the fresh films reviews

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A Few Good Men (1992)

Directed by:
Rob Reiner

COUNTRY
USA

GENRE
Drama

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Et spørsmål om ære

RUNNING TIME
138 minutes

Produced by:
David Brown
Rob Reiner
Andrew Scheinman

Written by:
Aaron Sorkin


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Lt. J.G. Daniel Kaffee Tom Cruise ½
Col. Nathan R. Jessep Jack Nicholson
Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway Demi Moore ½
Capt. Jack Ross Kevin Bacon ½
Lt. Jonathan Kendrick Kiefer Sutherland
Lt. Sam Weinberg Kevin Pollak
Lcpl. Harold W. Dawson Wolfgang Bodison
P1C Louden Downey James Marshall
Ltc. Matthew Markinson J. T. Walsh
Judge Randolph J. A. Preston
Private William T. Santiago Michael DeLorenzo
Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes Noah Wyle
Cpl. Carl Hammaker Cuba Gooding Jr.
Capt. Whitaker Xander Berkeley
Lt. Dave Sprading Matt Craven
Captain West John M. Jackson
Dr. Stone Christopher Guest

 

Review

Aaron Sorkin adapted his own enormously successful debut play (to which he had sold the film rights already before its premiere, incidentally), and Rob Reiner directed with an apt combination of warmth and slickness in this high-profile courtroom drama starring a still fledgling but assured Tom Cruise and a young, hard-looking Demi Moore. The plot may not be all that groundbreaking in narrative structure (after all, this is a classically told courtroom drama), but Sorkin's playful juggling of technicalities and power games gives the film a force and freshness that are further elevated by his clever dialogue writing (which here stays on the right side of ridicule). This is an ideal basis for the explosive supporting cast to exert their skill. And when you can complement solid work by the likes of Kevin Pollak, James Marshall, Wolfgang Bodison and the ever-reliable J. T. Walsh with a near career-best turn by Jack Nicholson – a performance with so much power that every frame he's in almost boils over – then it doesn't matter that the final showdown is just a little implausible or that everything seems just a little too neatly fashioned. A Few Good Men is classic, sleek 1990s filmmaking at its best.

Re-reviewed: Copyright © 04.02.2015 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang
Original review:
Copyright © 19.08.1996 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang