Once this picture enters the courtroom it becomes riveting. The build up is intriguing as well in it's many aspects of discovering information and the principals feeling each other out regarding temperaments and personalities. I've usually been on the fence about Tom Cruise as an actor, I guess because I equate him with the Daniel Kaffee we're first introduced to, a cocky and brash hot-shot lieutenant who can do no wrong and has a record supporting his arrogance. What's interesting is that I like him as Jack Reacher, but don't care for him much in the early part of this picture, or as Vincent Lauria in "The Color of Money". But with the passage of time, I can better appreciate him as an actor now, and revisiting this film has a lot to do with that perception.

And what can you say about Jack Nicholson? You know his presence here will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride with the take no prisoners approach to running his unit at Guantanamo Bay. With this role, Nicholson calls to mind George C. Scott in 1970's "Patton" as the kind of forceful and arrogant military leader who sees things only one way. My only qualm about the story is during the courtroom scene when the hot headed Colonel Nathan R. Jessep admits to the Code Red violation. I didn't think back in 1992 when I first saw this, nor did I think when I watched the movie again the other day, that a soldier of Jessep's qualities would crack the way he did under questioning by Lieutenant Kaffee. That was certainly a dramatic scene heightened by the intensity of both actors, but I couldn't see Jessep getting tricked like that. Still, I can overlook that minor glitch to give this film a top rating.

What I had forgotten about regarding the picture was the appearance of all those top quality young players who went on to even bigger and better things, like Keifer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and Noah Wyle. Sam Weinberg and Demi Moore were also more than competent in their roles backing Cruise's Kaffee. With the passage of time this film has grown in my estimation, and is one I'd recommend for anyone who enjoys emotional courtroom drama.

After what is in this day and age a remarkable run for a drama on Broadway, 497 performances from 1989 to 1991 Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men was given the class A treatment in terms of a cast. It was also nominated in several categories for Oscars, including Jack Nicholson as the powerful and malevolent commandant of the U.S. Marines on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba for Best Actor.

One of the many Nicholson quoted lines by impersonators is that famous "you can't handle the truth" during a cross examination. Tom Cruise who asks the question for which that's the answer is not so certain he can and neither is the audience which is riveted to their collective seats watching this courtroom duel.

Every player worth his salt wants a courtroom drama in their resume because of the inherent conflict and drama built in on a good case. The case here is two marines, Wolfgang Boddison and James Marshall, who are on trial for murder of a fellow marine on Guantanamo Bay. They are being prosecuted by Kevin Bacon and are defended by a team of navy lawyers that include Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Kevin Pollak. This death turns out to have national implications as Nicholson is up for a big Pentagon job. Of course there's a lot more to it than that, but can we handle the truth.

Paramount had the good sense to get playwright Aaron Sorkin to adapt his own play for the screen and he and director Rob Reiner do a grand job in bringing it to the screen. There's no trace at all of the stage origins of this story, they've done their work that well.

Besides those I've already mentioned pay attention to J.T. Walsh as Nicholson's conscience stricken second in command and Kiefer Sutherland as the hard-nosed platoon leader of the accused men.

My favorites in this film are the two defendants and Tom Cruise. Cruise does a wonderful job as a navy lawyer who grows from a deal maker to a passionate advocate for what Nicholson says he can't handle. Cruise's scenes with the defendants, especially Boddison, are the most touching in the film. You will get a tear in your eye when Boddison smartly salutes Cruise and offers the review title quote.

To me A Few Good Men belongs on the top five list for all of the cast members involved. Don't miss it if it's broadcast, it's the best military court martial film since The Caine Mutiny.

A FEW GOOD MEN is another Hollywood variation on the courtroom drama, this time about an accidental death at Guantanamo Bay, of all places. Most of the running time is made up of the usual procedural investigation and building of the case, leading to a twenty minute climax which delivers the goods in term of strong dialogue delivered intensely. I had mixed feelings about the movie itself; Cruise tries very hard but feels out of his depth at times, and Demi Moore is extremely bland. The likes of Kevin Bacon and J.T. Walsh are better, but the real highlight is a frightening and impassive Jack Nicholson, whose presence alone makes the movie - particularly during that great and memorable climax.