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Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem

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A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Few Good Men...Are All In This Movie!
Review: Anyone who thinks Tom Cruise is just "another pretty face" has not seen him in AFGM. He is perfectly cast as an arrogant attorney appointed to defend two Marines accused of causing the death of a third Marine. From the point at which he realizes that the reason he was chosen for this job was not because of his excellent, well-honed defense ability, but because he has a gift for plea bargaining and seldom sees the inside of a courtroom, the movie just takes off and holds you spellbound. Jack Nicholson is always an imposing presence on the screen, but Cruise really does hold his own in that last in-your-face confrontational courtroom scene with Nicholson. That alone is worth the price of the movie. What's even better is watching it over again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A good Comedy
Review: I thought this was a great movie.It is the perfect blend of comedy, acton, & suspence.I highly recomend this movie. Especially to Cruse fans.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good courtroom drama!
Review: A FEW GOOD MEN was even better than I expected. I thought Tom (Cruise), Jack (Nicholson) and Demi (Moore) gave dazzling performances. This movie REALLY deeply and made me feel good. The most moving thing about it was the trial. This was because two Marines (whom I thought Wolfgang Bodison and James Marshall portrayed very movingly) were on trial for their lives. I got a little scared at some parts. I especially love the march that played at the beginning and end of the movie. My favorite quote of this movie is, "AAAAA. I'm sorry, your time's run out. What do we have for the losers, judge? Well, for our defendants, it's a lifetime in exotic Fort Leavenworth. And for defense counsel Kaffee... that's right... it's a court martial! Yes, Johnny! After falsely accusing a highly decorated marine officer of conspiracy and perjury, Lieutenant Kaffee will have a long and prosperous career teaching typewriter maintenance at the Rocko Club School for Women. Thank you for playing 'Should We Or Should We Not Follow The Advice Of The Galactically Stupid?'" I laughed my head off at that quote! This is a REALLY good courtroom drama. Having said that, I give A FEW GOOD MEN three out of four stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The movie is great, but the extras could be better
Review: You want the truth? This special edition DVD improves upon the bare bones version issued a while back, but how much of an improvement is it? There's a great film transfer and a great interview segment with director Rob Reiner and writer Aaron Sorkin in which they discuss how the story went from stage to screen. What's disappointing is Rob Reiner's running commentary. For the most part, he talks only when the characters aren't talking, and being that every character has a soliloquy in almost every scene, Rob doesn't get a chance to say much. When he does, it's something to the effect of "We were very fortunate to get all of these great actors," and he doesn't give much insight to the filmmaking process. It's almost as if he's watching it for the first time in a while, when he would have done better to watch, make notes, and then go back for the commentary. I've heard Rob's commentaries before on laserdiscs for "The Princess Bride" and "This is Spinal Tap," and they were great. Perhaps since most of his movies are being reissued on DVD, he recorded all of the commentaries at one time and was tired by the time the got to this one. Columbia would have done better to get someone in the room with him, like Aaron Sorkin, to play off of and to help fill the dead air time. Sorkin did participate in the 2 documentaries, but must have been too involved with "The West Wing" to do much more. If you want answers and normally look for them in the running commentary, you'll be disappointed. What you will find are a couple of nice, short documentaries, and a good copy of a good movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nicholson and Cruise Square Off
Review: In one of the most telling scenes in this movie, Navy Lieutenant Commander Jo Galloway (Demi Moore), a lawyer who is helping to defend two Marines on trial for murder, is asked why she likes these guys so much. And she replies, "Because they stand on a wall, and they say 'nothing is going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch'." Which veritably sums up the sense of duty and honor which underscores the conflict of "A Few Good Men," directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. There is a code by which a good Marine must live and die, and it is: Unit, Corps, God, Country. But to be valid, that code must also include truth and justice; and if they are not present, can the code stand? Which is the question asked by director Reiner, who examines the parameters of that code with this film, which centers on the murder of a young Private First Class named William Santiago, who was killed while stationed at the Marine Corps base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The case draws the attention of Commander Galloway, Special Counsel for Internal Affairs in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in Washington, D.C. Galloway, taking into consideration the impeccable service records of the two Marines charged with the crime, convinces her superiors that a thorough investigation is warranted in this case, though there are those in high places who would rather see this one plea bargained and put to rest.

Galloway persists, however, believing that Santiago's death may have resulted from a "Code Red," a method of disciplinary hazing employed in certain circles of the Corps, though illegal. And if this was a Code Red, the real question is, who gave the order? Ultimately, her tenacity prevails, but though Galloway is a seasoned lawyer, she has little actual courtroom experience, so Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Cruise) is assigned to the case, along with Lieutenant Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak), with Galloway, as ranking officer, to assist. Kaffee, the son of a legendary lawyer, has skated through the first nine months of his Naval career, successfully plea bargaining forty-four cases. Outwardly upbeat and personable, Kaffee seems more concerned with his softball game than he does with the time he has to spend on the job. But underneath, he's coping with living his life in the shadow of his late father's reputation, which is an issue with which he must come to terms if he is to successfully effect the outcome of this case. And on this one he will have a formidable opponent: Colonel Nathan R. Jessup (Nicholson), who commands the base at Guantanamo.

As Jessup, Nicholson gives a commanding performance, and once he enters the film you can sense the tension he brings to it, which begins to swell immediately, and which Reiner does a great job of maintaining right up to the end. Jessup is a soldier of the old guard, a man of narrow vision and a particular sense of duty; to Jessup there's two ways of doing things: His way and the wrong way. He's a man who-- as he says-- eats breakfast three hundred yards away from the enemy, and he's not about to let a couple of lawyers in dress whites intimidate him. And that's exactly the attitude Nicholson brings to this role. When he speaks, you not only hear him loud and clear, you believe him. It's a powerful performance and, as you would expect from Nicholson, entirely convincing and believable.

Cruise, also, gives what is arguably one of the best performances of his career as Kaffee. He perfectly captures the aloofness with which Kaffee initially regards the case, as well as the determination with which he pursues it later. Cruise is convincing in the role, and some of the best scenes in the film are the ones he plays opposite Nicholson in the courtroom, the most memorable being one in which Kaffee exclaims to Jessup, "I want the truth!" to which Jessup replies, "You can't handle the truth!" And the atmosphere fairly crackles.

Moore is outstanding, as well, and she manages to hold her own and make her presence felt even in the scenes dominated by Nicholson and Cruise. It's a fine piece of acting by Moore, who deserves more than just a passing mention for it. Also turning in notable performances are Pollak, whose dry humor adds such an extra touch to the film, and Wolfgang Bodison, who makes an impressive screen debut as Lance Corporal Dawson, on of the Marines on trial for the murder of Santiago.

The supporting cast includes Kiefer Sutherland (Kendrick), Kevin Bacon (Ross), James Marshall (Downey), J.T. Walsh (Markinson), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Hammaker) and Christopher Guest (Dr. Stone). A powerful drama, superbly delivered by Reiner, "A Few Good Men" is a thought provoking, unforgettable motion picture that makes you take pause for a moment to consider some things that are for the most part out of sight and out of mind. Like who is on that wall tonight, and are we safe because of him. And it makes you reflect upon some things perhaps too often taken for granted. And that's what really makes this film so good; and it's all a part of the magic of the movies.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Few Bad Things
Review: This is generally a significantly better transfer than both the disastrous Sony LD and a slight improvement over the earlier, soft-edged DVD edition. But I still feel that chroma is not consistent. There is that reddish hue on fleshtones in some shots. I have to turn the COLOR down on my Sony Wega (to 40). There is also that occasional softness, although it is not as predominant as the earlier edition. But listen to the soundtrack near the beginning. The marching band opener is really a fantastic Dolby Digital demonstration with detail, bass extension, separation. This is mostly a dialogue driven piece so the rest of the movie is not exactly a room shaker. Extra features are satisfying given the fact this is quite an old film. Rob Reiner is still mumbling through a film commentary, though we should all be happy enough that he actually sits for a recording.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: Like someone else mentioned, some editor should have picked up that Cruise was blinking like a madman in this movie. Anyway, a great film, perhaps it might give off liberal connotations but I guess that is expected coming from Reiner.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Role Tom Cruise Was Born To Play
Review: Outstanding and powerful moving drama about a brilliant hotshot navel attorney who takes on the case of two marines who killed a weaker soilder under their comander's order. at the same dealing with his own insecuities. Tom Cruise plays this role to a t adding the right amount of dramatic impact and smartass humor that audiences have come to expect. Demi Moore gives a equaly powerful performance as Cruise's assitant, even though he was in only a few scenes Jack Nicholson practically almost stole the spotlight from the two leads as the fanatical coloinal Jessup who gave the order. The courtroom scenes was amazing in it's portrayal for the search of justice, all chracters clearly defined. In my mind sadly overlooked by most critics but i feel its one of the best courtroom drama in recent memory.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great cinema!
Review: For the most part, I have never been a big fan of court room dramas. Never watched Perry Mason & didn't care for Matlock. That said, I found this to be a truly engrossing film. The film features perhaps the best performance of Jack Nicholson's career as he portrays a tough-as-leather Marine Corps General who wants to instill discipline in his troops. I'm not a huge fan of Tom Cruise, but must admit that he delivers a standout performance as well.

The film addresses one of the most pivotal questions facing the military today: where is the divided line between

1) Doing what needs to be done to maintain an elite fighting force

and

2) Going too far in the interests of those objectives and violating the rights (or worse) of individuals who fail to adapt to the military code.

This is certainly not a new issue. It is one which has been around as long as there have been armies, navies and wars. However, it takes on a new emphasis when taken in the context of the armed services of the US. We Americans have always valued our rights and freedoms. For the most part, we would wish that at least a good portion of those rights and freedoms would be carried over to our men & women in uniform. Although the living standards of our military is strict, it is still far below some of the extremes which have been endured by sundry other martial forces throughout world history.

If you want to see a movie about real-life topics of interest, this one is a sure-fire flick. It is also highly recommended for all persons who have either been in the military, are in the military, have an interest in the military or want to understand military life more fully.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: JUSTICE!
Review: Demi Moore aside (and even she was not so bad) this was a great film. It was an interesting film about military protocol and investigations of crime within the ranks. Tom Cruise is great here as a self-assured Navy attorney who has to prove that two Marines accused of murder were only following orders. His real aim is to bring down those at the top of the chain of command. The cross examination scene between Cruise and Jack Nicholson is classic cinema and certainly one of the most memorable scenes of its kind in any legal drama. The late JT Walsh was also good in his role here, who would rather die by suicide than to live another dishonourable day.


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