His dialogue-heavy screenplays are masterclasses in the art of writing for film and television.Aaron Sorkinis known for his rhythmic writing style, his scripts carrying a cadence that actors are tasked with executing on a whole other level of professional precision. The Academy Award and Emmy-winning writer isa notorious perfectionistwhen it comes to translating his words from page to screen. Sorkin knows his characters inside and out and exactly how the fast-paced dialogue should be performed onscreen.
Sorkin has written some of the most iconic lines in cinema while also creating one of the best political dramas in television history. Sorkin’s film work is mainly adaptations of significant stories in history and pop culture. With any Sorkin-penned film, audiences know to expect immaculate timing, wit, emotion, and meticulousness. And while not all of his efforts have been successful,the best Aaron Sorkin scripts captivate audiences on a whole other level.
10’Malice' (1993)
Directed by Harold Becker
Just his second feature film script, Sorkin shares writing credits withJonas McCordandScott Frankforthis red herring thriller.Nicole KidmanandBill Pullmanstar as married couple Tracy and Andy, whose lives take a sharp left when Andy’s high school classmate, Jed (Alec Baldwin), a cocky surgeon, comes into their lives and rents a room in their house. The trio become further entangled as Andy is implicated in a rape investigation and Jed performs emergency surgery on Tracey, their lives never returning to normal.
Malice’s premise and twists slowly shift from being unpredictable to improbable.
Sorkin’s scripts are usually busy with dialogue, butMaliceis busy with just about everything else, and not in a good way. Audiences are leftquestioning not only the mystery butMalice’s overall logicas well. The premise and twists slowly shift from being unpredictable to improbable as the writers fiddle with the formula a little too much for the usually reliable thriller genre.
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9’Being the Ricardos' (2021)
Directed by Aaron Sorkin
Paying tribute to one of TV and comedy’s most legendary stars,Being the Ricardosdrops viewers behind the scenes of the beloved, revolutionary sitcomI Love Lucy. During one tumultuous week of filming, Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are confronted with one crisis after another, including infidelity and political accusations, along with combating cultural taboos onscreen. In true Sorkin style,Being the Ricardoscombines real-timeand flashbacks juxtaposing Lucille and Desi’s relationship from past to present.
While both its leading stars and supporting actor,J.K. Simmons, earned Oscar nominations,Being the Ricardosfalls flat compared to Sorkin’s other snappy scripts. There’s no doubt it’s thought-provoking, but audiences struggled to decipher what it was trying to say.Trying to tell too much at once muddles the brilliance of Sorkin’s dialogue; however,Being the Ricardossatisfies the nostalgia for returning to the historic era of television and its stars.
Being the Ricardos
8’Steve Jobs' (2015)
Directed by Danny Boyle
An uncompromising depiction of the greatest tech giant of all time,Steve Jobsis another satisfying biopic in Sorkin’s resume. The self-titled film takes audiences literally behind the scenes of Apple’s co-founder (Michael Fassbender) during the three pivotal product launches of his career. Spanning decades, the drama follows Jobs as his personal and professional lives collide while at the center of a technological revolution.
Sharing the writing credits withWalter Isaacson, Sorkin delivers yet another rousing triumph withhis scripted illustration of Steve Jobswhile receiving criticism from Apple co-founderSteve Wozniak. The screenplay demands a character study rather than a progressive plot and that’s what the director Danny Boyle and Fassbender deliver from Sorkin’s pages. More like a play than a movie,Steve Jobsis still riveting and revelatory, even if it becomes somewhat maddening in the process.
Steve Jobs
7’Charlie Wilson’s War' (2007)
Directed by Mike Nichols
Based on the book byGeorge Crileof the same name,Charlie Wilson’s WarstarsToms Hanksas the titular character, a real-life Texas congressman who took matters into his own hands and formed a covert operation to aid Afghan freedom fighters in their war against the Cold War Soviets during the 1980s. Wilson teams up with socialite Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to get the job done.
With the do-it-yourself mentality of its source subjects, Sorkin penned a multi-functional script that not only educated and informed audiences but, more importantly, entertained them. Teetering on the edge of a black comedy,Charlie Wilson’s Warallows audiences to peek behind the curtainand understand how the government works and where it is undoubtedly broken. Hanks delivers Sorkin’s dialogue with charisma, whileHoffman steals every scene, earning a richly deserved Oscar nomination. In his first feature screenplay back after a series of TV hits, Sorkin proved his pen was just as punctuated as before.
Charlie Wilson’s War
6’Molly’s Game' (2017)
In his directorial debut, Sorkin comes out swinging, meticulously choreographing the dance between his stars and script.Molly’s Gameisbased on the memoir of the same nameabout the infamous poker princess,Molly Bloom(Jessica Chastain), who ran a high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested by the FBI and indicted on federal charges. In his wonderful whiplash style, Sorkin bounces viewers between past and present as Bloom confides in her criminal defense lawyer, Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba).
Molly’s Gameis amongthe best Aaron Sorkin movies, earning him a third Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film is another commanding study ofSorkin’s ability to zero in on a real-life subject and explore its intricaciesthrough dialogue and exposition. Chastain and Elba nail the Sorkin cadence as if these exchanges were inherently word-for-word true, making it an all-around great movie.
Molly’s Game
5’Moneyball' (2011)
Directed by Bennett Miller
A unique entry in the baseball genre,Moneyballis the perfect Sorkin screenplay as the real-life story focusing on the analytics of the game meshes seamlessly with his approach to writing.Based on the book by Michael Lewis,Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, the feature recounts the overhaul of the Oakland Athletics and its approach to drafting a winning team led by general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt). The six-time Oscar-nominated film co-starsJonah Hill,Robin Wright,Chris Pratt, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Sorkin shares the writing credits withSteven ZaillianandStan Chervin, and the trio illuminates an underdog story that is reachable to audiences outside the sports genre. While Sorkin’s writing style is formulaic, Billy Beane’s reinvention of the system is anything but. This unique combination makesMoneyballsuch a pleasure to watch for cinephiles as thedialogue and pacing give structure to this unconventional installment in sports history.
4’The American President' (1995)
Directed by Rob Reiner
Equal parts sweet romantic comedy andrivetting political drama,The American Presidentwas the perfect recovery for Sorkin’s feature writing followingMalice.Michael Douglasstars as the widowed President Andrew Shepherd as he seeks reelection. However, he doesn’t anticipate the relationship that develops between him and environmental lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening). As his opponent uses their romance as firepower to win voters, Andrew must choose between his winning voters or Sydney.
It’s acomplicated romance moviethat rivals some of the best in the genre. While there’s an idealist lens of the political landscape,Sorkin’s script is sharp and poignant without preaching or alienating the audience, full of well-executed back-and-forths and speeches delivered as if they were straight out of a time capsule. What he did withThe American Presidentproved to be a successful trial run for the greatest television political drama series of all time,The West Wing.
The American President
The American President follows widowed U.S. President Andrew Shepherd as he navigates the complexities of personal and political life when he falls for Sydney Ellen Wade, a Washington lobbyist. His romantic pursuit triggers political challenges and media scrutiny, impacting both his presidency and public image.
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3’The Trial of the Chicago 7' (2020)
Sorkin is no stranger to writing for hefty television ensembles, butThe Trial of the Chicago 7further solidifies his skills in crafting dialogue for every important person in the room. His fourth Oscar-nominated screenplay is a dramatic retelling ofthe 1969 Chicago Seven Trial, where anti-Vietnam War activists were charged on various counts for alleged involvement in the 1968 riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The ensemble cast portraying real-life characters includesEddie Redmayne,Sacha Baron Cohen,Jeremy Strong,Mark Rylance,Yahya Abdul-Mateen II,Alex Sharp,Joseph Gordon-Levitt,andJohn Carroll Lynch.
With a larger-than-life cast,each line of dialogue seamlessly flows for each character, punctuating every scene with such natural ease. No stranger to social-political commentary in his work, Sorkin’s screenplay just scratched the surface of the dramatic five-month-long trial. What plays out on screen is frustratingly brilliant as Sorkin, from the writer’s room and director’s chair,depicts courtroom corruption and social injusticewhile infusing it with the appropriate amount of well-timed comedic relief.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
2’A Few Good Men' (1992)
A puzzling snub that this film’s screenplay was not nominated for an Academy Award,A Few Good Menwas a brilliant entrance into filmmaking for Sorkin. His first feature-length script setsTom Cruiseas military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, who is tasked with defending two Marines charged with the murder of a third at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. What seems like a routine case for him quickly turns shady as he digs into a conspiracy that the defendants were carrying out orders from commanding officer Colonel Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson).
A Few Good Menis inspired by true events, making it a much darker glimpse behind the closed doors of the U.S. military. Sorkin writes one of the most quoted movie lines of all time in the iconic heated exchange between Kaffee and Jessep: “You can’t handle the truth!“The dialogue is the driving force as the palpable tension rises throughoutthe film, culminating in riveting exchanges and masterful performances where the actors are in jaw-dropping sync even when talking over one another. For aspiring screenwriters, rewatching Sorkin’s introduction to writing for the big screen is an absolute must.
A Few Good Men
1’The Social Network' (2010)
Directed by David Fincher
Sorkin’s first Oscar nomination and win would be for his adaptation of Ben Mezrich’sThe Accidental Billionaires:The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal. The biography chronicles the inception of the social media juggernaut, Facebook, from the mind of Mark Zuckerbergand his then-best friend and business partner, Eduardo Saverin. The film version bounces between multiple depositions as Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) defends his rise to fame and fortune while flashing back through the evolution of the platform and Zuckerberg’s relationships with those suing him.
The Social Networkreliesheavily on spectacular editing(one of its Oscar wins), but the editing relies on Sorkin’s script and intersecting and paralleling timelines. A whiplash that’s necessary and well-executed, the viewer is never lost because of how perfectly Sorkin paces the shifts between past and present, often jolted back to the deposition room for clarification before whirling back into the testimony’s flashback. With masterful performances by the cast and under the meticulous direction ofDavid Fincher,The Social Networkis Aaron Sorkin’s best screenplay.
