Review of A Few Good Men (1992) by Eric W — 01 Dec 2009

A Few Good Men is a rarity. It is one of only a handful of decent, slick and intelligent courtroom dramas to come out of Hollywood. With a master class script from Aaron Sorkin and some surprisingly solid performances from the likes of Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, as a stellar cameo role from Jack Nicholson make this a dramatic masterpiece.

In Aaron Sorkin?s adaptation from his own award winning stage play, a marine is killed in a hazing incident. Two young marines are charged for the murder, but a legal officer from Washington (Demi Moore) suspects there is more to the incident than meets the eye. When she decides to take the case to court, she is forced to take a young arrogant and inexperienced legal officer with her (Tom Cruise) to try the case. It is clear that Cruise has been picked to try and make the case go away as quickly as possible, but a sense of personal discovery by Cruise leads him into court all guns blazing.

The script by Aaron Sorkin is nothing short of superb. The creator of The West Wing and writer of the upcoming film The Social Network, Sorkin took his successful stage play and superbly transferred it to the screen. For director Rob Reiner this project could not have come along at a better time. After the success he had with There?s Something about Mary and Misery it was clear that Reiner was on a role, and when this amazing script came along it was clearly an offer he couldn?t refuse.

Tom Cruise and Demi Moore do a solid job in the two lead roles, but it is Jack Nicholson who lights up the screen. He only appears in a short scene at the beginning and the climax which is one of the most memorable in cinema history, and still the audience?s face will light up every time he enters the frame. It was definitely a clever move on Nicholson?s part to take the role even though it is relatively minor, but he must have realised that with it he could steal the show. It is not surprising then that he was nominated for the Oscar for best supporting actor, one of four the film was nominated for it total.

Overall, it is a film with barely any flaws, and because of that it shouldn?t just be seen as one of the best films of the 90s, but one of the best films ever made. A true masterpiece.