If there's one thing that Aaron Sorkin can do - though in fairness it should be noted that he can do much more than one thing - it's to make you interested in and informed about a subject about which you know little or nothing. This is no exception - the first 10 minutes or so give a typically Sorkin-paced introduction to the context, and then we're into a courtroom drama that really is almost entirely set in the courtroom. The charges the accused face, and the events themselves, are only gradually revealed, a move which keeps the novice like me intrigued, but also a little frustrated. It seems as if Sorkin doesn't quite trust himself to keep as interested in a straight-line narrative, so he's forced to mix it up. And at times this does sag a little, a little bogged down in another scene of men shouting in rooms - but then, this is Sorkin, and once again he does little to counter the often-repeated accusation that he too often relegates women to the background. Once again the women are mostly 'supporting' the heroic men, answering phones, taking notes, making arrangements. The finale of the film also falls into another classic Sorkin flaw - sentimental grandstanding, by way of Dead Poets Society; it would have far more moving if underplayed. But also because it's Sorkin, it's another of those films you come away from a little more informed, a little more provoked and a little more reflective. The performances all work well, and we're left with the unerring feeling that if Sorkin had let a director other than himself put his words on the screen, this would have been even better.
