Review - A Few Good Men

On the surface this is an empty-headed military courtroom drama, a picture well suited for the “talents” of Tom Cruise and Demi Moore. It’s packed with the sort of dialogue and plot progression that clearly reveals its origin as a stage play. Further, it’s a stiff exploration of the nature of duty and honor, concepts apparently best understood in terms of platitude-laden barbs tossed back and forth between the characters. But to get more out of the viewing experience, carefully count up the sides. Almost all the protagonists are Navy, and almost all the antagonists are Marines. The result turns into a strange bit of class warfare in which the ruling elite eventually prevails over even a high-ranking member of the “grunts.” Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it, and there’s really nothing more here than Jack Nicholson’s high-ham insistence that Cruise “can’t handle the truth.” Mildly amusing