Review of A Few Good Men (1992) by James D — 06 Jul 2014

With a great cast lined up under the direction of Rob Reiner, A Few Good Men sounded like a courtroom drama with a lot of potential.

The central flaw with A Few Good Men is that it is a formulaic piece. Although the nature of its story and the subject matter manages to make up for it, the film is rather predictable. It is predictable because it follows a conventional path in terms of structuring its story. It is a fairly slow and long film, but those aren't really issues. Yet what is an issue is the way that the story unfolds. It is always easy to tell what is going to come next and there really are not all that many surprises in the film. Everything unfolds as it should and there is nothing that Rob Reiner does to divert away from that. So as a courtroom drama, A Few Good Men is a very conventional film.

But aside from the predictable way that the story progresses, A Few Good Men is a great film. Although the nature of the script is rather predictable, it is full of intense and realistic language which empowers the dramatic aspects of the story. But more importantly, Rob Reiner gives it terrific handling. The intense nature of the premise in A Few Good Men is assisted by Rob Reiner's direction because he is able to inject a tense atmosphere into the film and handle the material well enough for it to be sophisticated. The thing about A Few Good Men is that the story is a mix of looking for answers and interrogating for them which means that it is about a mix of determining the answers to events and determining who really knows about them. It is interesting to watch because it sucks viewers in and has them really wanting to see what is going to happen and understand precisely why it happened. Although the premise is not too complicated, the characters are and the film really establishes a sense that viewers want to find out who they are and it gets them deeply involved with the story. A Few Good Men is a very old-fashioned film, but it maintains a lot of interesting concepts and subject matter to keep viewers watching and enough thrills to grab their attention.

The script in A Few Good Men is tense and full of interesting characters, but when you get right down to it the importance of the film rests on what the actors are able to do with their parts, and as it turns out the cast of A Few Good Men end up giving maximum power in their efforts.

Tom Cruise is excellent in A Few Good Men. In A Few Good Men, the importance all rests on the way that he delivers his words, and it is one of the times that he gives a performance where is egotistical nature is central to the character instead of being annoying. It reflects a certain careless spirit in him which later has to change so that he can develop into a more powerful figure as the story develops. He goes through a lot of character development in the role of Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee and progresses as the story develops by being more and more emotionally intense. Tom Cruise goes through a lot of progression in A Few Good Men which makes him a powerful leading cast member, and his chemistry with the surrounding cast members is great because he establishes real relationships with the many people around him and strengthens the nature of the story in the process. Tom Cruise is a powerful lead in A Few Good Mean, and he delivers his lines with such power.

Jack Nicholson was not present in A Few Good Men as much as I had hoped, but when he was on screen he was magnificent. You can see true antagonistic darkness in his soul through the simple stare in his eyes and the way that he projects further strength through the intensity of his line delivery. He constantly maintains a suspicious attitude which leaves viewers asking questions about the true nature of him and his motives, and within him is a certain sense of darkness. It is an evil which has overthrown him as he has become so mercilessly obsessed in his work that he has forgotten to be human, and it only takes a matter of a few scenes. Jack Nicholson is fierce and powerful in his performance, relying simply on the grit of his line delivery to carry him the whole way. It is no problem for him, and the genuine strength that he brings to the role is just terrific. Jack Nicholson empowers A Few Good Men with his intense performance and feisty delivery of the iconic line "You Can't Handle the Truth!". His Academy Award nomination was a well deserved one, and his performance is really unforgettable in A Few Good Men.

Demi Moore turns in a powerful supporting performance. Although her character is not all that key to the story in the end and seems to be there simply for the sake of the archetype, Demi Moore delivers a very powerful dramatic performance which proves to be one of the best she has ever given. The material in A Few Good Men is very mature and sophisticated which gives her a chance to prove that as an actress, she is too. Demi Moore delivers her lines with a powerful understanding of everything that she is saying and she works to establish a powerful chemistry. Demi Moore relies solely on her ability to conjure up an intense line delivery in A Few Good Men, and so it remains one of the most memorable performances of her career.

Kevin Bacon gives a tense supporting effort, and James Marshall creates a very sympathetic character.

So although A Few Good Men is a predictable film, it is anchored by powerful dramatic performances and a tense mood established by Rob Reiner's firm direction.