A Few Good Men

This article is about the film. For the play, see A Few Good Men (play).

A Few Good Men
Original theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Reiner
Produced by	David Brown Rob Reiner Andrew Scheinman
Written by	Aaron Sorkin
Starring	Tom Cruise Demi Moore Jack Nicholson Kevin Pollak Kevin Bacon J. T. Walsh Kiefer Sutherland
Music by	Marc Shaiman
Cinematography	Robert Richardson
Editing by	Robert Leighton
Studio	Castle Rock Entertainment
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 11, 1992 (1992-12-11)
Running time	138 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40,000,000[1]
Box office	$243,240,178[1]

A Few Good Men is a 1992 drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. It was adapted for the screen by Aaron Sorkin from his play of the same name. A courtroom drama, the film revolves around the trial of two U.S. Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyer as he prepares a case to defend his clients.

Plot

Lieutenant Junior Grade Daniel "Danny" Kaffee (Tom Cruise), is an inexperienced U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps lawyer who leads the defense in the court-martial of two Marines, Private First Class Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Corporal Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of murdering a fellow Marine of their unit, PFC William Santiago (Michael DeLorenzo), at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, which is under the command of Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson).

Santiago compared unfavorably to his fellow Marines, had poor relations with them and failed to respect the chain of command. He went above his superiors to bargain for a transfer in exchange for blowing the whistle on Dawson for firing a possibly illegal shot towards the Cuban side of the island. When the transfer request is seen by the base's senior commanders, there is a heated argument between Santiago's commanding officer, Lt Jonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland) who asserts that he can handle the situation, and Jessep's executive officer, Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson (J.T. Walsh) who casts doubt on Kendrick's ability based on a past incident. Markinson advocates that Santiago be transferred immediately for safety reasons before the request gets out, but Jessep says that this would set a bad precedent which could cost lives. Jessep also states that officers have a responsibility to ensure that all personnel are trained, so he orders Kendrick to ensure that Santiago shows significant improvement on the next evaluation report, or he would be held personally responsible. When Dawson and Downey are later arrested for Santiago's murder, Naval investigator and lawyer Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore) suspects that they were carrying out a "code red": a euphemism for a violent extrajudicial punishment.

Galloway requests to defend them but the case is given to Kaffee, who has a reputation for arranging plea bargains. There is initial friction between them, as she believes he negotiates plea bargains to avoid having to argue in court, and he claims that she is interfering with his handling of the case. However their relationship strengthens as the trial progresses, as does Kaffee's effectiveness as a lawyer.^[2]

Despite goading by Galloway and Dawson to allow the trial go to court, Kaffee initially tries to step down as lead counsel for the defense - his argument being that since he cannot prove that any order was given for the assault, making a legal stand simply because he believes the Marines did as they were told was a futile gesture. However, Galloway successfully argues her point of view to Kaffee after Dawson and Downey state they were ordered by Lieutenant Kendrick (under the orders of Jessep) to shave Santiago's head, minutes after Kendrick ordered the platoon not to touch the would-be victim. Santiago's death was actually caused when a rag was shoved into his mouth as a gag.

Kaffee comes to realize that for a legal officer of his limited time and experience to be given such an important case is unusual, and he accepts that he was probably assigned to it due to his reputation for plea bargaining, indicating that someone high up did not want the case to reach court, so he changes his mind and agrees to proceed. Kaffee's suspicions are confirmed when he rejects a plea bargain offer from prosecutor Capt. Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon), who's a friend of Kaffee's. Ross then warns that the government's case against the two Marines is strong and that Kaffee could risk his reputation (including court martial and being discharged from the Navy) for any attempt to smear high-ranking officers in making a futile defense.

In the course of the trial it is established that code reds are standard in Guantanamo Bay as a means of enforcing discipline and getting sloppy Marines to follow procedure. Kaffee especially goes after Kendrick, particularly over the fact that he denied Dawson a promotion after the latter helped out a fellow Marine who was under what could be seen as a code red.

Lieutenant Colonel Markinson has gone absent without leave since the incident, but he resurfaces in Kaffee's car during the trial, revealing that Jessep never intended to transfer Santiago off the base as previously claimed but created the transfer orders as part of a cover-up long after Santiago's death. Kaffee is unable to find evidence corroborating these claims and announces his intention to have Markinson testify. Rather than publicly dishonor himself and the Marine Corps, Markinson sends a letter to Santiago's parents, blaming his own weakness for the loss of their son, dresses in full dress uniform and commits suicide. Without Markinson's crucial testimony, Kaffee believes that the case is lost and returns home after a drunken stupor, having come to regret that he fought the case instead of considering the plea bargain.

Galloway however convinces Kaffee to take the great risk to call as a witness Colonel Jessep. Kaffee initially questions Jessep's travel habits versus that of Santiago (who had apparently made no preparations to pack and/or called any friends about leaving the base) in an attempt to argue that the transfer order was never properly conducted. However Jessep successfully outsmarts Kaffee by saying that he cannot speculate on Santiago's habits, and he becomes particularly disdainful of Kaffee (pointing out dismissively that Kaffee pinned his clients' defense on a phone bill) and the court proceedings.

Kaffee then directly accuses Jessep of ordering a code red on Santiago and then cutting Dawson and Downey loose. The prosecution and the judge thunder objections, but Jessep is caught in an awkward situation: he had stated that Santiago was due to be transferred off the base for his own safety in case the other Marines sought retribution, but also stated that Marines are honorable men who always follow orders - thus Kaffee argues that if the other Marines were ordered to leave Santiago alone and always follow orders, then Santiago would have been in no danger whatsoever and thus Jessep's argument that he was to be transferred for his own safety was flawed. Under heavy pressure from Kaffee and unnerved by being caught in one of his own lies, Jessep furiously declares "You can't handle the truth!" and dismisses Kaffee as disrespectful of a Marine doing his duty, ultimately confessing that he did order the code red. As Jessep angrily justifies his actions on the basis of national security, he is arrested by Ross, and there is a verdict of not guilty on the murder charges for Dawson and Downey. Ross informs Kaffee he will now have Kendrick arrested for the same charges faced by Dawson and Downey.

Nonetheless, the two Marines are dishonorably discharged for causing Santiago's death through their "conduct unbecoming a United States Marine." Downey does not understand why they are being given dishonorable discharges, but Dawson accepts the verdict, and explains to Downey that they failed to stand up for those too weak to stand up for themselves, like Santiago. As the two prepare to leave, Kaffee tells Dawson he doesn't need a patch on his arm to have honor. Dawson, who had previously been reluctant to respect Kaffee as an officer, barks "There's an officer on deck!" and salutes Kaffee.

Cast

• Tom Cruise as LTJG Daniel Kaffee, USN
• Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessep, USMC
• Demi Moore as LCDR JoAnne Galloway, USN
• Kevin Bacon as Capt. Jack Ross, USMC
• Kiefer Sutherland as Lt Jonathan Kendrick, USMC
• Kevin Pollak as LTJG Sam Weinberg, USN
• J. T. Walsh as Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson, USMC
• James Marshall as Pfc. Louden Downey, USMC
• Wolfgang Bodison as LCpl. Harold W. Dawson, USMC
• J.A. Preston as Judge (Col) Julius Alexander Randolph, USMC
• Matt Craven as Lt Dave Spradling, USN
• Michael DeLorenzo as Pfc William T. Santiago, USMC
• Noah Wyle as Cpl Jeffrey Owen Barnes, USMC
• Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Cpl Carl Hammaker, USMC
• Xander Berkeley as Captain Whitaker, USN
• Joshua Malina as Jessep's clerk, Tom, USMC
• Christopher Guest as Cdr (Dr.) Stone, USN
• Aaron Sorkin as Lawyer bragging in tavern
• John M. Jackson as JAG Captain West, USN

Production

Sorkin got the inspiration to write his next play, a courtroom drama called A Few Good Men, from a phone conversation with his sister Deborah, who had graduated from Boston University Law School and signed up for a 3-year stint with the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. She was going to Guantanamo Bay to defend a group of Marines who came close to killing a fellow Marine in a hazing ordered by a superior officer. Sorkin took that information and wrote much of his story on cocktail napkins while bartending at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.^[3] He and his roommates had purchased a Macintosh 512K so when he returned home he would empty his pockets of the cocktail napkins and type them into the computer, forming a basis from which he wrote many drafts for A Few Good Men.^[4]

In 1988 Sorkin sold the film rights for his play A Few Good Men to producer David Brown before it premiered, in a deal reportedly "well into six figures."^[5] Brown had read an article in The New York Times about Sorkin's one-act play Hidden in This Picture and found out Sorkin also had a play called A Few Good Men that was having Off Broadway readings.^[6]

David Brown was producing a few projects at TriStar Pictures and tried to interest them in making A Few Good Men into a film but his proposal was declined due to the lack of star actor involvement. Brown later got a call from Alan Horn at Castle Rock Entertainment who was anxious to make the film. Rob Reiner, a producing partner at Castle Rock, opted to direct it.^[7]

The film had a production budget of $33,000,000.^[8]

The film starts with a recital of Semper Fidelis by a U.S. Marine Corps marching band, and a Silent Drill (performed by the Texas A&M University fish Drill Team).^[9]

Several former Navy JAG lawyers have been identified as the basis for Tom Cruise's character of Lt. Daniel Kaffee. These include Don Marcari (now an attorney in Virginia), former United States Attorney David Iglesias, Chris Johnson (now practicing in California) and Walter Bansley III (now practicing in Connecticut).^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

Wolfgang Bodison was a film location scout when he was asked to take part in a screen test for the part of Dawson.^[15]

Awards and honors

Academy Awards nominations

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards:^[16]

• Best Picture
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Nicholson)
• Best Film Editing
• Best Sound (Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline and Robert Eber)

Golden Globe nominations

The film was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards:

• Best Motion Picture - Drama
• Best Director (Rob Reiner)
• Best Actor (Tom Cruise)
• Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson)
• Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin)

AFI 100 Years… series

The film was recognized twice by the AFI 100 Years… series. In 2005, Nicholson's reading of the line "You can't handle the truth!" was voted the twenty-ninth greatest American movie quote of all time^[17] and in 2008 the film was voted the fifth best Courtroom Drama.^[18]

Reception

The film opened on December 11, 1992 in 1,925 theaters. It grossed $15,517,468 in its first weekend and was the number one film at the box office for the next 3 weeks. Overall it grossed $141,340,178 in the US and $95,159,822 in International markets, giving a total of $236,500,000.^[19]

The film was a big success, both with critics and at the box office.^{[20] [21]} Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said "That the performances are uniformly outstanding is a tribute to Rob Reiner (Misery), who directs with masterly assurance, fusing suspense and character to create a movie that literally vibrates with energy."^[22] Richard Schickel in Time magazine called it "an extraordinarily well-made movie, which wastes no words or images in telling a conventional but compelling story."^[23] Todd McCarthy in Variety predicted, "The same histrionic fireworks that gripped theater audiences will prove even more compelling to filmgoers due to the star power and dramatic screw-tightening."^[24]

The film has a 83% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes.^[25]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} A Few Good Men (1992 - Box Office Mojo)
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ "London Shows- A Few Good Men". thisistheatre.com. E&OE. http://www.thisistheatre.com/londonshows/afewgoodmen.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
4. ^ "Aaron Sorkin interview". http://westwing.bewarne.com/credits/sorkin.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
5. ^ Henry III, William. "Marine Life". Theater- Time Magazine, Monday, Nov. 27, 1989. Time, Inc.. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959129,00.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
6. ^ Prigge, Steven (October 2004). Movie Moguls Speak: Interviews with Top Film Producers. McFarland & Company. pp. 12–13. ISBN ISBN 978-0-7864-1929-6. 
7. ^ Prigge, Steven (October 2004). Movie Moguls Speak: Interviews with Top Film Producers. McFarland & Company. pp. 12–13. ISBN ISBN 978-0-7864-1929-6. 
8. ^ "A Few Good Men - budget". Nash Information Services, LLC.. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1992/0FGME.php. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
9. ^ Nading, Tanya (February 11, 2001). "Corps Fish Drill Team reinstated — Front Page". College Media Network. http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2001/11/02/FrontPage/Corps.Fish.Drill.Team.Reinstated-516243.shtml. Retrieved July 18, 2009. 
10. ^ Glauber, Bill (April 10, 1994). "Ex-Marine who felt 'A Few Good Men' maligned him is mysteriously murdered". Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-04-10/news/1994100064_1_marine-corps-david-cox-gung-ho-marine. Retrieved September 21, 2010. 
11. ^ Gisick, Michael (May 10, 2007). "Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias embraces the media in his quest for vindication". Albuquerque Tribune. http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/may/10/fired-us-attorney-david-iglesias-embraces-media-hi/. Retrieved September 21, 2010. 
12. ^ Johnson, Christopher D.. "Christopher D. Johnson, Esquire". http://www.bestfederallawyer.com/. Retrieved September 21, 2010. 
13. ^ Beach, Randall (March 18, 2009). "Allegation delays homicide trial". New Haven Register. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/03/18/news/new_haven/a3-nedillard.txt. Retrieved October 28, 2010. 
14. ^ "Lawyer Didn’t Act Like a "Few Good Men," Cops Say". NBC Connecticut. August 26, 2010. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local-beat/Lawyer-Didnt-Act-Like-a-Few-Good-Men-Cops-Say--101564198.html. Retrieved October 28, 2010. 
15. ^ A Few Good Men DVD commentary
16. ^ "The 65th Academy Awards (1993) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/65th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-22. 
17. ^ "AFI Quotes". American Film Institute. http://www.afi.com/100years/quotes.aspx. 
18. ^ "AFI: 10 Top 10". American Film Institute. http://www.afi.com/10top10/crdrama.html. 
19. ^ "A Few Good Men- box office data". Nash Information Services, LLC.. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1992/0FGME.php. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
20. ^ "`A Few Good Men' Outpaces 2 Biographic Openings". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-01-01/entertainment/9303152126_1_location-million-for-seventh-place-weeks. Retrieved 2010-10-26. 
21. ^ "Weekend Box Office `Aladdin's' Magic Carpet Ride". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1993-01-26/entertainment/ca-2081_1_weekend-box-office. Retrieved 2010-11-18. 
22. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes- A Few Good Men review". Flixster Inc.. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/few_good_men/comments.php?reviewid=221143. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
23. ^ Schickel, Richard. "Close-Order Moral Drill". Time Monday, Dec. 14, 1992. Time, Inc.. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977216-1,00.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
24. ^ McCarthy, Todd. "A Few Good Men- Review". RBI, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117900056?refcatid=31. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
25. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes- A Few Good Men". Flixster Inc.. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/few_good_men. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 

External links

• A Few Good Men at the Internet Movie Database
• A Few Good Men at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Few Good Men at Metacritic
• A Few Good Men at AllRovi
• A Few Good Men on AnyClip