Jack Nicholson as Nasty Jack, Tom Cruise as himself, Demi Moore as the worst lawyer in the history of the world...

AlsExGal

... and yet I liked it! That's because, although there are a few subplots where you can see exactly where they are going, there are some that you do not. You do not get the ending you expect exactly either.

The set-up is this. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is a JAG lawyer who defends two Marines who have been accused of murdering a fellow Marine by poison. Kaffee had arranged for a plea bargain that means the Marines are paroled in 6 months. But the marines insist on going to trial saying that PFC Santiago, the victim, was given corporal punishment via an order they received, and that they did not intentionally kill Santiago.

Instead, Santiago was a marine who was writing letters trying to get transferred out of Gitmo, raising the ire of Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson), who sees just giving Santiago what he wants as a sign of weakness. (The audience sees this scene discussing Santiago, the characters do not.) But there is no proof this is what happened, and that is all that matters to Kaffee - what he can prove. Dawson is the leader of the two accused marines, and he sees going to trial as just part of his honor. He will not say he did what he did not. The other marine is none too bright, and just follows Dawson's lead.

So Kaffee can't figure out why the two defendants won't plead guilty. Lt. Comdr. Jo Anne Galloway (Demi Moore) is from internal affairs, assigned to this case because internal affairs sniffs a cover-up at Gitmo that is railroading the two marines. She is itching to go to trial. So Kaffee is eventually bullied into actually being a trial lawyer for once, but Galloway is just the world's worst lawyer. She makes pointless arguments that just tick people off, she makes points for the other side, and she prepares a witness for hours and doesn't notice something that is a key piece of evidence. Galloway should become a motivational speaker and leave the law behind IMHO.

Kevin Bacon is the prosecutor who has a Jack McCoy desire to win. Kiefer Sutherland is the superior officer of the two accused marines in Gitmo and is pitch perfect as a guy who has no curiosity for life outside of the rules of the marines and the King James Bible. I can't figure out what Kevin Pollak is even doing in this movie as he seems like a third wheel lawyer for the defense. Perhaps he is here as low key attorney and family man so this doesn't come across like St.Elmo's Fire in uniform. J.A. Preston lends a quiet dignity to the proceedings as the judge. And of course Jack Nicholson plays a military version of his usual persona.

I'd highly recommend it, but apparently the military didn't at the time, refused to endorse the film and refused to let shooting occur on military property. Good performances from the St. Elmo's Fire generation, all grown up, even though of the cast, only Demi Moore was in that movie. And Nicholson's presence lends to a dramatic conclusion, even though you could see it coming a mile away.

score 9/10

AlsExGal 5 September 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4323417/