Film Snail

A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men

7.5

A Few Good Men

R·1992·138m

Summary

When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.

Crew

Director

Rob Reiner

Screenplay, Theatre Play

Aaron Sorkin

Reviews

Wuchak

Wuchak

June 1, 2018

7

“You can’t handle the truth!” RELEASED IN 1992 and directed by Rob Reiner, "A Few Good Men” is a military drama about a smart-axx young Navy Lawyer (Tom Cruise) who’s never seen a courtroom because he lazily arranges plea bargains. Perhaps this is why he’s assigned to defending two young Marines stationed at Guantanamo Bay who are accused of murdering a fellow Marine. They maintain that they were ordered to enact a “Code Red,” which took an unforeseen turn. Demi Moore and Kevin Pollak co-star as the lawyer’s partners while Kevin Bacon heads the prosecution and Jack Nicholson plays the arrogant commanding officer of Guantanamo. J.T. Walsh is on hand as the Colonel’s weak subordinate.

The movie does a good job of depicting the honor code of hardcore Marines, particularly in the sequence where Lance Cpl. Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) refuses to confess to something he didn’t do in order to get a minor sentence. The characters are well written and casted, e.g. Kaffee (Cruise) and his penchant for baseball. The story is dialog-driven and maintains your attention without action/thrills.

Nicholson is commanding and intimidating as the pompous colonel. Kaffee discovers his talent as a courtroom lawyer and realizes that the only way to take him down is to use his egotism against him. Other than the cringe-inducing “A Ten Hut” scene at the end, this is a gripping drama.

THE FILM RUNS 2 hours, 18 minutes and was shot entirely in Southern Cal (Point Mugu, Crystal Cove, etc.) and Washington DC. WRITERS: Aaron Sorkin (play) and Aaron Sorkin (screenplay).

GRADE: B+

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$40,000,000.00

Revenue:

$243,240,178.00

Keywords

underdog
dying and death
suicide
navy
right and justice
court case
suspicion of murder
guantanamo bay
marine corps
military court
code red
command
military base
u.s. navy
sexism
based on play or musical
flashback
court martial
platoon leader
military law
legal thriller