Ahead of the 2021 awards season, I wanted to watch and review as many of the hotly tipped favourites as I could in order to get a sense of who could be in line to snag the industry's top prizes. First up is The Trail of the Chicago 7, starring Eddie Redmayne, Sasha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Alex Sharp, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, John Carroll Lynch, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Mark Rylance and Ben Shenkman. Since its release on Netflix in October 2020, Aaron Sorkin's political drama has garnered praise from audiences and critics alike, and is seen as one of the key front runners in this years awards race.
Set in 1969, the film looks at the fallout from the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and the show trial which occurred thereafter. Many groups of activists had descended on Chicago to peacefully protest America's involvement in the Vietnam War during the convention, but were met by a heavy police presence and violence escolated. In spite of a general belief that the violence had been incited by the Chicago police and not the protesters, seven men, most of whom were leaders of numerous anti-Vietnam War groups, were charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots. In addition to these men, Black Panther Party leader Bobby Seale (Abdul-Mateen) was also charged, in spite of only being in Chicago for 4 hours the day of the riots. The film follows the process of the defendant's trial, and looks at the obstacles which were placed in their way, and the heavy government and political interference which came with the case. The story is a fascinating and inspirational one, and will often leave you in disbelief as to how a group of people can be tried for their beliefs, as opposed to anything they have done.
The film is excellent, with stunning writing and incredible performances. I was utterly astounded at just how brilliant Sasha Baron Cohen was in his performance as Abbie Hoffman, with the stand out scene of the film being when Hoffman delivers his testimony from the witness box. Visually I can't fault it, and while the 1960s aesthetic of the film is maintained throughout its runtime, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the story and the debacles of the trail had been plucked straight from today's headlines. The cry of "the whole world is watching" is echoed throughout the film and is eerily reminiscent of protests which occurred in America last summer and the Capital Hill riots in January.
If there is one place where I can criticise the film it's the ending. For me, it felt slightly rushed and while I did enjoy the concluding scene, it felt like we had come to that conclusion very sharply and without warning, with many major details being left out and requiring a google search after just to fully understand how the trial came to a close.
All in all, I think the film is well worth a watch as it is equally entertaining and educational. As far as its awards prospects, it might still be too early to call but I will be very surprised if anyone can out pass Sasha Baron Cohen for the Best Supporting Actor award, and that is undoubtedly a sentence I'd never thought I'd see myself saying!
Love the review of this film, convinced me to watch it immediately