It’s a good time to be a fan of Aaron Sorkin. Not only is a charity West Wing reunion scheduled for HBO Max, but a trailer for Sorkin’s upcoming Netflix feature, The Trial of the Chicago 7, was recently released. Like many of Sorkin’s projects, The Chicago 7 is based upon real-world events, the 1968 Chicago riots and trials surrounding anti-Vietnam protests around the Democratic National Convention. Sorkin has a penchant for combining recognizable world events with sparkling witty dialogue, making him another big name for Netflix’s high-profile acquisitions.
Sure, Sorkin is not without flaws. His recognizable style means his characters, and their voices, can become monotonous, down to him sometimes repeating jokes. But those who embrace Sorkin’s particularly quirks can find sharp and powerful writing, often from the mouths of unlikable protagonists. While waiting to see how his new projects pan out, here are seven classic films – not done by the man himself – to tide over fans of Sorkin’s rich and catty screenplays.
Perhaps the most obvious influence on Sorkin – down to The Social Network‘s similar title – Network remains an electric satire of television, whose focus on sensationalized news and fresh content feels increasingly relevant. It focuses on newscaster Howard Beale (Peter Finch), whose increasingly unhinged rants against society become huge ratings and, ironically, co-opted by his TV station. It carries all the Sorkin predilections for behind-the-scenes production and fiery dialogue. Paddy Chayefsky provides a thunderous screenplay perfectly fired out by the likes of Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, William Holden, and of course, Peter Finch. Come for the iconic “Mad as Hell” speech, stay for Ned Beatty shouting about “the primal forces of nature”.
Sorkin’s best work carries the hectic back-and-forth of screwball comedies, whether sweet like The American President or megalomaniacal like Steve Jobs. His Girl Friday is a classic of the genre, featuring Rosalind Russel as Hildy, an ex-journalist and ex-wife of Cary Grant’s newspaper publisher Walter Burns. As she tries to leave the dangerous city life behind for domestic peace, Hildy gets pulled back into Walter’s thrilling lifestyle of reporting. Famed for its rapid overlapping dialogue, His Girl Friday is still used as the benchmark for quick-fire interactions as the definitive screwball rom-com.
Astute viewers of The West Wing will remember Jed Bartlet’s favorite film as being The Lion in Winter. The quotable drama also follows a country’s leader grappling with his legacy, although in a far more selfish manner than President Bartlet. The historical dramatization shows the personal and political turmoil of Henry II (Peter O’Toole) as he considers his heir, navigating around his manipulative sons (including a young Anthony Hopkins as Richard the Lionheart) and his treasonous wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katherine Hepburn). As Henry huffs, “I’ve snapped and plotted all my life. There’s no other way to be king, alive and 50 all at once”. Despite the 1182 medieval setting and high-caliber actors, The Lion in Winter is vibrant fun as these theatrical actors bellow out the rich barbarous script. It’s particularly anchored by O’Toole and Hepburn, who portray the royal couple as a bickering couple with genuine affection under their thorny insults.
Like Sorkin, David Mamet is a screenwriter whose name and style carries instant recognition. His work is often brimming with American testosterone, but frequently in captivating ways. Even amongst the many hurled expletives of Glengarry Glen Ross there is a kind of vulgar poetry, appropriate for a film about selling and cajoling, and the failure to do so. Here, four real-estate salesman are tasked with off-loading properties, with a memorable one-scene appearance by Alec Baldwin telling them “third place is you’re fired”. Glengarry Glen Ross is a nasty and misanthropic film about the oppressive atmosphere of capitalism, but as with Sorkin’s films, it’s overflowing with banter and insults that make it an enjoyable ride.
In interviews, Sorkin recalled his first experience of “great writing” as being a stage-production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Even if he didn’t understand exactly what was being said, the flow and rhythm of the dialogue sounded like music to him. It’s a sweet description for a play that’s considered ground-breaking in its depictions of profanity and sex. Mike Nichols, who would later direct Sorkin’s screenplay Charlie Wilson’s War, made an incredibly faithful film adaptation in 1966. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor play the main volatile couple whose home has become a battle-zone, Taylor telling Burton “if you existed, I’d divorce you”. Like most of these films, the malicious content is counter-balanced by how fun and frenetic the screenplay is, dialogue bouncing between the main characters with its own deliciously sick rhythm.
Winning an Oscar for Best Screenplay, alongside Best Film and four others, All About Eve is a classic Hollywood film about the perils of fame. It follow Betty Davis as aging theatre-actress Margo Channing, who becomes increasingly paranoid her young understudy Eve (Anne Baxter) is plotting to upstage her. Alongside an early appearance of Marilyn Monroe, All About Eve touches on the ever-present concerns of female actresses and boasts a fiery screenplay of dry wit and sarcastic insults. Particularly venomous is theatre critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders), with lines like “that’s all television is, dear. Nothing but auditions”. But, like Sorkin at his best, DeWitt also eloquently voices sincere emotions too, monologuing how he has “lived in the theatre like a Trappist monk… once in a while I experience that moment of revelation for which all true believers wait and pray”. For those coveting exquisite screenplays, All About Eve is that revelation.
Early looks at Steven Spielberg’s 2012 biopic of President Lincoln appeared to be the sentimental and prestigious drama everybody expected. Yet the actual film is far more scrappy and intelligent, focusing in on the political manoeuvring Lincoln plotted around passing the 13th Amendment to ban slavery. The result is akin to a Civil War-era West Wing episode writ-large, with snappy scenes of congressmen being wrangled for their votes. Award-winning playwright Tony Kushner (who had previously collaborated with Spielberg on the underrated Munich) captures the vernacular of the era, alongside wider musings upon the nature of democracy and equality. Daniel Day-Lewis gives a reliably transformative performance as Lincoln, while Tommy Lee Jones has a memorable supporting role as real-life virulent abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens, who self-proclaims having “fought long and hard for the good of the people without caring much for any of them”. Lincoln‘s balance of eloquent monologues upon ideals, and the quick-fire exchanges of how to practically ensure them, makes it a perfect match for those that enjoy the heightened adaptation of reality in Sorkin’s writing.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is available to stream on Netflix from October 16, 2020.
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