One of better Tom Cruise movies ever made and an excellent movie for Jack Nicholson as well. A story about what it means to follow orders, what can be justified in the name of defending one's country and the laws of beasts lurking within us.
This movie has entered our cultural subconsciousness because of its speeches. We cannot handle the truth, indeed. And those speeches are truly great. Whenever the movie is in the courtroom and either Cruise or Nicholson says something aloud, the movie is beyond captivating. My full respect to both of them for their performances and to the writers for their poetry.
Yet those courtroom scenes are almost too good. Because the rest of the scenes simply do not match up. They seem almost banal in comparison. There's nothing outright wrong with them, but I have a hard time remembering what happened in them. I could almost quote the courtroom scenes word for word, but I'm less certain how Cruise even got pulled into this whole mess in the first place. Something about a grudge or proving himself to someone... or something.
That doesn't ruin the film, however. Let's make that clear. The rest of the scenes are fine, they keep the plot going, the supporting characters are interesting enough and the technical aspects of the film are just great. It's merely the difference of it being an above average film with great aspects, and it being an all-around great film. Now it's the former, though it had the potential of being the latter.
See A Few Good Men, if you haven't already, if you have a thing for great performances and/or courtroom dramas. You won't be disappointed.
This movie has entered our cultural subconsciousness because of its speeches. We cannot handle the truth, indeed. And those speeches are truly great. Whenever the movie is in the courtroom and either Cruise or Nicholson says something aloud, the movie is beyond captivating. My full respect to both of them for their performances and to the writers for their poetry.
Yet those courtroom scenes are almost too good. Because the rest of the scenes simply do not match up. They seem almost banal in comparison. There's nothing outright wrong with them, but I have a hard time remembering what happened in them. I could almost quote the courtroom scenes word for word, but I'm less certain how Cruise even got pulled into this whole mess in the first place. Something about a grudge or proving himself to someone... or something.
That doesn't ruin the film, however. Let's make that clear. The rest of the scenes are fine, they keep the plot going, the supporting characters are interesting enough and the technical aspects of the film are just great. It's merely the difference of it being an above average film with great aspects, and it being an all-around great film. Now it's the former, though it had the potential of being the latter.
See A Few Good Men, if you haven't already, if you have a thing for great performances and/or courtroom dramas. You won't be disappointed.