| A Few Good Men | |
| Director: | Rob Reiner |
| Screenplay: | Aaron Sorkin |
| Music: | Marc Shaiman |
| Cinematography: | Robert Richardson |
| Editing: | Robert Leighton |
| Studio: | Castle Rock Entertainment |
| Distributor: | Columbia Pictures |
| Runtime: | 138 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $33–40 million |
| Gross: | $243.2 million[1] |
A Few Good Men is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, J. T. Walsh, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Kiefer Sutherland. The plot follows the court-martial of two U.S. Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyers as they prepare a case.
Produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, the film was released by Columbia Pictures on December 11, 1992, and premiered on December 9, 1992, at Westwood, Los Angeles. It received acclaim for its screenwriting, direction, themes, and acting, particularly that of Cruise, Nicholson, and Moore. It grossed more than $243 million on a budget of $40 million, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.[2]
At the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, Private William Santiago, a United States Marine, is tied up and beaten in the middle of the night. After he is found dead, Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey are accused of his murder and face a court-martial. Their defense is assigned to United States Navy JAG Corps Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a callow lawyer with a penchant for plea bargains.
Another JAG attorney, Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway, Kaffee's superior, suspects something is amiss. Santiago died after he broke the chain of command to ask to be transferred away. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Markinson advocated for Santiago to be transferred, but Base Commander Colonel Nathan Jessep ordered Santiago's platoon commander, Lieutenant Jonathan James Kendrick, to "train" Santiago on the basis they are all at fault for Santiago's substandard performance. Galloway suspects that Dawson and Downey carried out a "code red" order: a violent extrajudicial punishment. Galloway is bothered by Kaffee's blasé approach, and Kaffee resents Galloway's interference.
Kaffee and Galloway question Jessep and others at Guantanamo Bay and are met with contempt from the colonel. When Kaffee negotiates a plea bargain with the prosecutor, US Marine Judge Advocate Captain Jack Ross, Dawson and Downey refuse, insisting that Kendrick gave them the "code red" order, that they never intended to kill Santiago, and that it would be dishonorable to pursue a plea bargain. Kaffee intends to get removed as counsel, but at the arraignment, Kaffee unexpectedly enters a plea of not guilty for the defendants. He says that he was chosen to handle the case because he was expected to accept a plea, and the matter would then be kept quiet.
Markinson meets Kaffee in secret and says that Jessep never ordered a transfer for Santiago. The defense establishes that Dawson had been denied promotion for smuggling food to a Marine who had been sentenced to be deprived of food. Dawson is portrayed in a good light, and the defense, through Downey, proves that "code reds" had been ordered before. But under cross-examination, Downey says that he was not present when Dawson received the supposed "code red" order. Markinson, ashamed that he failed to protect a Marine under his command and unwilling to testify against Jessep, his longtime friend, commits suicide before he can testify.
Without Markinson's testimony, Kaffee believes the case lost. He returns home in a drunken stupor, lamenting that he fought the case instead of taking a deal. Galloway encourages Kaffee to call Jessep as a witness, despite the risk of being court-martialed for challenging a high-ranking officer without evidence.
At the Washington Navy Yard court, Jessep spars with Kaffee's questioning, but is unnerved when Kaffee points out a contradiction in his testimony. Kaffee also calls into question Jessep's claim that Santiago was to be put on the first flight home. Upon further questioning, and disgusted by Kaffee's attitude, Jessep extols the military's, and his own, importance to national security. Kaffee asks if Jessep ordered the "code red", to which he bellows "You're goddamn right I did!". Jessep tries to leave the courtroom but is arrested.
Dawson and Downey are cleared of the murder and conspiracy charges but found guilty of "conduct unbecoming" and will be dishonorably discharged. Downey does not understand what they did wrong; Dawson says that they failed to defend those too weak to fight for themselves. Kaffee tells Dawson that it is not necessary to wear a patch on one's arm to have honor. Dawson acknowledges Kaffee as an officer and renders a salute. Kaffee and Ross exchange pleasantries before Ross departs to arrest Kendrick.
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was inspired to write the source play, A Few Good Men, from a phone conversation with his sister Deborah. A graduate of Boston University Law School, she had signed up for a three-year stint with the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps.[3] She said that she was going to Guantanamo Bay to defend a group of Marines who had nearly killed a fellow Marine in a hazing ordered by a superior officer.
While the film does not inform its audience that it is inspired by a true story, many of the facts of the case that Deborah Sorkin was involved in are directly included in the play and film. This later led to a lawsuit against Castle Rock by the real-life Marines whose actions inspired the story.
In reality, a code red was allegedly ordered in September 1986 against Private First Class (PFC) William Alvarado, who had written letters to a Texas Congressman and others, complaining of poor conditions and illegal activities on the base, including Marines firing shots across the fence line into Cuba. PFC Alvarado, like his on-screen counterpart, "was perceived as not one of the team"[4] and requested a transfer off the base. This information reached commanding officer Colonel Samuel Adams, who elected not to transfer Alvarado despite concerns that the Marine's violation of the chain of command may put him in danger. One night, a group of Marines known as "the Ten" chose to perform a "code red",[5] a term that apparently was used to refer to hazing at the time but is no longer in the Marine vernacular.[6]
"The Ten" restrained a sleeping Alvarado, binding him with tape and stuffing a pillowcase into his mouth as a gag. Alvarado was blindfolded and assaulted while being dragged out of his room. One of "The Ten", David Cox, produced a hair buzzer as the plan was to shave Alvarado bald as punishment. But then Alvarado began choking. His lungs filled with fluid, he spat up blood and began turning purple as he lost consciousness, perhaps because the gag had been soaked in gasoline as an attorney would later allege. The "code red" was immediately stopped, and the Marines called for help. Alvarado was taken to the infirmary before being transferred to a hospital in Miami, Florida, where he – unlike Private William Santiago in A Few Good Men – went on to make a full recovery.[7]
"The Ten" admitted guilt and were arrested immediately. Seven of the Marines took plea deals to avoid a court-martial trial. The remaining three, including Cox, elected to stand trial. The three argued that they committed the code red under an order from a commanding officer and that murder had never been the intention. Each of the three managed to retain their status as Marines after being found guilty of lesser offenses and went on to be honorably discharged at the conclusion of their military careers. The attorney who defended Cox, Donald Marcari, would later say that Adams "never confessed". In an interview, the attorney Marcari said that code reds "were very prevalent" at the time, even though Adams said that "he didn't realize Code Reds were still going on". In court, "we were trying to show there was an implied order," Marcari said, and "that Marines are so gung-ho they must follow any order, even if it's an implied order."[8]
After the release of the film A Few Good Men, five Marines from "The Ten" – Kevin Palermo, Ronald Peterson Jr., Brett Bentley, Dennis Snyder and Christopher Lee Valdez – hired lawyer Gary Patterson and filed a lawsuit in Texas State Court against Castle Rock and other Hollywood companies linked to the film. They argued that Aaron Sorkin took the idea for the story from their real-life incident, and they were seeking $10 million in damages. Cox was not a part of this lawsuit, though he was asked to join and was considering doing so in January 1994 when he was mysteriously murdered.[9]
Prior to his death, Cox had said that the movie distorted the circumstances surrounding his being convicted of simple assault. He was upset that his story had been used, details changed and now someone was making money off of the incident. Cox felt this not only made him look bad, but that it was a violation of his privacy and there was considerable argument about how exactly the writers had gotten their hands on the official court-martial's transcripts.
Aaron Sorkin wrote much of his story on cocktail napkins while bartending at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.[10] He and his roommates had purchased a Macintosh 512K; when he returned home, he would empty his pockets of the napkins and type them into the computer, forming a basis from which he wrote many drafts.[11]
In 1988, Sorkin sold his play's film rights to producer David Brown before it premiered, in a deal reportedly "well into six figures".[12] Brown had read a New York Times article about Sorkin's one-act play Hidden in This Picture, and he learned that Sorkin also had a play called A Few Good Men that was having off-Broadway readings.[13] Brown was producing a few projects at TriStar Pictures, and tried to interest them in adapting A Few Good Men, but his proposal was declined due to the lack of star actors. In 1990, Variety announced that the film would be financed by Groupe Canal+ and Brown's company World Film Services. Brown received a call from Alan Horn at Castle Rock Entertainment, who was anxious to make the film. Rob Reiner, a producing partner at Castle Rock Entertainment, opted to direct.
Reiner and Sorkin spent eight months writing the screenplay. William Goldman did an uncredited rewrite; Sorkin liked his changes so much that he incorporated them into the stage version. One of the most significant changes was the removal of a forged logbook that served as the trial's "smoking gun" in the play.[14]
The film had a production budget of between $33 and 40 million.[15] Tom Cruise was cast as Kaffee on March 22, 1991, and was given a $12.5 million salary. Demi Moore was cast as Galloway.[16] Wolfgang Bodison was a film location scout when he was asked to take part in a screen test for the part of Dawson.[17] James Woods auditioned to play Jessep, but Jack Nicholson was cast. Nicholson was paid $5 million for 10 days of shooting, earning $500,000 a day. Nicholson said, "it was one of the few times when it was money well spent." He later criticized Columbia Pictures for moving the film's release date to directly compete with his other film that year, Hoffa.
The film starts with a performance of "Semper Fidelis" by a U.S. Marine Corps marching band. A Silent Drill was performed by the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets Fish Drill Team (portraying the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon).[18] [19]
Commentators have suggested several former Navy JAG lawyers who might have been the model for Kaffee. These include Don Marcari, now an attorney in Virginia; former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias; Chris Johnson, now practicing in California; and Walter Bansley III, now practicing in Connecticut. But Sorkin has said, "The character of Dan Kaffee in A Few Good Men is entirely fictional and was not inspired by any particular individual."[20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
Cruise said that he modeled his performance on Church of Scientology chairman David Miscavige, with whom he is friends.[25] Cruise insisted on using the church's Clearsound sound reproduction technology, which he claimed captured his voice better.
Filming began on October 21, 1991, at the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C. The film's Guantanamo Bay scenes were filmed in Southern California at Crystal Cove State Park, Fort MacArthur, and Naval Air Station Point Mugu. Although 200 off-duty Marines were allowed to serve as extras for the film, the U.S. Department of Defense denied the production permission to film at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The courtroom scenes were filmed at Culver Studios in Culver City, California.
A Few Good Men premiered at the Odeon Cinema, Manchester, England,[26] and opened on December 11, 1992, in 1,925 theaters. It grossed $15,517,468 in its opening weekend and was the top film at the box office for the next three weeks. Overall, it grossed $141,340,178 in the U.S. and $101,900,000 internationally for a total of $243,240,178.[27]
On Rotten Tomatoes, A Few Good Men has an approval rating of 84% based on 67 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An old-fashioned courtroom drama with a contemporary edge, A Few Good Men succeeds on the strength of its stars, with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and especially Jack Nicholson delivering powerful performances that more than compensate for the predictable plot."[28] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, one of fewer than 60 films in the history of the service to earn that grade.[30]
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."[31] Richard Schickel in Time called it "an extraordinarily well-made movie, which wastes no words or images in telling a conventional but compelling story."[32] Todd McCarthy in Variety magazine 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."[33] Roger Ebert was less enthusiastic in the Chicago Sun-Times, giving it two-and-a-half out of four stars and finding its major flaw was revealing the courtroom strategy to the audience before the climactic scene between Cruise and Nicholson. Ebert wrote, "In many ways this is a good film, with the potential to be even better than that. The flaws are mostly at the screenplay level; the film doesn't make us work, doesn't allow us to figure out things for ourselves, is afraid we'll miss things if they're not spelled out."[34]
Widescreenings noted that for Kaffee, "Sorkin interestingly takes the opposite approach of Top Gun", in which Cruise also played the protagonist. In Top Gun, Cruise plays Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a "hotshot military underachiever who makes mistakes because he is trying to outperform his late father. Where Maverick needs to rein in the discipline, Daniel Kaffee needs to let it go, finally see what he can do." Sorkin and Reiner were praised in gradually unveiling Kaffee's potential in the film.[35]
The film would later be criticized by the Marine Corps for its unfavorable depiction of Marine culture.[36] The U.S. Department of Defense stated prior to the film's release, in since-declassified documents, that it "did not provide all the support that Castle Rock Pictures asked for in the production of the film". After the military was able to review drafts of the script, the D.O.D. asked for Demi Moore's character to be changed from a Navy officer to a Marine and sought to have Markinson's character not commit suicide.
The Pentagon refused to allow the film to be screened on military bases.[37]
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
A Few Good Men was released on VHS and Laserdisc by Columbia TriStar Home Video on June 30, 1993, and released on DVD on October 7, 1997. The VHS was again released along with a DVD release on May 29, 2001, and later a Blu-Ray release followed on September 8, 2007. The Double Feature of the film and Jerry Maguire was released on DVD on December 29, 2009, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. A 4K UHD Blu-Ray release occurred on April 24, 2018.[49]