A Few Good Men

Rob Reiner, USA, 1992, 138 minutes

The ever-smiling Tom Cruise plays a wise-cracking, young whipper-snapper of a lawyer who is forced to live in the shadow of his distinguished lawyer father. His working partner is the exact opposite, a quiet spoken chap who spends his time pouring over research notes while Cruise plays baseball. Into this buddy relationship steps Demi Moore as the confident Army investigator. The ostensible task of the likeable trio of legal eagles is to defend two rather unassuming marines accused of murdering a fellow soldier at a top-secret military base in Cuba. All is not, however, as it seems. Beneath the surface lurks a terrifying tale of institutionalised brutality. Not surprisingly given their business, military officials are expert at closing ranks and our gallant team encounter walls of silence. Yet, over time, they begin to patch together some fragments of evidence and establish a case to put before a military court.

A Few Good Men is a cynically made film, tailored for the tastes of the mass market. Director Rob Reiner eschews fancy cinematic techniques and allows the stars to shine. It's an enjoyable film but one just cannot take it seriously. As the film unreels, the plot becomes more and more contrived, culminating in a melodramatic, almost laughable courtroom showdown. Jack Nicholson has the right idea, mercilessly overacting as the hard-nosed boss of the military base.

Review by Stephen Townsend
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94