|
|
I viewed this movie the day that it opened in December, 1992, and immediately felt what director Rob Reiner was going for. The story itself has many of my favorite elements in film: something new for me (The JAG Corps), a compelling story (The Code Red), and a great cast from top to bottom. I was also pleased that Demi Moore (JoAnne Galloway), and Tom Cruise (Daniel Kaffee) were not written into an unneccessary (and unrealistic) love plot, either. The dialogue between the two of them was, at times, however, as simmering as between Kaffee and Lt. Col Nathan R. Jessup (Jack Nicholson), but for different reasons. Jo was looking for the truth, and Jessup was trying to cover it up. And even though his (Jessup's) character is only on the screen for something like 12 minutes, his presence is far reaching. He represents to me the arrogance of some military officers who are appalled that they even have to cover anything up. Kevin Pollack (Lt. Weinberg) does a good job as the other of Kaffee's sidekicks, Kevin Bacon plays against type with his portrayal of the USMC prosecutor, and Keifer Sutherland is chilling as a Marine loyal to Jessup (even more than to his God and to his Marine Corps guidebook). Interestingly, even the minor roles are played well by a combination of experienced and some then new faces, Noah Wyle (ER) as another Marine in Cuba, Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Marine), J.T. Walsh (Markinson), Christopher Guest (Doctor Stone), Wolfgang Bodison (Lance Cpl. Dawson), and James Marshall (Pfc. Downey). With the cast, the direction, and most of all the story (I saw the play and it is just as dramatic--but without the scenes of Cuba and D.C.), I felt than and I feel now that "A Few Good Men" deserves its place near the top of the decade, if not the half-century. Rarely have I walked out of a theatre with a feeling that I've experienced "something" than when I walked out that night. I'd like Reiner to direct something similar so I can have that feeling again.
score 10/10
Stoney-9 9 April 1999
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0307272/ |
|
29-11-2019 22:26:01
