Chicago 10

Director: Brett Morgen
Year Released: 2007
Rating: 2.0

Part-documentary, part-court trial of the so-called 'Chicago 7' - plus or minus two lawyers and Black Panther-turned-BBQ Expert Bobby Seale - who were accused of inciting a riot of anti-war protesters during the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Since cameras weren't allowed into the trial itself, Morgen gets the idea to animate the scenes with celebrity voice-overs, but the animation is crude and distracting and the voice acting sub-par; the picture's sole emotional power lies in the re-assembly of the footage, which was shot by a slew of people during the Convention. If this supposed to be a call-to-arms, I can't imagine many people being stirred up by it; if it's supposed to be an in-depth examination of the times I'm afraid several TV stations - like the History Channel - have already covered this material but with more insight.