Aaron Sorkin, the smart-as-a-whip screenwriter, battles it out with Aaron Sorkin, the I-went-to-the-Ron-Howard-school-of-directing director, and hamminess wins the day.
I was actually incredibly entertained by this movie while watching it. It preaches to the liberal progressive choir, of which I'm a card-holding member, and it decides that such things as nuance, subtlety, or even slightly different points of view are unnecessary clap trap and offers us instead the admittedly cathartic experience of a two-hour shout of outrage at our messed up culture. But hoo boy, is this movie pretty ridiculous. Even while I was being entertained by it, I knew I was being shamelessly manipulated, which I could tolerate for a while, but the end of this film, which plays against one of those blaringly self-righteous movie scores, would make even Steven Spielberg cringe.
This movie is as watchable as it is because of the actors, and though there are many fine performances in this ensemble cast, I have to single out Mark Rylance, as the defense attorney for the 7, who deserves an Oscar for trying to make a serious movie out of Sorkin's superficial pap.
Grade: B- (This is one of those movies that feels like an "A" while you're watching it, but sinks lower and lower in your esteem the more you think back on it).
I was actually incredibly entertained by this movie while watching it. It preaches to the liberal progressive choir, of which I'm a card-holding member, and it decides that such things as nuance, subtlety, or even slightly different points of view are unnecessary clap trap and offers us instead the admittedly cathartic experience of a two-hour shout of outrage at our messed up culture. But hoo boy, is this movie pretty ridiculous. Even while I was being entertained by it, I knew I was being shamelessly manipulated, which I could tolerate for a while, but the end of this film, which plays against one of those blaringly self-righteous movie scores, would make even Steven Spielberg cringe.
This movie is as watchable as it is because of the actors, and though there are many fine performances in this ensemble cast, I have to single out Mark Rylance, as the defense attorney for the 7, who deserves an Oscar for trying to make a serious movie out of Sorkin's superficial pap.
Grade: B- (This is one of those movies that feels like an "A" while you're watching it, but sinks lower and lower in your esteem the more you think back on it).