Line #3 YMMV/TheTrialOfTheChicago7


1	* AwardSnub:
2	** Bound to happen when a cast is made up this many talented actors in juicy parts where they all have to compete in the same category. Creator/SachaBaronCohen ended up stealing most of the awards love, including the lone acting nomination at the Oscars. Depending on who you ask, certain fans will say that they thought the likes of Creator/MarkRylance, Creator/FrankLangella, Creator/YahyaAbdulMateenII, or Creator/EddieRedmayne should've been nominated alongside Baron Cohen, or in place of him. Most noticeable in the case of Rylance, who was initially considered one of the categories frontrunners.
3	** While he got nominated for his script, Creator/AaronSorkin didn't make the director lineup at the Oscars despite having enough people in his corner to make several precursors.
4	%%* BrokenBase: There's some division on whether or not Creator/AaronSorkin should've directed this film. Some think he did a great job telling his script, while others thought it would've worked better if a more experienced directing was behind the camera.
5	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
6	** Bobby Seale wound up being quite popular thanks to [[IronWoobie an enormous woobie who still never stands down despite the circumstances being unbelievably stacked against him]]. Creator/YahyaAbdulMateenII’s excellent portrayal is another plus.
7	** Jerry Rubin made a strong impression as well, being a great sidekick to Abbie Hoffman, his nobility in the face of riots, his many great reaction shots, and his actor Creator/JeremyStrong wonderfully PlayingAgainstType as the PluckyComicRelief.
8	** [[OneSceneWonder Despite only being a small role]], Ramsey Clark wound up being a favorite of many viewers due to selflessly sticking up for the defendants while simultaneously giving the ultimate middle finger to the antagonists. Creator/MichaelKeaton received a fair amount of praise, with his subtle performance standing out amongst all the other highly charged principal cast members.
9	* HarsherInHindsight:
10	** Flashbacks show Rennie bleeding from a head wound after being beaten by the police. Mere months after the film's release, the real Davis died of lymphoma, the symptoms of which include head and neck pain.
11	** The content concerning [[spoiler: Fred Hampton's murder]] is already upsetting here. A few months later, audiences would get to see this offscreen event play out in ''Film/JudasAndTheBlackMessiah''. And it's even more nightmarish than this movie's recap would lead you to believe.
12	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Creator/SachaBaronCohen plays Abbie Hoffman perfectly, bringing in his famous comedic timing while also delivering some genuinely heartfelt and solemn moments. In an ensemble full of award winning dramatic actors, Baron Cohen was widely seen as one of, if not ''the'' strongest performance in an excellent cast.
13	* LoveToHate: Judge Julius Hoffman is an absolutely deplorable HangingJudge, but the combination of his utterly loathsome nature, being a fantastic opponent against our heroes, and Creator/FrankLangella’s towering performance makes him an excellent villain.
14	* {{Narm}}: The final scene, whilst effective in its message, goes too far into crowd-pleasing OscarBait territory. The musical score is especially ham-fisted and cliched, almost to the point of parody.
15	* NarmCharm: Some defend the final scene, believing that the message and performances are powerful enough to overcome iffy execution.
16	* OlderThanTheyThink: This is not the first adaptation of the Chicago Seven trial. 1989's ''Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago Eight'' beat Sorkin to that punch, though Sorkin absolutely had a bigger audience than the talented unknowns who worked on ''Conspiracy.
17	* OneSceneWonder:
18	** Ramsey Clark only appears in two scenes, but his eagerness to ally with the Chicago Seven and Creator/MichaelKeaton’s nuanced portrayal makes him one of the movie’s most memorable characters.
19	** Juror #6, the youngest and most sympathetic of the jurors, who is dismissed from the jury after the judge bullies her into saying that she can't be completely impartial.
20	** John Doman as GreaterScopeVillain John N. Mitchell only appears in one scene, but it proves to be a memorable one, showing him as a [[EvilIsPetty petty]], [[{{Jerkass}} ruthless asshole]] who is absolutely determined to take down our heroes.
21	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Dellinger is a nuanced NiceGuy, FamilyMan, and ActualPacifist with a history of anti-war activism dating back to ''UsefulNotes/WorldWarII''. He's also played by the very talented Creator/JohnCarrollLynch. Unfortunately, outside of his introductory scene, the flashbacks to the riot, and the scene where he snaps and punches a bailiff, he's mostly a passive spectator throughout the story. The film also fails to emphasize Dellinger's friendships with Abbie, Hayden, and even Fred Hampton, which could have helped him ease tensions between his fellow defendants.
22	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In real-life, several cops who beat protestors were indicted at the same time as The Chicago 8 (and by the same prosecutors), but this goes unmentioned when it could have further humanized Schultz and Foran and drawn more attention to the PoliceBrutality.
23	* TheWoobie:
24	** Bobby Seale really gets it bad here. He’s arrested and linked together with the Chicago Seven despite having no affiliation for them, just so his presence as a Black Panther will make them look bad. He goes into the trial with no lawyer, with his chosen one being in the hospital, putting him at an enormous disadvantage against the corrupt and racist Judge Hoffman. Seale repeatedly tries to speak up for himself, only to be shut down by Hoffman over and over. Eventually while still detained he hears that his friend and ally Fred Hampton has been executed. Outraged, Seale speaks viciously out against this injustice in court, which causes him to be taken out, beaten, chained up, gagged, and then brought back into the courtroom in this humiliating state. Even after this when he’s let go, Judge Hoffman still reminds Seale that he’s facing other charges, making it clear that his suffering still isn’t over.
25	** David Dellinger is the most levelheaded of the Chicago Seven, making it clear that the protests are to be 100% peaceful, and doing everything he can to avert any physical confrontations between the protestors and police. Despite his best efforts, riots break out, which end with his arrest. He tries to remain calm and cooperative throughout the entire trial process, but as the months go by, it becomes clear that it’s taken its toll on him resulting in him having a FreakOut where he speaks out against Judge Hoffman, gets manhandled by security repeatedly until he can’t take it anymore and assaults an officer, causing him to be embarrassingly dragged out of the courtroom in front of his wife and child. And as he is dragged out, his only reaction is to apologise to the guard he struck.
26	** Jerry Rubin seemingly finds someone special in Daphne O'Connor, not knowing that she's an undercover FBI agent whose actively trying to get Rubin arrested. When Rubin sees her taking the stand against him, he appears totally crushed, and later explicitly refers to his heart being broken.
27	** Tom Hayden is one of the more moderate defendants in the case, but much of what happens winds up being blamed on him for the time that one grammatical error winds up getting him and his fellow protestors beaten and arrested. All this is later made totally clear to Hayden in a humiliating moment where [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he realizes his error]] and is shown to be incapable of taking the stand. Additionally, his temperate attitude during the trial and accidentally paying respect to [[HangingJudge Judge Hoffman]] causes him to be viewed as a TokenEvilTeammate for his own cause.
28	** CrusadingLawyer William Kunstler tries to remain calm throughout trial, but as it goes on, he has trouble maintaining his composure as it devolves more and more into a circus, and when it's made clear to him just how set the judge is on finding his clients guilty. Despite all this, [[StoicWoobie he stands up for the Chicago 7 and Bobby Seale the whole way, even as he continues to become more exhausted with all of his surroundings]].

Context YMMV / TheTrialOfTheChicago7