Saturday Night Lie (The Convention)

The Convention

Cast: Will Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Robert Redford, James Franco, Frank Langella
Director: Spike Lee
Screenwriter: Aaron Sorkin
Original Score: Alexandre Desplat

Synopsis:

The year is 1968, the war rages on in Vietnam and all across America emotions are running high. Tensions peak when Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F. Kennedy are assassinated a month apart. The ensemble drama charts the intertwined destinies of five men caught up in the violent protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago: mayor Richard K. Daley (Frank Langella), Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale (Will Smith), Political activist Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Police Superintendent Orlando Wison (Robert Redford) and Student for a Democratic Society leader Tom Hayden (James Franco).

Trivia: Oliver Stone was originally attached but left the project to direct the Hugo Chavez biopic: Hugo starring Benicio Del Toro. The Convention is planned as a prequel to The Trial of the Chicago Seven. It is not yet known if Spike Lee will reprise his role as director for part II, which is scheduled for 2011, (other names attached include Steven Spielberg, Paul Greengrass and Ben Stiller).

Previous Saturday Night Lies:

• The Swamp