“A Few Good Men” is one of the most famous military justice movies. It was based on a play by Aaron Sorkin, who got the idea from his sister who was with the Judge Advocate General at Guantanamo Bay. She told him of a case involving a hazing incident in which an officer encouraged his men to beat a troublemaker. The movie was directed by Rob Reiner, so you know it is not going to be pro-military. Not surprisingly, the Marine Corps had problems with the script. They did not see even a few good Marines in the plot. The accused are Marines, their attorney saviors are Navy. Reiner, in a very questionable move, refused to change any of the defense attorneys to a Marine. The Marines declined to cooperate, but the Navy stepped in and offered the Naval Air Station at Point Mgu, California. Considering the movie could have easily been made without Pentagon cooperation, this was a dick move by the sister service. The movie may have offended Marine command, but it was a huge box office hit and critically acclaimed. It was nominated for four Oscars: Picture, Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), Editing, and Sound Mixing. It was nominated for Golden Globes for Drama, Director, Actor (Cruise), Supporting Actor, and Screenplay (Sorkin).
A Marine named Santiago has been murdered in a “code red” incident. Santiago was a malcontent who had threatened to rat on a shooting at the fence line of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Lance Corporal Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) and PFC Downey (James Marshall) go a little too far in the punishment and are court-martialed for murder. The defense should go to Lt. Commander JoAnne Gallaway (Demi Moore when she was a big star), but in an act of sexism, Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Cruise) is put in charge. He’s a brash jerk who assumes their clients are guilty and doesn’t give a flip. Gallaway can’t stand him, naturally. But you know where this relationship is heading. Meanwhile, the case is heading toward a ruling of guilty. The defense will need a home run in the bottom of the ninth. Maybe they could face a really bad relief pitcher. Now entering from the bull pen – Col. Nathan Jessup (Nicholson).
“A Few Good Men” is an entertaining movie, even though it relies on common court room drama tropes. Cruise plays the attorney who has to be dragged into the case and is not planning on putting full effort into a losing case. Moore is the zealous assistant who believes in justice. Throw in some sexual tension. The case follows the common arc of we’re screwed, we have a surprise witness, oops he’s dead, we’re screwed, the villain cracks on the stand, we win! It’s not all cliché. The romance does not heat up in spite of the pressure to put Cruise and Moore between the sheets. Another trope-busting plot development is the portrayal of the prosecuting attorney (Kevin Bacon) as fair and competent. He’s not the usual weasel.
It sure looks like the purpose of the film was to allow Cruise to play his usual wisecracking slacker and find a way to get Nicholson on the stand. (He was paid $5 million for the picture.) Unfortunately, although the movie is remembered for Nicholson’s fire-breathing performance, the Jessup character is a big mess. He is a combination of Patton (traditional warrior) and the Great Santini (maverick martinet). Americans were supposed to leave the theater thinking that we probably need assholes like Jessup to keep us safe. How many people left the theater realizing their knight in black armor was actually an emotional basket case with easily pushed buttons? Nicholson is a great actor, but his witness stand performance leaves no scenery unchewed. Oscar please! The loss of control of a veteran officer, who is in command at a tension-filled base, is ludicrous. The theme may be that we need guys like this on the front lines, but could they please be a little tougher when badgered by Tom Cruise? It might have worked if he had not already been offered as a caricature before he entered the court room.
“A Few Good Men” was overrated by the public and critics, but it is worth the watch as an acting showcase. For better or worse, Jessup on the witness stand is iconic and gave us the immortal line: “You can’t handle the truth!” Which is ironic because Jessup is brought down by his inability to stick to the lie he was relying on to preserve his career and thus continue to keep America safe.
GRADE = B-
Characters like Jessup give me the impression that many Hollywood writers understand military men as poorly as does the anarchist in Chesterton's "Man Who Was Thursday":
ReplyDelete"When first I became one of the New Anarchists I tried all kinds of respectable disguises .... I tried being a major. Now I am a humanitarian myself, but I have, I hope, enough intellectual breadth to understand the position of those who, like Nietzsche, admire violence—the proud, mad war of Nature and all that, you know. I threw myself into the major. I drew my sword and waved it constantly. I called out ‘Blood!’ abstractedly, like a man calling for wine. I often said, ‘Let the weak perish; it is the Law.’ Well, well, it seems majors don’t do this. I was nabbed again..."