A FEW GOOD MEN: 4K Blu-ray (Columbia, 1992) Sony Home Entertainment
Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men (1992) remains one of the
unicorns in movie history – a courtroom drama that, ostensibly has not dated
with the passing years, and, in fact, has ripened with age. Basically, it is a
powerhouse drama wrapped in the enigma of a murder mystery. Who ordered the ‘code
red’ on a training base that cost a young military cadet his life? There is, to
be sure, a lot more to unpack from Aaron Sorkin’s brilliantly scripted allegory
about authority vs authoritarianism, the cover-up pursued by a wet-behind-the-ears
attorney and his go-getting co-council, rattling to its core the top brass and
a five-star colonel who has a lot more to hide than first meets the eye. A Few Good Men is an emotional roller coaster
ride that properly emphasizes drama in lieu of the action. Apart from the initial
midnight hazing of Private William T. Santiago (Michael DeLorenzo) – a despicably
violent act – the rest of the movie builds upon the process by which ambitious
Lieutenant
Commander JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) of the USN/JAG Corps, and her less-than-driven
colleague, junior class, Lieutenant Daniel Alastair Kaffee (Tom Cruise) come to
a gravely disconcerting realization in their exculpatory findings: that
something is decidedly remiss at the prestigious training academy at Guantanamo
Bay. Enter Colonel Nathan R. Jessup (Jack Nicholson); a decorated soldier,
superficially affording Galloway and Kaffee every courtesy in their investigation,
but otherwise, genuinely antagonistic, even steadfastly determined to keep the
truth ‘officially’ buried, not entirely for altruistic reasons.
Unlike so many ‘military-themed’
dramas, A Few Good Men delivers its
exhilarating one-two-knock-out punch mostly from the sheer gut-wrenching
intensity of its finely wrought performances; also, Sorkin’s superb skills as a
potent writer of seat-riveting dialogue, and, of course, Reiner’s understated
direction. Personally, I think Reiner’s great gift to movies has been his stylistic
ability to remain ‘out of camera’ as
it were. There are no ‘showy’
displays of his technical prowess – or rather, no ‘obvious’ ones by which the audience might otherwise be taken out
of the story for the sake of a good camera set-up. Even the military exercises under the main
titles - the U.S. Marine Corp. Marching Band performing ‘Semper Fidelis’ immediately
followed by a Silent Drill by the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets Fish
Drill Team, are shot, merely to establish the precise tone of structure in
military life. As for Sorkin, in the latter half of the 20th
century, he has managed, almost single-handed, to resurrect the lost art of
rapid-fire dialogue and extended monologues; hallmarks that once typified the masterworks
of Joseph L. Mankiewicz. However, unlike Mankiewicz’s prose, generally prone to
a sort of superb wit and theatricality, uncannily just a little out of step
with the characters who speak his words, Sorkin’s dialogue seems so completely
to fit the ballast of the actors who fill each role. One is hard-pressed to
decide whether the acting put forth is just very fine, or the words they speak,
intuitively channeled into the fiber of their being: extensions, given spirited
free-range to become one with the scene.
Sorkin’s inspiration
for A Few Good Men derived from a
phone conversation with his sister, Deborah, a graduate from Boston’s Law
School, assigned by the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps to defend a
group of Marines accused of nearly killing a fellow Marine in a hazing incident
ordered by their superior officer. Inspired, Sorkin, then working as a
bartender at the Palace Theatre, took this basic thumbnail and wrote much of
his story on cocktail napkins. Borrowing money to buy a computer and transpose
these notes into a first draft, with many subsequent drafts to follow. We must
recall that A Few Good Men began its
gestation as an off-Broadway play, running in tandem with another, Sorkin had
already put into production, ‘Hidden in
This Picture’. And while A Few Good
Men had yet to prove its merits, as early as 1988, Sorkin orchestrated a
lucrative 6-figure deal for the film rights with producer, David Brown. The
play was a sizable hit, starring Tom Hulce and running for an impressive 497
performances. So, Brown hired writer, William
Goldman to polish and rework the stagecraft into a manageable screenplay. Sorkin admired the changes, and, in fact, incorporated
many of them into the play. Brown, who had a solid working relationship with
TriStar Pictures, pitched A Few Good Men
as his next project. Alas, the studio balked, due to no ‘big names’ above the
title. This disappointment was tempered by a phone call from Alan Horn over at
Castle Rock Entertainment, who not only shared Brown’s enthusiasm for the project,
but came to the table with Rob Reiner ready to direct it.
At a budget of
$33,000,000, A Few Good Men was a
sizable investment on an as yet unproven property. To hedge their bets, Caste
Rock lined up a killer roster of hot-shot talents. Although several JAG lawyers
since have been suggested as the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s Lt. Kaffee (incl.
Virginia’s Don Marcari, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias; California’s Chris
Johnson, and Connecticut’s Walter Bansley III), Sorkin vehemently denies this character
was based on any one individual and holds Kaffee as a purely fictional
creation. The three principles notwithstanding, A Few Good Men greatly benefited from its supporting players; Kevin
Bacon as Capt. Jack Ross, Kiefer Sutherland (2nd. Lt. Jonathan Kendrick), Kevin
Pollack (Lt. Sam Weinberg), James Marshall (Pfc. Louden Downey), J.T. Walsh (Lt.
Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson), J.A. Preston (Judge Julius Alexander Randolph),
Noah Wyle (Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes), and, in a very early role, Cuba Gooding Jr. as
Cpl. Carl Hammaker. Yet, perhaps the best asset here is Rob Reiner; the beloved
‘meathead’ of All in the Family (1971-76) proving his mettle as a formidable
director of top-notch super hits and cult classics; among them, This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), and, what is
likely the greatest rom/com of all time, When
Harry Met Sally... (1989). From this auspicious foray into ‘featherweight’
film-making, Reiner did the unthinkable – diving headstrong into the
exhilarating (and Oscar-nominated) thriller, Misery (1990), a proving ground for his hand-crafting the drama in
this darkly constructed courtroom battle royale.
A Few Good Men opens with a moodily lit
Guantanamo Bay and the hazing of Private Santiago. We momentarily digress to
the aforementioned military maneuvers and then the office of Lt. Col. Matthew
Andrew Markinson, who undercuts Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway’s ambition to pursue the
court-martial case against two U.S. Marines (Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and
Private First Class Louden Downey, accused of the crime that inadvertently led
to Santiago’s death) by assigning Lt. Daniel Kaffee as her co-council. To
suggest Galloway is thoroughly unimpressed is an understatement. Kaffee is a
fairly laid-back attorney, who has about as much invested interest in doing
right by Dawson and Downey as he does in his own career plans with the
military. It’s all just a waste of his time. Investigating the crime together,
Galloway and Kaffee learn Santiago was on very shaky ground with his fellow
Marines and broke the chain of command in his attempt to get transferred out of
Guantanamo. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew
Markinson (J.T. Walsh), advocated for Santiago’s transfer. But Base Commander
Nathan Jessup ordered Santiago’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Jonathan James
Kendrick to aggressively drill Santiago into becoming a better Marine instead.
The ‘training’ was relentless, and expressly designed to break Santiago’s
resolve.
While Santiago's
death is framed as retribution for him naming Dawson in a fence line shooting, Galloway
begins to suspect Dawson and Downey in a conspiracy orchestrated by Jessup to
carry out the ‘code red’ punishment. Santiago was never intended to be killed –
just tortured to the point of a nervous breakdown. Believing Dawson and Downey
are ‘innocent’ of the crime – as it was a command, and therefore expected to be
carried out without fail, Galloway barters for the both men’s defense, even as
Kaffee suggests a plea bargain is their best hope in a no/win situation. Galloway
is disgusted by Kaffee’s blatant laziness to pursue the case. In tandem, Kaffee
resents Galloway’s interference. Dawson too cannot abide Kaffee as his
attorney. Hence, when Kaffee negotiates a successful plea bargain with the
prosecutor, both Dawson and Downey refuse to play along. Instead, they hold fast to the truth: Kendrick
gave the ‘code red’ on Jessup’s order. Armed with this revelation, Kaffee and
Galloway question Jessup, who bitterly bites back, claiming Santiago was slated
to be transferred at the time of his death. At this juncture, Galloway
convinces Kaffee to take the case to court. Together, they establish the
existence of a standing ‘code red’ protocol at Guantanamo, although, not
without suffering a pair of major setbacks. First, under cross-examination
Downey balks, admitting he was not actually present when Dawson received the ‘code
red’ order. The second revelation is even more devastating. Ashamed of his own inability
to intervene in Jessup’s ‘code red’, Markinson informs Kaffee that Jessup never
intended to transfer Santiago. Overcome, Markison commits suicide rather than
testifying at the trial. With no other recourse, Galloway urges Kaffee to call
Jessup up as a witness, despite incurring risk to his own career for smearing a
high-ranking officer. Jessup and Kaffee go toe-to-toe; Jessup, confident he can
outwit this upstart, skirt the indictment and destroy Kaffee’s credibility in
one fell swoop.
Only now, Kaffee
points out an inconsistency in Jessup’s testimony. Earlier, Jessup stated his
Marines never disobey a command. As he ordered them to leave Santiago alone,
but also presumably planned to have Santiago transferred for his own safety,
something is decidedly remiss. Caught in his own deception, Jessup explodes on
the witness stand, attempting to demolish Kaffee's reputation. Pushed beyond
the point of no return, Kaffee gets Jessup to admit he ordered the ‘code red’.
He is promptly arrested. Although Dawson and Downey are cleared of the murder
charge, they are indicted for ‘conduct unbecoming’ and dishonorably discharged.
Dawson quietly accepts the verdict, leaving a bewildered Downey confused and
distraught. Dawson now explains to Downey that in following orders they
betrayed the first precept of serving in the military – sworn to defend those
too weak to fight for themselves. Moved by this confession, Kaffee imparts to
Dawson that he does not need to wear the uniform to have honor. Dawson agrees
and proudly acknowledges Kaffee with a salute. Kaffee and Ross congratulate one
another, and Ross leaves the courtroom to arrest Kendrick.
A Few Good Men is a sobering, yet stylish entertainment.
Robert Richardson’s high-key-lit cinematography
adds a patina of glamour to the austere surroundings; a polish to simultaneously
evoke the rigidity of military life but also satisfy a basic need in
Hollywood-made pictures – to have its stars looking immaculate. Tom Cruise illustrates the qualities that
made him such a hot property as the mid-80’s pin-up guy with that trademarked
toothy smile, herein, given some impressive ballast in his acting, running the
gamut from arrogant cock-of-the-walk to reformed crusader of the right by Kaffee’s
alliance with Lt. Galloway. Demi Moore’s hoarse-voiced, forthright champion is lent
a refreshing underlay of womanly faith, never misdirected or overplayed to the
point of the martyr. Jack Nicholson’s Jessup is a diabolical creation – teaming
in Nicholson’s own sense of smug superiority, yet built upon an almost demonic underlay
of self-possessed authority, rarely seen on the screen since his bone-chilling
performance in Kubrick’s The Shining
(1980). Jessup’s motives had nothing to do with preserving the honor of the
Navy. And Nicholas presents us with what was once, perhaps, a paragon worthy of
his chest-full of metals, but more recently, consumed by his own power, wielding
it to the detriment of the institution he reports to serve and value above even
life itself.
Sony’s 4K Blu-ray
release of A Few Good Men has been
out for a while. It’s just taken me this long to get around to reviewing it.
And with this release, Sony has illustrated unequivocally the importance of
remastering ‘vintage’ catalog in UHD. There is no comparison between Sony’s
standard Blu-ray (also included in this package) and this new remaster. Colors
that were rich, though unnaturally warm on the Blu-ray, have been brought back
into line in 4K; flesh tones, in particular, losing their ‘piggy pink’ hue.
There are a couple of oddities to note. First, the Columbia Pictures logo looks
very gritty and soft. I cannot understand it. But it looks terrible. Second,
the prologue at Guantanamo does not appear all that much more impressive than
its Blu-ray counterpart – fine detail never advancing to levels I expected to
see. However, from the moment we cut away to the overhead shot of the American
flag, billowing majestically in noon-day sun, right on through to the harrowing
courtroom finale, 4K’s superior resolution is a marvel to behold. Details in fabric, flesh, fall scenery, et al,
pop with a crystal clarity that is remarkable. Colors are ultra-vivid and gorgeous.
Flashback sequences suffer from a push in black levels, though this may have
been inherent in the original cinematography.
Sony has given us a Dolby Atmos vs. Dolby Digital 5.1 to compare, with the
Atmos etching the 5.1 in overall ambiance. As A
Few Good Men is a primarily dialogue-driven drama, you really wouldn’t
expect Atmos to be all that important in extending the sound field in subtler
ways, but it is and it does, and, our listening experience is made the better
for it – the booming drum rolls, and clarity of trumpets in Marc Shaiman’s
underscore – low frequency bass, emerging with a sweet channeled separation
that will give goosebumps. As with virtually
all 4K releases as yet, Hollywood has not embraced uprezing – or even including
– extra features along with the movie. We do get Rob Reiner’s 2007 audio
commentary. As we also get the original Blu-ray, the remaining extras are
housed there: the 34 min. Code of Conduct
and 13 min. From Stage to Screen.
This 4K disc was released for A Few Good
Men’s 25th anniversary. Aside: now I am feeling my age! 25
years?!?! Bottom line: Very highly recommended.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
5+
VIDEO/AUDIO
4K version - 4.5
Standard Blu-ray - 3
EXTRAS
1
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