Of the many announcements from this past week, one of the few good things was about Aaron Sorkin. Often considered one of the best writers in modern American entertainment, his work has spanned over 30 years and has a distinctive style that has succeeded in every form from stage to film and even TV. No matter what he creates, he leaves plenty to talk about, making one wonder what these stories have to say on a deeper level. Usually, it comes in the form of legal dramas, or long “walk and talks” that explore the interior lives of egomaniacs deserving of more understanding.
In this particular case, his biggest upswing came with the news that his first Netflix movie The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) is looking to be an Oscar front-runner following early buzz that suggests it’s another home-run. In a time where the country is divided and people are arguing about the very idea of justice, it makes sense to explore this in relation to a notorious 1968 event that found seven people involved in shooting up the Democratic National Convention. Even more than that, it’s a sigh of relief that this Oscar season is not entirely gone yet. There’s going to be excellent titles coming out that will keep this from being a throwaway year.
While this list is made up mostly of his work as a filmmaker, there will be occasional dives into TV, especially since that is where he tends to be his most free. No matter what topic he’s addressing, there’s plenty to enjoy about his work and it will definitely make you lean in and pay attention, noticing how great the dialogue is and how every performer brings their own inspired twist to everything. What he creates is singular and sometimes divisive. For me personally, he’s earned his title, and it’s only become clearer in the past decade (though not for The Newsroom). As we prepare to see what else he has in store, it feels like a good time to look at five reasons he’ll always be remembered.
1. Steve Jobs (2015)
While it remains one of his rare box office bombs in his career, it also marks one of his most entertaining and clever stories in his entire career. What it lacks in faithfulness to Apple tycoon Steve Jobs’ life story, it more than makes up for with this story of an egomaniac trying to sell computers. It’s one that is presented in three parts, reflecting different decades of his life and levels of success. Despite these changes, the names remain the same as a supporting cast that includes Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogen, Kate Winslet, and Katherine Waterston return to hold these conversations and reflect on the life of a man trying to strive for perfection.
But how can Jobs ever seek to reach perfection when his interior life feels rife with these small hurdles? More than his other films, this reflects the ideology of Sorkin so clearly that you can’t help but admire his craft, shooting in top form by a rarely better Michael Fassbender. This is his magnum opus of the walk and talk, finding ways to draw out moments and understand how strained relationships evolve over time, where the desire for recognized partnerships lead to begrudging feelings that fester, coming out in the end. This is the behind the scenes story that pops with so much personality.
It also has some of his most clever dialogue of his career. Among his most noteworthy scenes involves him telling his partner Steve Wozniak (Rogen) about what he represents in this product launch. As he walks the auditorium, telling others to turn the Exit signs off, he takes a moment to talk about how he is a conductor, leading the orchestra. It’s how he saw the world, under his control and striving for excellence. The irony is that he learns the opposite by the end, realizing that sometimes what the world doesn’t need is a conductor, but just someone to listen.
2. The Social Network (2010)
The past decade kicked off with a juggernaut of a movie. Labeled by Rolling Stone Magazine at the time as the film of a generation, it feels like the rare piece of hyperbole that’s actually held up. If there’s anything wrong with this film, it’s that the Mark Zuckerberg that David Fincher depicted is slightly more pleasant than the public reputation he’s built in the past few years, especially following the controversial handling during the 2016 American presidential election. Even then, this isn’t dated in a bad way, still reflecting at its core the emotional understanding of the decade to come. Zuckerberg is one of the primary forces that made social media a necessity in this day and age, and yet it’s a story of how it isolated him.
From the memorable marketing campaign (“You can’t get to a million friends without making a few enemies”) to its impressive technological achievements (The Winklevoss Twins), this is a film that has been continually scrutinized in the years since, and for good reason. Every frame of this movie is a miraculous achievement, managing to convey something about the modern times with such clarity and foresight that it’s doubtful to see it ever going out of fashion. It’s a film that launched so many noteworthy careers, including Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Rooney Mara, and Armie Hammer.
And it helps that it features Sorkin’s most breakneck speed script to date. The opening scene alone is a testament to so many things. From the writing to the editing, there hasn’t been a scene that’s used a roller coaster of dialogue accentuation better in the decade since. It sets everything up and puts Sorkin in a higher camp. It was one of his busiest decades in terms of output, and you can’t deny that it started with one of his funniest, most quotable scripts in his entire career, turning Greek tragedy into modern dorm room conversations. Everything about the film is likely to only look more perfect (and ironic) as time goes on, and it’s doubtful that Sorkin will ever produce anything as beloved as this for the rest of his career.
3. The West Wing
Plain and simple, there’s no point in his TV career that stands as triumphant as this story of President Jed Bartlett. Whether or not you see it as a liberal’s fantasy, the show at its best times had an incredible cast in top form delivering nonstop zingers for an hour every week, presenting a fascinating look at the political process and creating a delightful look at these characters’ interior lives. Whether or not it was faithful to the actual process, it definitely brought out a love of patriotism by romanticizing the difficult decisions that the president makes on a daily basis, needing to be focused and realize the humanity in every move he makes.
It’s obviously more complicated than that, but Sorkin makes this complicated world into delightful characters full of something familiar and endearing. It’s a show that treated the process seriously and even at its daunting length, had a way of making you feel like every minute was worthwhile, making you feel optimism in the legal system. What’s incredible is that it managed to do so while making the process feel familiar, structured like a TV show. If you saw foreign affairs go wrong, you had expectations of what happened next. Everything had its place, and that’s in large part thanks to Sorkin and his excellent troupe of actors.
Was it a perfect show? Depending on who you ask, it had its flaws. While Sorkin left midway through the show, those first few seasons ended up producing something delightful and iconic, making it one of the biggest Emmy winners in history. It was evidence of what TV could be in the hands of someone with something greater to say, having a desire to present a world that operated with cooperation and faith that everything will work out. It was funny, heartfelt, but most of all evidence of what America could be when everyone was working in tandem with each other.
4. A Few Good Men (1992)
Back before The West Wing and his incredible 21st-century output, there was this military drama that found him teaming with Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. Among his first noteworthy lines in his career is “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” While it’s as much about Nicholson’s delivery, it’s evident by the clever build-up that happens leading to that courtroom exchange, finding him being more cornered by the second by Cruise. We’ve followed Cruise trying to solve this case for the entire film and this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. As far as reveals go, “the truth” is something that sparks with a life reflective of his best writing.
It’s one of two major collaborations with director Rob Reiner, and it makes sense why they teamed up. While this lacks the immediacy of his later work, it does reflect a writer who has an eagerness in his voice, the need to constantly impress with these amazing ideas popping out. As far as stage-to-screen adaptations go, this is one of the most successful, capturing the essence of a man who had a gift with words finally getting the chance to speak on a cinematic stage. What we didn’t know was how crucial of a voice he would become in entertainment history. If this was it, he’d still be considered great. Everything since has only helped to make him a legend of equal parts brilliance and mockery. Then again, that comes with being one of the most distinctive voices in modern screenwriting history.
5. Molly’s Game (2018)
What does it look like when you leave Sorkin to his own devices? Nowhere is that clearer than when he wrote AND directed his own script for the first time. While this has sunk lesser creatives, it ended up creating one of the more interesting stories of his career. Following an Olympian who had a career-ending injury that now moonlights in the celebrity poker industry, it’s another example of him mixing things up, managing to convey the toughness of Molly Bloom, played perfectly by Jessica Chastain with a seductive undertone that lures you in, making you root for her as every new reveal becomes more shocking.
It’s a seedy story that starts off with an exhilarating opening reminiscent of The Social Network. With manic editing, the audience gets a look into the moment where everything goes wrong, reflecting how her brain was processing events as she traveled downhill. It’s all so dizzying, and yet it all works. If this is what Sorkin has to offer in his own hands, then The Trial of the Chicago 7 has nothing to worry about. Molly’s Game may be a bit more hit and miss in terms of pacing, but everything else is in place. You know what you’re getting with Sorkin, and this is a great example of it.
What are your favorite Aaron Sorkin movies or TV shows?
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