Aaron Sorkin makes capable people arguing about their work absorbing company. We rate him highly for the wit and warmth, but his fondness for the winning speech can leave difficult questions looking easier than they are.
Fi1m perspective
In The West Wing (1999), staff argue their way through demanding work at a pace that makes a pause sound like defeat. We enjoy Sorkin most here, where people care about doing a job properly and have colleagues who care enough to disagree. The pleasure comes from the quick exchanges and a cast that gives the earnest speeches warmth. The danger arrives when an assured speech settles a question that another character should have been allowed to press.
That pleasure in verbal contests was already there in A Few Good Men (1992), adapted from his 1989 play. Rob Reiner gives the actors room to make the exchanges matter, rather than simply keeping the dialogue moving. We enjoyed Tom Cruise's confidence as Lt. Daniel Kaffee, then found it faintly irritating; his quick answers never entirely conceal the effort. Demi Moore's Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway is less generously written: she carries the conscience while Cruise gets the ease. Moore makes that seriousness credible, but the script's tidy handling of military responsibility leaves too little room for either character to stray from an assigned position.
After screenplays including The American President (1995), he created Sports Night (1998) and then The West Wing. He wrote or co-wrote most of the latter's first four seasons. Television suits his interest in capable colleagues, allowing us to grow familiar with the people doing the arguing. Yet The West Wing can make disagreement look like a failure to keep up, and that is where its confidence becomes smug. A little more resistance from the people listening would make those speeches more convincing.
The later screenplays include The Social Network (2010), Moneyball (2011) and Steve Jobs (2015), as his attention turned towards other demanding professional lives. With Molly's Game (2017), he began directing his own scripts, followed by The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) and Being the Ricardos (2021). For a first encounter, we would still choose The West Wing, provided the occasional speech from someone pleased with their own intelligence does not spoil an evening.
Biography
Aaron Sorkin is an American screenwriter, playwright and film director. He was born on 9 June 1961 in Manhattan, New York City, and graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA.
Sorkin created the television series Sports Night (1998–2000) and The West Wing (1999–2006), writing or co-writing numerous episodes of the latter. He later created Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007) and The Newsroom (2012–2014). His stage work includes the play A Few Good Men (1989) and the book for the musical To Kill a Mockingbird (2018).
Sorkin wrote the screenplays for A Few Good Men (1992), The American President (1995), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), The Social Network (2010), Moneyball (2011), Steve Jobs (2015), Molly's Game (2017), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) and Being the Ricardos (2021). He made his directorial debut with Molly's Game and also directed the latter two films. He has received an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.
