ComingSoon.net is counting down our ranking of the films of Aaron Sorkin, the man responsible for all kinds of classic dramas as well as the ever-popular television shows The West Wing and The Newsroom. Check out our choices in the gallery below!
A scriptwriter whose work has splayed itself across film, television, and stage, Aaron Sorkin has almost single-handedly invented a genre. His characters deliver captivatingly overwritten monologues full of sharp wit and finely-tuned points, immersed in stories of success and failure and the relationship between the two. Sorkin’s films and television shows paint the world as a place where good intentions alway trump the bad guys, and coming together as one will always be the solution instead of staying divided over our differences.
All of these sentiments are fine on-screen, but they’ve had serious real-world consequences over the past couple of decades since Sorkin first rose to notability. Many politicians and commentators take Sorkin’s tropes as fact, trying and failing to implement them into America’s political system. With all this in mind, let’s take a look at everything Sorkin’s done so far.
Aaron Sorkin movies
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#8. Malice (1993)
Really Sorkin’s only obvious dud, Malice stars Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman in a heavy-handed story about sexual assault on college campuses. It’s ham-fisted and in poor taste more often than not, showcasing the worst of Sorkin without any of the elements that keep viewers coming back for more of his films.
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#7. Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Sorkin’s 2007 feature Charlie Wilson’s War stars Tom Hanks as one half of the team behind Operation Cyclone, a complicated plan enacted by a congressman and a CIA operative during the Soviet-Afghan War. Sorkin can be funny, for sure, but when he leans into comedy something inexplicable is lost.
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#6. The American President (1995)
Strangely enough, The American President is a romantic comedy instead of Sorkin’s typical style of darkly comedic drama. It works out well, though, remaining a standout against some of his other painfully serious stuff.
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#5. Molly's Game (2017)
Sorkin’s most recent picture Molly's Game also happens to be his directorial debut. Naturally, this results in a movie that could’ve been reigned in a bit more with a more experienced director, but that classic Sorkin scriptwriting is still there to suck you in and hold your attention (if you aren’t immune to his charm, that is). Plus, after decades of criticism, he finally took a crack at writing a movie featuring a strong female character.
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#4. Steve Jobs (2015)
Done in the same vein as The Social Network (and originally supposed to feature Fincher behind the camera until negotiations fell through), Steve Jobs tackles the Apple cofounder with the same honesty that Zuckerberg got. It’s engrossing for this very reason, choosing to highlight the good and the bad instead of feeling like a commercial for a product.
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#3. Moneyball (2011)
Originally written by Sorkin for Steven Soderbergh, 2011’s Moneyball served as a vehicle for Bennett Miller. It stars Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman—all at the top of their game—and features very little for any female characters to do, something that is unfortunately as engrained in the Sorkin model as politics, patriotism, and monologues.
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#2. A Few Good Men (1992)
Probably Sorkin’s most-quoted script, A Few Good Men really showed audiences what kind of stories Sorkin was most interested in telling. It’s politically-driven, monologue-heavy, and patriotic—three tropes Sorkin can’t help but to cling to. Still, it’s very entertaining (as most of his work is).
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#1. The Social Network (2010)
Sorkin’s first collaboration with master director David Fincher, The Social Network tackles the riches-to-more-riches story of Harvard student-turned-billionaire developer Mark Zuckerberg. Sorkin’s dialogue perfectly paints Zuckerberg as the odd, emotionless robot that he is in real life instead of glorifying him, which—after countless tone-deaf scandals surrounding the Facebook co-creator—seems like the best way to do it.
