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A taut script and bravura performances distinguish Rob Reiner's masterfully directed adaptation of the award-winning play written by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. Tom Cruise heads the powerhouse cast, portraying a callow Navy lawyer who defends two young Marines accused of murdering a fellow Leatherneck on their Guantánamo Bay base. Although he's got only three major scenes, Jack Nicholson sparkles as the stern commanding officer, a much-decorated veteran who resents Cruise's intimation that the accidental death resulted from the misinterpretation of orders from higher-ups. Nicholson's fiery courtroom confrontation with Cruise precipitates a shattering climax, and it has come to rank among the most memorable sequences in any Hollywood movie. The direction by Reiner (The American President) is assured but unobtrusive, relying more on the forcefulness of Sorkin's screenplay and the skill of a stellar ensemble cast (which also includes Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, and J. T. Walsh) than on flashy camera moves. Solid and unpretentious, albeit somewhat floridly melodramatic in spots, A Few Good Men certainly makes riveting entertainment, but it also reminds us that courage, honor, and integrity are virtues worth defending -- even when the defenders themselves are the ones making mistakes. The Special Edition DVD includes a feature-length commentary by Reiner and a documentary entitled "Code of Conduct." Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

In this military courtroom drama based on the play by Aaron Sorkin, Navy lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is assigned to defend two Marines, Pfc. Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of the murder of fellow leatherneck Pfc. William Santiago (Michael de Lorenzo) at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kaffee generally plea bargains for his clients rather than bring them to trial, which is probably why he was assigned this potentially embarassing case, but when Lt. Commander JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) is assigned to assist Kaffee, she is convinced that there's more to the matter than they've been led to believe and convinces her colleague that the case should go to court. Under questioning, Downey and Dawson reveal that Santiago died in the midst of a hazing ritual known as "Code Red" after he threatened to inform higher authorities that Dawson opened fire on a Cuban watchtower. They also state that the "Code Red" was performed under the orders of Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland). Kendrick's superior, tough-as-nails Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson), denies any knowledge of the order to torture Santiago, but when Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (J.T. Walsh) confides to Kaffee that Jessup demanded the "Code Red" for violating his order of silence, Kaffee and Galloway have to find a way to prove this in court. A Few Good Men also features Kevin Bacon as prosecuting attorney Capt. Jack Ross and Kevin Pollak as Kaffee and Galloway's research assistant, Lt. Sam Weinberg. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 043396191709
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: ABC
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: stereo, Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Deutsche, Français, Hungarian
• Subtitles: English, Arabic, Finnish, Deutsche
• Time: 2:18:00
• Sales Rank: 27,693

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