A Few Good Men

A riveting courtroom drama from early-career Aaron Sorkin, one that's absolutely stuffed with taut suspense, gripping dialogue and A-list actors delivering lifetime performances. Not bad for a first-time screenwriter. A Few Good Men is an intelligent film that gently toes the line between spelling things out and leaning on legalese to skim the details. The audience gets a thorough understanding of the issue, the limits of the law and the goal of both teams, but that information is slowly rationed and rarely over-explained. We see flaws in our heroes and values in our villains. Each important player gets their chance to shine, and boy, do they all smack the ball out of the park. None moreso than Jack Nicholson, whose "You can't handle the truth" outburst has become synonymous with the picture. That speech still holds incredible power today, not just for the substance of the words (which remain pertinent thirty years later) but for the raw, unguarded emotion of Nicholson's delivery. It's easy to overlook the fact that he's scarcely on-screen for fifteen minutes, that climactic delivery resonates for so long. Tom Cruise and Demi Moore also bring their very best - I don't think Jack's moment burns quite so bright without Cruise there to egg him on - and a whole mess of supporting players are equally motivated, but that's just water under the bridge. It's all about getting to that speech, about earning that speech, and then basking in the afterglow of what it meant. Daring, unflinching, passionate movie-making that keeps us guessing to the very last breath. It's still every bit as good as I remembered.

A great legal drama I see as cult classic. It has a great story, strong actors and an interesting moral / legal dilemma. The story evolves around an incident at the Guantanmo Bay Naval base in Cuba. A US Marine died after being attacked by two fellow Marines. However this could been ordered by an Officer as a Code Red that went wrong. A Code Red is a violent (extrajudicial) punishment inside the military. As sidenote: By research I found out it seems those really exist but were called “Blanket party”. Back to the movie. It is the task of 2 JAG lawyers to defend the suspects and find out the truth. I stop here to avoid spoilers. The story is immersive, has good twists and kept me engaged for the whole time. I normally do neither like or hate legal dramas but this one is a must see. A lot of my enjoyment aside the story and moral dilemma came from the actors. Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholsen are amazing. But it ends not there as we got also Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollack and a lot of other talented actors. The combination **** story and actors that fully deliver is a true strength. I think I have said enough. Overall I give a 10/10 because of the high entertainment value, great story and well performing actors. I do not know why this movie is a bit forgotten today.