A Few Good Men is the 1992 legal drama film based on the Broadway play by Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote the screenplay. The movie was directed by Rob Reiner and features an incredible all-star cast. The film stars Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore in the leading roles. The supporting cast includes Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollak, James Marshall, J.T. Walsh, Christopher Guest, J.A. Preston, and Wolfgang Bodison.
The movie mixes drama and suspense with a bit of humor, and it stands as one of the best courtroom dramas ever made. Cruise plays Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a callow Navy lawyer who is known for plea-bargaining cases rather than going to trial. He is assigned to defend two U.S. Marines stationed at Guantanamo Bay who are accused of murdering a fellow Marine, William Santiago. Kaffee is joined by Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway (played by Moore) and Lieutenant Sam Weinberg (played by Pollak). Galloway suspects the two Marines were acting under orders from their superiors, specifically the commanding officer, Colonel Nathan R. Jessep (played by Nicholson), in what is known as a "Code Red" hazing ritual. The best sequence comes in the last 20 minutes of the film, where Kaffee and Jessep square off in an explosive, high-stakes courtroom confrontation that delivers some of the most memorable dialogue in film history.
The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard Blu-Ray. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is excellent, and the 4K transfer was done very well. If you have a high-end setup, the crisp visual detail and balanced audio will not disappoint. The bonus content is good, featuring a couple of production documentaries, including an interesting featurette on adapting the play to film. It also includes an excellent audio commentary track by director Rob Reiner. The commentary provides great insight into the production, though it is also a bit sad, especially when Reiner discusses the fact that he brought his son to the set, who is the very same son who was later arrested for his murder.
The casting for this film was absolutely perfect. Everyone in the main and supporting cast was excellent in their roles, and a case can be made that this was actually each actor's best performance to date. While I am personally not a fan of what is known about Tom Cruise's personal life, he is a wonderful actor, and he did some of his best work here. It is also fun to look back at the smaller roles in the film. This was one of Noah Wyle's first film roles, and he would, of course, go on a couple of years later to become a breakout star in the TV series ER. The film also featured an early role for Cuba Gooding Jr. before his career exploded. This was also the very first acting role for Wolfgang Bodison, who played Lance Corporal Harold Dawson. He was actually working as an assistant to Rob Reiner, who liked his look and asked if he had ever acted and if he wanted to read for the part. Given that his role as Dawson was relatively large, he did an excellent job with the part, especially since he had never acted before. While everyone shines, Jack Nicholson is a complete tour-de-force, dominating the screen every single time he is on it. Ultimately, this is a must-see movie and, if you collect physical media, it is worth adding to your collection.
