, as the protestors clashed with the Chicago Police Department on several occasions, resulting in violence in the streets, mostly at the hands of the police force, and leading to the arrest of the eight men.

The men were put on trial to serve as a deterrent for anyone else objecting to Nixon's Vietnam War. William Kunstler (Mark Rylance) and Leonard Weinglass (Ben Shenkman) were brought on to defend the men, except for Seale, whose lawyer was undergoing gallbladder surgery but was still denied a later court date. The trial was overseen by Judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella), who obviously held the men with low regard and already seemingly had found the men guilty in his own mind, so much so that he attempted time and again to sway the jury and disregard Kunstler's objections, resulting in the lawyer receiving over twenty contempt of court citations. As the trial progressed, information comes to light, but will it be something the jury will hear, or will the men be found guilty due to a corrupt system?

"The Trial of the Chicago 7" is a timely film in that in today's hectic, chaotic political climate, it'll be easy to relate to these men and their plans to host a peaceful protest to combat a highly corrupt political system, and to see them get railroaded by such a system that relies on silence and obedience over anything else. The film is one that'll easily anger many people, as you think to yourself that the events that take place in the courtroom had to be exaggerated for the big screen - and in some, very small instances, that's exactly what happened; but surprisingly most of the outlandish things that happened in the film actually happened in the real courtroom, and during the entire film I thought of two different things, one of which is the textbook definition of what happened, and the other is a reference from a surprising movie source.

"A kangaroo court is defined as a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice and often carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides. A kangaroo court may ignore due process and come to a predetermined conclusion. The term may also apply to a court held by a legitimate judicial authority which intentionally disregards the court's legal or ethical objections" (wikipedia). Some infamous examples of this include the People's Court of Nazi Germany and the People's Revolutionary Tribunal in Cambodia, and to a much lesser extent (because in this case no one was killed) the case of the Chicago 7 would easily fall under that category, with some differences. The court itself was sanctioned and had official standing, but this trial did ignore due process, came to a predetermined conclusion, and intentionally disregarded the legal and ethical objections, especially when it came to Bobby Seale. The real Judge Hoffman - much like the pitch-perfect performance by Frank Langella - was incredibly inept to be the judge for such a trial. He already had the men guilty in his mind, and repeatedly blocked Kuntsler's objections and didn't allow an important witness to be heard by the jury due to his shattering revelation. He often talked back to the defendants, undermined their intelligence, and interrupted proceedings even by the prosecution, and what he did to Bobby Seale was inexcusable and abhorrent. There's very few villains in films I loathed, and Judge Hoffman is one of them.

Throughout the film the Judge often asked if the defendants had contempt for the court, and would often pass out contempt of court citations like a friendly neighbor would hand out candy to kids on Halloween, which led me to expect one of the defendants to defiantly say "I have nothing BUT contempt for this court," and I thought to myself that I heard that phrase before, but couldn't remember where. Digging through Google, I found where I heard it before: the 1986 animated film "The Transformers Movie," when Hot Rod and Kup were being tried in a Quintesson courtroom where pretty much if you're found either guilty or innocent you were put to death (another kangaroo court, so to speak), and when a Quintesson scolded Hot Rod and Kup by saying if they spoke again they'd be held in contempt, Hot Rod stated, "I have nothing BUT contempt for this court." So basically I associated a kids' movie with this film, which is just an odd thing I wanted to add.

When it comes to the performances, there wasn't a weak link among the bunch. Eddie Redmayne plays Tom Hayden with a firm steadfastness and intellectual calm. Sacha Baron Cohen (who just received a Golden Globe nomination, and I wouldn't be surprised if Oscar comes knocking) blows it out of the park as the Youth International Party founder Abbie Hoffman, who was a stoner who seemed unintelligent but held a surprising amount of intelligence. Alex Sharp, Jeremy Strong, John Carroll Lynch, Noah Robbins and Daniel Flaherty all performed admirably as well, especially Strong's Jerry Rubin. Mark Rylance proves again that he's one of the best actors in the field, while Langella - as stated earlier - portrayed a real-life villain in such an evil, villainous way. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II gives a chilling performance as Bobby Seale, who suffered the most injustice out of everyone on trial. Even Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Keaton provide scene-chewing performances in their smaller roles. With director/writer Aaron Sorkin behind the scenes, you've got a film that demands to be seen - a film that'll easily stand the test of time.

Combining a timely true miscarriage of justice with a cast who fully supports and gives their all for the project - along with a consummate director - "The Trial of the Chicago 7" rises above typical courtroom dramas and fills the screen with important thoughts and lessons about the counter-culture that needs to stand against the tyranny of the elite.

The Score: A+