Great Cast

"The Trial of the Chicago 7" began years ago as a Steven Spielberg project, and evidently he had Sacha Baron Cohen in mind from the start to play Abbie Hoffman. Its the kind of "sure thing" casting around which entire projects can be built, and sure enough, we finally get Cohen in the role(alas , a few years past his peak stardom) and he's very funny and charismatic in it, but part of the fun is in watching Baron -- playing a "gonzo showman" character -- actually have to act SERIOUS, often having to remain silent. (He pulls it off.)

The movie in its pandemic-induced "Straight to Netflix" Aaron Sorkin version has a lot of talent on hand to match ol' Borat. Two Oscar winners , to start with: Eddie Redmayne as Tom Hayden(dramatically pitted against the gonzo Hoffman as the "straight arrow" radical with a fear of 10 years in prison), and Mark Rylance(he of the sad, draggy voice and hangdog manner) as radical lawyer William Kunstler. Redmayne won his Oscar for plaing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything(a movie that nobody saw); and Rylance won his for playing the sympathetic Russian spy in 'Bridge of Spies"(a Spielberg film that many saw.) Here , both actors get flashy and commanding roles and get a bit BETTER known. Its fun to see Rylance's deadpan manner challenged and finally demolished as his character lets rip.

In real life, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were paired as a "long haired radical comedy team" and the movie makes the most of pairing the very tall Cohen with a very short Jeremy Strong in a "Mutt and Jeff act"(who even remembers Mutt and Jeff?) that also has a Groucho Marx thing going for Cohen, and very strong Tommy Chong doper voice going for Strong. (It works just as well for Strong as for Chong -- you're always laughing.) Interesting: Seth Rogan was considered for Rubin, but obviously that would have destroyed the tall/short Mutt and Jeff dynamic. Interesting: whereas Strong is sweet and lovable here(as much as a bomb maker can be), he was an absolute jerk and looked just like Giovanni Ribisi in Sorkin's "Molly's Game" of 2017(he was Molly first poker-game employer.)

Dave Dellinger was the "out of place old guy square" among the Chicago 7, and the casting here is perfect again: potato-faced bald guy John Carroll Lynch, employing the nice-guy manner of his sweet husband to cop Frances McDormand in Fargo (1996-- he's been around a long time) as Dellenger rather than the creepy-weirdo vibe of his Prime Suspect in "Zodiac"(2007.) All these decades...the guy looks just the same, and he's welcome here.

Yahya Abdul-Matteen II is Black Panther Bobby Seale, and in his first scene on the screen, he seems to be honoring the fast-patter anger comedy line delivery of Eddie Murphy, Chris Tucker, and Kevin Hart to make the case that a revolutionary can have a sense of humor(courtesy of Sorkin's one-liner laced dialogue.)

That's the 7 plus 1 (the movie explains why), less non-star Alex Sharp as Rennie Davis, and others, but this movie has three "outside stars" who shine as brightly:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the "thankless" role of the Nixon Administration young prosecutor who must make the case against the 7; he's smart enough to know that the government is giving the radicals exactly the show that they want(even as he is committed to getting ten year terms.) Levitt has been floating towards and away from stardom for years but his "look"(pleasant, compact, no-nonsense) works well here.

Side-note: What's with all these three-name actors these days?: Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt; john carroll
lynch , Yahya Abdul-Maheen II.

Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman. Langella goes back a LONG way, at least as far as Mel Brook's 1970 comedy "The Twelve Chairs." That's 50 years. Langella was tall and thin and exotic looking back then, he has aged and put on the pounds and gotten a bit reptilian in face, but he's a big, commanding man with a big, sonorous voice and ...a great take on villainy. He's trailing some of his Richard Nixon here(from Nixon/Frost) as Judge Hoffman but has to add an element of mental disability (slightly senile, slightly dumb) that is new for Langella.

Michael Keaton as former Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Two scenes, but he owns them. In the first, he eats peanuts(I think) in his study while staring down a room of friends and foes and uses "eating acting" to bring back the comedy rhythm he had in Night Shift, Mr. Mom, Beetlejuice and..yes...Batman...but in this entirely more aged and serious role. Its great to watch our "fun" young actors age before our eyes into icons; Keaton does it here. (In a great moment, Langella's Judge Hoffman is visibly nervous to have an Attorney General in his amateur courtroom.)

There are other notable actors in this(not two many ACTRESSES, but that's the way it goes -- the undercover FBI agent was a nice mix of face and voice) but that's a great enough group right there.

CONT