Chicago 10 |
Someone once said that history repeats, first as tragedy, second as motion-capture cartoon with anachronistic soundtrack. Energetic documentary filmmaker Brett Morgen (
The Kid Stays in the Picture) deserves some credit for trying to make the ’60s yippie movement hip for a new generation. But using the Beastie Boys and Eminem as background music instead of the rich selection from the period (how about rap prototypes the Last Poets?) is symptomatic of the film’s problems. Stripped of historical context, the clashes between demonstrators and police at the 1968 Democratic Convention (shown in archival footage) and the subsequent “trial” of seven activist leaders (re-created with animation that sometimes resembles
Scooby-Doo) devolve into cliché. Nonetheless, some of the lead participants in the farce leave lasting impressions, not least the antic prankster Abbie Hoffman, voiced by Hank Azaria.
103 minutes | Kendall Square
