So you started watching A few good men and you experience the Tom Cruise effect. From the first minutes of the film, you see our protagonist, a young military lawyer that is arrogant enough to make you more disgusted but also excited about the young, pure confidence he has while working on a case of two technically guilty marines.
Here comes a female support character, Mrs Moore, in order to tame our protagonist and also unlock his potential as a person and lawyer. The second support character, Mr Pollak fulfills the role of the calm and wise older friend of the protagonist.
Let us dedicate some time to someone slightly more important than a support. In our case he is the villain role, introducing the Jack Nicholson effect. With not a lot of screen time, he provides a memorable momentum and intensity to the film His performance gives weight to the maybe not so welcome idea, where the army sometimes needs to act brutally, in order to maintain the top security and functionality it provides to a nation.
The given plot holds the viewer’s hand tight. It is a sit-back journey, having everything served and ready. This might have happened unintentionally, but it is probably because of the matters of law that a big portion of the film deals about.
Yet… everything goes around a military logic, so even if the 2 marines that are practically invisible but represent another strong life lesson, they are funny enough at times. Also you will catch yourself laugh at some things that are not actually done in real army or are done a little wrong, weird and funny overall.
Conclusions:
It is a film where you do not have to discover things yourself. However, the side of the law might be complex enough for the movie to let you do additional work. Either way, you feel satisfied throughout the film but in the end you expected and wanted something more. Definitely an awesomely solid film and a well known one for very good reasons.
Favourite quotes:
- “Jessep: You want answers? Kaffee: I think I’m entitled. Jessep: You want answers? Kaffee: I want the truth! Jessep: You can’t handle the truth.”
- “Weinberg: Why do you like them so much? Galloway: Because they stand on a wall, and say, nothing is going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch.”