When it comes to taut and enthralling courtroom dramas, very few movies manage to intrigue us like no other, To Kill and Mockingbird is one, 12 Angry Men is another, I am happy to say the A Few Good Men is good enough to be among the elite of courtroom thrillers, an instant classic boasting a great combination of great storyline and incredible performances throughout. It deals with a very serious topic and really grabs the viewer to the very end. Here is my full take on A Few Good Men:

The Players:

Tom Cruise - Lt. Kaffee
Jack Nicholson - Col. Jessep
Demi Moore - Lt. Cdr. Galloway
Kevin Bacon - Capt. Ross
Kiefer Sutherland - Lt. Kendrick
Kevin Pollak - Lt. Weinberg
Wolfgang Bodison - Lance Cpl. Dawson
James Marshall - Pfc. Downey
J.T. Walsh - Lt. Col. Markinson

The Play:

When a Marine private Santiago, situated at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is murdered, a big criminal investigation is conducted against 2 other marines, Dawson and Downey, who were seen with him last.
With their chances of being acquitted look bleak, they retain the services of hot shot defense attorney Kaffee, a cocky and self centered individual that has never been in the line of fire, both in combat or in the courts.

He is assigned Lieutenants Galloway and Weinberg to be his counsel for the case and his point of focus is the so called Marine practice called “Code Red” in which a marine is given an order by a superior to perform a certain task, a beating if you will to teach a poor performing Marine a tough lesson. Kaffee and crew think that if that can be prove then the 2 defendants might have a chance of being let go without prison time due to the fact they HAD to follow orders and the brunt of the blame should fall on their superior.

Trouble is, the superior in this case is Colonel Jessep, a hard-nosed, very prideful individual who is unrelenting when being pushed to the edge of his sanity, he is very skilled at denying allegations and instilling fear into anyone who threatens him. The 3 lawyers try their hardest to find a way to break him down.

When pushed against the ropes and seeing their chances for winning and freeing the boys dwindling, putting a defendant on the stand backfires due the the clever persuasive actions of the state attorney Captain Ross, the disappearance of a key witness, the defense team has no choice but to question Colonel Jessep and get him to confess the order. The fireworks fly when Kaffee faces off against Jessep in what proves to be one of the best confrontational verbal exchanges in cinematic history. Will Kaffee be able to put the blame on Jessep or can Jessep prove otherwise?

The Good:

The performances of the entire cast is breathtaking, for the most part very intense and very true to military character character, no deviation, tough, rugged and unyielding. NIcholson gives yet another remarkable performance, great casting as his intensity is evident throughout the film and his final speech is mesmerizing (I can recite it word for word). He would put fear into any man who tried to push him against his will. Cruise is teriffic with a cocky attitude and great dialogue, it’s nice to see him brought back down to earth by Jessep at the end and making him have to resort to an intelligent game of mental chess when trying to squeeze out any ounce of pertinent information out of Jessep. Moore and Pollak are good in a limited role, restrained and reserved and very effective. Bacon is on top of his game with a solid and one-dimensional performance (which served him well in this role) smart and unrelenting in court, down to earth and personable out of court. Sutherland is very good as the defendant’s immediate superior, he shows the same characteristics as Nicholson on a more subdued level, but his hate for Cruise’s character is evident. The late J.T. Walsh is phenomenal in a limited role, very quiet but with a great presence and intelligence that was a bit shadowed by Nicholson, he gives a wonderful sincere depiction of a 2nd in command that doesn’t have the gall to question his superior. The 2 Marines on trial give a heartfelt and genuine performance while staying military-like and very intense, all the while fearing their fate, more so fearing the shame they would feel if they were to be discharge without honor from the corps, not so much for going to prison. There are several great cameos here as well, particularly Christopher Guest who plays the Marine Physician, Cuba Gooding and Noah Wile who play Privates who knew the deceased.

The storyline is intriguing on so many levels, many layers of plot are developed here. Will Kaffee live up to his brilliant potential and in the process save the tail of two men while facing insurmountable odds against Jessep? Will Jessep back down and swallow his pride and admit fault to the murders? Will Weinberg change his mind about the boys he deems cowards for beating up a weaker kid just because they were told to? These and many other sub-plots are the key to the interest generated by the film, a tightly wound suspense drama that uncoils and blows up in your face at the very end with a heavy confrontation.

Very nicely constructed production set and art direction, most of the film is set inside a courtroom that looks very presentable and neat, the uniforms are incredibly accurate to standard code and it’s very interesting to see the type of clothes and medals each ranking officer wears to trial and outside the court.

The score is very complementary to the suspense, a build up is felt when something dramatic is about to occur, and that happens quite often, nicely done. Very good cinematography, not so much on an epic scale, more so on a personal level, a one on one shot going back and forth that adds to the sense of tension and drama, especially at the end when Cruise and Nicholson clash.

The Bad:

As with many films that have two huge stars, some of the supporting cast, although big stars in their own right seem to sometime underplay their roles because of lack of camera time, don’t get me wrong, everyone in the film acted wonderfully, but the impression was given to me that if the movie was a bit longer (I know, it’s long enough) then we would see some more brilliance out of the other key members.

Some may have a problem with the subject matter. We are dealing with a trial of two men that used a cruel method of disciplining a weaker kid by stuffing a poisoned rag down his throat. Regardless of who is to blame here the subject matter may have some people cringe and question the appropriateness of the film to younger kids.

Overall Grade:

4.5 of 5



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older