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# When Nixon Tried to Blame Police Riots on Left-Wing Activists
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/chicago-seven-netflix-aaron-sorkin/
- Published: 2020-10-16T14:16:24.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:06:24.000Z
- Description: Writer/director Aaron Sorkin proves an ill fit to write and direct The Trial of the Chicago 7.
- Author: Dan Schindel
- Tags: Film, Capsule Reviews, Netflix, Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:08 (2019, 2020, part 3)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/chicago-7-scaled-e1602776147858.jpg)

In 1969, [eight left-wing activists went to federal court](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago%5FSeven?ref=hyperallergic.com), accused of inciting [the mass uprising that accompanied the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968%5FDemocratic%5FNational%5FConvention%5Fprotest%5Factivity?ref=hyperallergic.com). Now, Netflix presents a fictionalized take on these events, *The Trial of the Chicago 7,* written and directed by liberal darling Aaron Sorkin. But despite supposedly being one of the most politically perspicacious writers in the US, Sorkin [had never heard of this historical episode before being approached about this film](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a34059038/aaron-sorkin-trial-of-the-chicago-7-interview/?ref=hyperallergic.com), and proves an ill fit for the story.

As a director, Sorkin can barely muster any verve, portraying the highly charged atmosphere of the times with persistent flatness both in and out of the courtroom. As a writer, he cannot hope to properly capture the radical spirit of his protagonists. His thoroughly middle-of-the-road sensibilities mean that he gives a wholly ahistorical sympathetic portrayal to Nixon attack dog prosecutor Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) out of some misguided need for “balance.” The performances span the whole range from tolerable Oscar bait (Sacha Baron-Cohen appropriately cast as yippie prankster Abbie Hoffman) to bad Oscar bait (Eddie Redmayne, being himself). Just watch the animated documentary [*Chicago 10*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0905979/?ref=hyperallergic.com) instead.

[The Trial of the Chicago 7](https://www.netflix.com/title/81043755?ref=hyperallergic.com) *is now available on Netflix.*