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#663 - A Few Good Men
Rob Reiner, 1992
When two U.S. Marines are accused of murdering one of their comrades, a team of Naval attorneys is assigned to defend them.
A Few Good Men is another one of those films that's leaked into the cultural consciousness to the point where sitting down and actually watching it feels like a formality more so than a genuine cinematic experience. It's got a decent enough plot as far as legal dramas go thanks to its concerns with a military trial, especially when the seemingly straightforward case of two Marines murdering a third at Guantanamo Bay is complicated by the fact by not just their motives but also the origins of said motives. The defence counsel consists of a mismatched group in Tom Cruise's cocky legal hotshot who's never actually had to enter a courtroom, Demi Moore's upstanding professional who's looking to do right by her clients, and Kevin Pollak's morally conflicted individual who definitely seems to think his clients are guilty and is not all that enthused about defending them. The proceedings put Cruise up against a friendly rival (Kevin Bacon) who shows no mercy when it comes to prosecuting. Meanwhile, the colonel (Jack Nicholson) in charge of Guantanamo consults with his subordinates (J.T. Walsh and Kiefer Sutherland) over how best to handle the crisis on their hands.
There's nothing too spectacular about A Few Good Men but that doesn't make it bad. Rob Reiner's early career definitely showed a lot of versatility across multiple films thanks to his handling of richly developed characters, which makes him a good choice for directing Aaron Sorkin's dialogue-heavy screenplay. Nobody here comes across as out-of-place - not even Cruise, who proves himself fairly worthy of the material because his dedication to his craft is enough to compensate for his potentially alienating A-list status. Nicholson doesn't have all that much screen-time here but he definitely makes the most of what he gets in a way that also compensates for his iconic presence, earning the film's defining moment in the process. Other capable performers fill out the roles well and definitely don't draw negative attention. Though the fact that I can't really think of anything overly negative to say about A Few Good Men should signal that it's really good, it's also a sign that I can't really say too much that's overly positive either. It's about as dependable as a film can get with its reasonably compelling legal drama and the big names that demonstrate how they managed to become big names, but it doesn't exactly feel like a classic. Paradoxically, it proves very watchable but it definitely doesn't feel like I really need to watch it again.
Rob Reiner, 1992
When two U.S. Marines are accused of murdering one of their comrades, a team of Naval attorneys is assigned to defend them.
A Few Good Men is another one of those films that's leaked into the cultural consciousness to the point where sitting down and actually watching it feels like a formality more so than a genuine cinematic experience. It's got a decent enough plot as far as legal dramas go thanks to its concerns with a military trial, especially when the seemingly straightforward case of two Marines murdering a third at Guantanamo Bay is complicated by the fact by not just their motives but also the origins of said motives. The defence counsel consists of a mismatched group in Tom Cruise's cocky legal hotshot who's never actually had to enter a courtroom, Demi Moore's upstanding professional who's looking to do right by her clients, and Kevin Pollak's morally conflicted individual who definitely seems to think his clients are guilty and is not all that enthused about defending them. The proceedings put Cruise up against a friendly rival (Kevin Bacon) who shows no mercy when it comes to prosecuting. Meanwhile, the colonel (Jack Nicholson) in charge of Guantanamo consults with his subordinates (J.T. Walsh and Kiefer Sutherland) over how best to handle the crisis on their hands.
There's nothing too spectacular about A Few Good Men but that doesn't make it bad. Rob Reiner's early career definitely showed a lot of versatility across multiple films thanks to his handling of richly developed characters, which makes him a good choice for directing Aaron Sorkin's dialogue-heavy screenplay. Nobody here comes across as out-of-place - not even Cruise, who proves himself fairly worthy of the material because his dedication to his craft is enough to compensate for his potentially alienating A-list status. Nicholson doesn't have all that much screen-time here but he definitely makes the most of what he gets in a way that also compensates for his iconic presence, earning the film's defining moment in the process. Other capable performers fill out the roles well and definitely don't draw negative attention. Though the fact that I can't really think of anything overly negative to say about A Few Good Men should signal that it's really good, it's also a sign that I can't really say too much that's overly positive either. It's about as dependable as a film can get with its reasonably compelling legal drama and the big names that demonstrate how they managed to become big names, but it doesn't exactly feel like a classic. Paradoxically, it proves very watchable but it definitely doesn't feel like I really need to watch it again.