A Few Good Men (1992)
Directed by Rob Reiner
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.
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4 films that influenced A Few Good Men
What critics say influenced A Few Good Men
The first thing to be said about "A Few Good Men" is that it resembles perhaps too closely "The Caine Mutiny."
Essentially it is "The Caine Mutiny" in dry dock with Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise going macho a macho.
Centered, like "The Caine Mutiny" before it, around a trial inside a military courtroom, "A Few Good Men" (citywide) would like you to think it's about such weighty topics as the misuse of power and a young man's struggle to find himself, but no one will be coming out of theaters whistling those tunes.
Though still clearly a play-turned-film, "A Few Good Men" has been cautiously and effectively "opened up" by Reiner and cinematographer Robert Richardson (Oliver Stone's regular cameraman), whose virtuosity is most evident within the confines of the courtroom, where delicate camera moves and impeccable editing turn this into a tinderbox trial favorably comparable to "The Caine Mutiny."
If you've seen "Breaker Morant" and "The Caine Mutiny," you can guess what happens next.
A Few Good Men is a military courtroom drama in the tradition of The Caine Mutiny, but screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director Rob Reiner try to prove their liberal credentials by beefing up the role of the woman in the original Sorkin play until she's a feminist firebrand.
"A Few Good Men" doesn't pack the surprises of "Witness for the Prosecution," nor does it probe very deeply into the psyche of men who exercise the power of dictators in a society that congratulates itself on its freedoms.
If you've seen "Breaker Morant" and "The Caine Mutiny," you can guess what happens next.
Scripted by Aaron Sorkin from his own play, considerably less interesting than A Soldier's Story, this centres on a fatal case of bullying in the US Marines and the ensuing trial.