When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Lt. Daniel Kaffee: Tom Cruise
• Col. Nathan R. Jessep: Jack Nicholson
• Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway: Demi Moore
• Capt. Jack Ross: Kevin Bacon
• Lt. Jonathan Kendrick: Kiefer Sutherland
• Lt. Sam Weinberg: Kevin Pollak
• Pfc. Louden Downey: James Marshall
• Lt. Col. Matthew A. Markinson: J. T. Walsh
• Dr. Stone: Christopher Guest
• Judge Randolph: J.A. Preston
• Lt. Dave Spradling: Matt Craven
• Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson: Wolfgang Bodison
• Capt. Whitaker: Xander Berkeley
• Capt. West: John M. Jackson
• Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes: Noah Wyle
• Cpl. Carl Hammaker: Cuba Gooding Jr.
• Bailiff: Lawrence Lowe
• Tom: Joshua Malina
• Steward: Oscar Jordan
• Guard #1: John M. Mathews
• Man in Bar: Aaron Sorkin
• Guard #2: Alex Wexo
• Agent #1: Frank Cavestani
• Jury Foreman: Jan Munroe
• M.P.: Ron Ostrow
• David: Matthew Saks
• Luther: Harry Caesar
• Pfc. William T. Santiago: Michael DeLorenzo
• Lt. Sherby: Geoffrey Nauffts
• Robert C. McGuire: Arthur Senzy
• Cdr. Lawrence: Cameron Thor
• Cdr. Gibbs: David Bowe
• Mr. Dawson: Gene Whittington
• Aunt Ginny Miller: Maud Winchester
• Navy Officer (uncredited): Jack Serino

Film Crew:

• Director of Photography: Robert Richardson
• Casting: Janet Hirshenson
• Producer: Rob Reiner
• Producer: Andrew Scheinman
• Editor: Robert Leighton
• Casting: Jane Jenkins
• Producer: David Brown
• Executive Producer: Rachel Pfeffer
• Production Design: J. Michael Riva
• Co-Producer: Steve Nicolaides
• Co-Producer: Jeffrey Stott
• Music: Marc Shaiman
• Costume Design: Gloria Gresham
• Theatre Play: Aaron Sorkin
• Executive Producer: William S. Gilmore
• Editor: Steven Nevius
• Set Designer: Robert Woodruff
• Art Direction: David F. Klassen
• Makeup Department Head: Stephen Abrums
• Steadicam Operator: J. Michael Muro
• Set Designer: Virginia L. Randolph
• Second Unit Director of Photography: Gary B. Kibbe
• First Assistant Director: Frank Capra III
• First Assistant Editor: Alan Edward Bell
• Makeup Artist: Richard Dean
• Hair Department Head: Larry Waggoner
• Assistant Editor: Mary Morrisey
• Chief Lighting Technician: Ian Kincaid
• Set Decoration: Michael Taylor
• Production Coordinator: Linda Allan-Folsom
• Second Assistant Director: Matthew H. Rowland
• Makeup Artist: Edouard F. Henriques
• Script Supervisor: Kerry Lyn McKissick
• Property Master: Jerry Moss
• Stunt Coordinator: Tim A. Davison
• Camera Operator: Anthony Gaudioz
• Assistant Editor: Nina Lucia
• Hairstylist: Lyndell Quiyou
• Hairstylist: Enzo Angileri
• Construction Coordinator: Terry Scott
• Key Grip: Chris Centrella
• Transportation Coordinator: James Brown
• Post Production Supervisor: Christy Dimmig
• First Assistant Camera: Ken Nishino
• Sound Mixer: Robert Eber
• Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Ervin
• Location Manager: Richard Davis, Jr.
• Special Effects Coordinator: Eugene Crum
• Construction Foreman: Doug Rosenberger

Movie Reviews:

• Wuchak: “You can’t handle the truth!”

  RELEASED IN 1992 and directed by Rob Reiner, “A Few Good Men” is a military drama about a smart-axx young Navy Lawyer (Tom Cruise) who’s never seen a courtroom because he lazily arranges plea bargains. Perhaps this is why he’s assigned to defending two young Marines stationed at Guantanamo Bay who are accused of murdering a fellow Marine. They maintain that they were ordered to enact a “Code Red,” which took an unforeseen turn. Demi Moore and Kevin Pollak co-star as the lawyer’s partners while Kevin Bacon heads the prosecution and Jack Nicholson plays the arrogant commanding officer of Guantanamo. J.T. Walsh is on hand as the Colonel’s weak subordinate.

  The movie does a good job of depicting the honor code of hardcore Marines, particularly in the sequence where Lance Cpl. Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) refuses to confess to something he didn’t do in order to get a minor sentence. The characters are well written and casted, e.g. Kaffee (Cruise) and his penchant for baseball. The story is dialog-driven and maintains your attention without action/thrills.

  Nicholson is commanding and intimidating as the pompous colonel. Kaffee discovers his talent as a courtroom lawyer and realizes that the only way to take him down is to use his egotism against him. Other than the cringe-inducing “A Ten Hut” scene at the end, this is a gripping drama.

  THE FILM RUNS 2 hours, 18 minutes and was shot entirely in Southern Cal (Point Mugu, Crystal Cove, etc.) and Washington DC. WRITERS: Aaron Sorkin (play) and Aaron Sorkin (screenplay).

  GRADE: B+

• CinemaSerf: I think this my favourite outing for Tom Cruise. He is the cocky young navy lawyer “Kaffee”, who usually plea-bargains and as yet has never seen the inside of a courtroom. Surprisingly, he is drafted in to investigate the death of a young soldier at Guantanamo Bay. Two marines have been arrested for his murder, but they claim that they were ordered to administer a “Code Red” – a fairly brutal form of discipline used on their fellow soldiers deemed to have broken their code of honour. Teamed up with his pal “Sam” (Kevin Pollak) and with the more by-the-book “Galloway” (Demi Moore) the three face a subtle, but definite, hostility from the commanding officer “Jessep” (Jack Nicholson) and his enforcer “Kendrick” (Kiefer Sutherland). Soon their search uncovers evidence that not only was this attack authorised but that the instructions might have come from the top. Cruise is at his most natural here; his character comes across as arrogant and selfish, but also quite likeable and engaging – and he plays ball with Moore and a slightly over-played Nicholson really well too. The courtroom drama elements are kept tight and intense – thanks to a stronger than usual effort from Kevin Bacon (“Ross”) and though I thought the ending rather flew in the face of the whole point of the narrative, it is still a well structured and delivered evaluation of trust and of the nature of human behaviour when faced with abusive authority figures. Rob Reiner resists any temptation to introduce any sloppy romance into film, and though there are the odd distracting sub-plots here and there, for the most part this stays on track as a strong and enjoyable thriller.