Ty Watches "The Trial of the Chicago 7"

Continuing my quest to watch historical movies, last night I finished “The Trial of the Chicago 7”.

It was great. I really enjoyed this movie. I know it may be weird to use the word “enjoy”, but that’s what I felt. There was a difference from this movie as compared to “Judas and the Black Messiah”. “Judas and the Black Messiah” was a better movie in my opinion, but it was bleak. That’s because it is more realistic, and it ended tragically. I know both movies are based on true stories, but “Judas and the Black Messiah” felt more real. But “The Trial of the Chicago 7” starts fast, moves fast, intertwines the multiple storylines fast and ends fast. It was a very quick 2 hours and 10 minutes, and I appreciated that.

The cast is great in this film too. John Carroll Lynch was dynamite as the conscientious objector and soft spoken father and husband. Yahya Abdul Mateen II was perfectly cast as Bobby Seale. He was a force. The three main lawyers, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ben Shenkman and Mark Rylance did wonderful. I appreciated that Gordon Levitt didn’t have a “white savior” moment either. He played a republican lawyer, and he didn’t really change his attitude too much throughout the movie. Frank Langella was a monster, a racist and mean. He nailed the judge, and this judge was truly a monster. Eddie Redmayne and Alex Sharp were very good, especially Redmayne, as the young and opportunistic student democrats leader. Michael Keaton was spectacular in his five minutes on screen. But for me the true stars were Jeremy Strong as Jerry Rubin, and especially Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman. They knocked their roles completely out of the park. Strong was a perfect hippy, who happened to be extremely smart. He had some of the best lines, he was funny at moments and he really sounded and looked and acted like a hippy. I totally bought it. Cohen, he was a revelation. I know he can act. I’ve seen both “Borat” movies. I’ve watched his shows. He is good in bit parts in other stuff. But here he got to show his dramatic side, and man was he great. His line, “I’ve never been on trial for my thoughts” was powerful. I was stunned at how great he was in this role. He brought Abbie Hoffman back to life. It helped that he got to be a bit comedic, but when drama was needed, he nailed it. Delroy Lindo or Daniel Kaluuya deserve the Oscar, but Cohen is a very close third. The movie was so well done too.

The actors were great, as mentioned, but so was the writing and directing and recreating of this pivotal moment in American history. They showed the good and bad. They put in real footage with their shot footage, and it worked. The recreation of interviews and meetings and court scenes was great. The stories jumping back and forth in time was a great way to keep the story moving. I have no bad things to say about this movie. It is worth the hype. It lives up to it. It is a very well made movie that hits all the criteria for an Oscar worthy movie.

As I said, I think “Judas and the Black Messiah” is a better movie about this time period. But, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is no slouch, just a different perspective. Watch this movie too. It is also a very important one.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.