Aaron Sorkin admits he lacks visual sensibility after The Social Reckoning flop
The director and writer says he is worried that his weaknesses in directing are innate traits that cannot be taught.
By Leila Farouk ·
Aaron Sorkin says he is worried that the parts of directing he struggles with are the ones that cannot be learned. The filmmaker made the admission while discussing The Social Reckoning, a film he wrote and directed that has underperformed at the box office and with critics.
The movie, which stars Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, and Jeremy Strong, opened in theaters on Oct. 9. It has grossed $15 million worldwide since its release. Reviews have been mixed, with the film currently holding a 54 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. These numbers fall short of the acclaim received by The Social Network, a previous film Sorkin wrote about Facebook that was directed by David Fincher.
Sorkin explained that Fincher would have been his first choice to helm the new project. However, Fincher has an exclusive deal with Netflix, while Sony owned the rights to The Social Reckoning. Sorkin stated, “I would have rather David Fincher directed it. I would rather David Fincher direct everything.” He noted that he ended up directing the $40 million film himself because of these contractual realities.
The director has been writing for 35 years. He has worked with directors including Rob Reiner, Bennett Miller, Mike Nichols, and Danny Boyle on projects such as A Few Good Men, The American President, and Being the Ricardos. Over the past decade, he has directed four films, including Molly’s Game, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and The Social Reckoning.
Speaking at the Newport Beach Film Festival, where he received the Maverick Director Award, Sorkin compared his directing journey to a football coach who believes the elements for a win were present but failed to come together. He said, “There are things that I’ve been doing right along the way. Just give me one more chance, and one of these days I’ll be able to put it all together.”
Sorkin said he was surprised by how little he knew about the science of filmmaking. He admitted, “I have no visual sensibility, it turns out.” He distinguished his learning curve from working with actors, noting that his difficulty lies in knowing how to use a camera artfully. He believes the specific weaknesses he faces may be innate rather than technical.
The 65-year-old also discussed the current state of mid-range budget movies. He suggested that most of his previous works, with the exception of A Few Good Men, would likely exist as streaming series today rather than feature films. He is currently rewriting A Few Good Men for a new production at Lincoln Center, stating that he is working on the project clean and sober after a previous addiction to cocaine that lasted a decade.
Sorkin remains interested in reviving The West Wing, the TV series he wrote for four seasons. He said he misses the show and its cast but believes the project needs a strong story to succeed. He noted that the cast has aged since the original run, a factor he did not anticipate when the series first aired.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
