ALSO SHOWING
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (
15)
Aaron Sorkin’s second film as a director dramatises a pivotal moment of political dissent in the Vietnam war era and attempts to offset nostalgia by milking the contemporary parallels for all they’re worth. Zeroing in on the aftermath of the 1968 Chicago police riot that saw the city’s cops brutalise anti- war protestors during that year’s Democratic National Convention, Sorkin’s subject certainly seems timely on paper given the violence, chaos and civil unrest that has already accompanied the run- up to the this year’s American presidential elections. But as Sorkin focuses on the titular trial of the New Left figureheads who were belatedly charged with conspiring to incite violence, the film reveals itself to be sloppy, sanctimonious and worse, meaningless. The problems start early with an inappropriately upbeat prologue that intercuts footage of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy with shots of the main players preparing for the Chicago protests. Introducing them with signature Sorkin walk- andtalks, we soon meet student activists Tom Hayden ( Eddie Redmayne) and Rennie Davis ( Alex Sharp); counterculture clowns Abbie Hoffman ( Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin ( Jeremy Strong); fellow protestors John Froines ( Daniel Flaherty) and Lee Weiner ( Noah Robbins); pacifist organiser David Dellinger ( John Carroll Lynch); and Bobby Seale ( Yahya Abdul- Mateen II), co- founder of the Black Panthers. Seale isn’t actually part of the so- called “seven”. Having been roped into the trumpedup conspiracy charges as part of the justice department’s ongoing efforts to neutralise him, the Kafka- esque absurdity of his predicament quickly becomes a queasy reminder of the precarious reality of being black in American when he’s literally bound and gagged in the courtroom at the behest of Judge Julius Hoffman ( Frank Langella). It’s the most fascinating aspect of the story, so it’s too bad Sorkin undercuts his own moral indignation by denying
Seale the same character- deepening flashbacks he grants Hayden, Hoffman and Rubin. If this exposes the limits of Sorkin’s penchant for crafting the kind of comforting liberal fantasies that can, on the flip side, also give rise to a genius TV show such as The West Wing, his roots as a student of musical theatre rather than politics or history are also apparent in the way he revels in the grandstanding theatricality of the courtroom. History in Sorkin’s hands becomes a theme- park version of the past.
On selected release in cinemas and on Netflix from 16 October
Rialto ( 15)
Scottish director Peter Mackie Burns follow up his promising festival hit Daphne with a harrowing midlife crisis movie about a grieving family man ( Tom Vaughan- Lawlor) who can’t stop himself from pulling the pin on his life. Though by no means an easy watch, it’s exceptionally well directed by Mackie Burns, who elevates the stage- sourced material into an exacting piece of cinema that teases out some complex father- son themes via Vaughn- Lawlor’s palmsweating performance in the lead and Tom Glynn- Carney’s delicate turn as the young rent boy with whom he becomes involved.
On selected release in cinemas
Eternal Beauty ( 15)
Welsh actor Craig Roberts second feature as a director is a pleasingly strange and inventive comedydrama about a schizophrenic ( Sally Hawkins) navigating a complex relationship with her dysfunctional family. Roberts shares Charlie Kaufman’s ability to take surreal narrative leaps without losing his grip on the story at hand, but there’s a sweetness and generosity of spirit too that’s disarming without feeling quirky for the sake of it. Morfydd Clark, David Thewlis, Penelope Wilton and Billie Piper co- star. ■ On selected release in cinemas and streaming on demand on digital platforms, including BFI Player