Week 51 – A Few Good Men (1992)

• A Few Good Men
• Released: 12/11/1992
• Starring: Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollack, James Marshall, J.T. Walsh, Christopher Guest, J.A. Preston, Wolfgang Bodison
• Director: Rob Reiner
• IMDB Page

Welcome back to another week of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! We are getting so close to the end, it’s getting crazy! I know I always say that, but I mean. Really. It’s week 51! This week’s film was chosen by my wonderful friend, Colleen. Colleen and I met at a Haley Reinhart concert in DC last summer and have been great friends ever since! Colleen works in the DC area as a federal prosecutor.

Colleen and I at a local screening of Mad Max: Fury Road last month.

Colleen is a big film fan, which I’ve witnessed on many occasions. She loves to go see new movies in theaters and I’ve been able to go to a good handful of them with her in the past year, from dramas, to superhero epics, to raunchy comedies. She told me that loves that films “can be so relatable, stir emotions, and make you think/question” things.

Colleen told me that her biggest memories revolving around movies when she was younger usually involve Disney films. She said that she particularly loved the music in the films and gave Mulan a special shout-out. She also told me that a movie that made a big impression on her when she was younger was The Last of the Mohicans. She said that She saw it the first time when she was too young – 7 years old. It was a little graphic for her young eyes and it left a bad taste in her mouth. At the time, her mom had her watch it, because it mentions their ancestor, Eleazar Wheelock. However, Colleen said that she was forced to watch it again years later for American History in High School – and this time she loved it!

Nowadays, Colleen said her go-to genres include mystery/suspense, crime, and law. She said that she does enjoy lighter movies like comedies, but if she she is sitting down to devote the time, she is much more likely to want to invest that time in something that falls into one of those genres.

Colleen said that she loves Aaron Sorkin’s writing and is always drawn to his films. She loves how his dialogue elevates a film. She also mentioned that Quentin Tarantino is another filmmaker that always grabs her interest. She said that his films can be both beautiful and clever, and she loves that combination. She told me that there are too many great actors for her to pick any real favorites, but did say that she pretty much universally loves Tom Cruise’s early films.

When she was trying to decide on what film to choose for this project, Colleen said that there was really only one option. However, she did say that if anything could come anywhere close, it would be The Last of the Mohicans. Ever since seeing it again in High School, she has loved it. She told me that she believes that it “is a masterpiece of score and acting.” She even used one of the songs from the film as her alarm in college! She also has come to appreciate that it includes her ancestry. She also told me a really cute story about a memory around the film that makes it all the more important to her. When she was in High School (post-American History forced viewing), there was a night when she couldn’t sleep. So, she went to the family room and turned on the television. It turns out that her mom was also unable to sleep and came in and sat next to her. Without a word, they ended up on The Last of the Mohicans and watched the entire movie all the way through without speaking. When it was over, they each got up and “wordlessly shuffled off to [their] respective beds.” I have to say, I really love that story.

Anyway, as I mentioned above, Colleen told me that there was never really any doubt as to what film she would choose. It was always going to be A Few Good Men. She mentioned that this is a rare phenomenon for her, because if you were to ask her for her favorite just-about-anything-else, she would struggle to decide on an answer. But she immediately knew her favorite film. She said that she has often told people that A Few Good Men is the reason that she went to law school. Truly, though, the film represents the reasons that she went to law school. She said that she believes “in the importance of fairness, in defending what you believe, and in advocating for those who have been wronged.” Colleen also said that she is drawn to the film because of her “tremendous respect for the military.” She grew up in San Antonio, TX, which she told me has a large military presence, and she has a number of relatives who have served. She also went to a military school for her Master’s degree.

Of course, being a Sorkin film, Colleen said that the dialogue is fantastic. She also, however, is a huge fan of the character development in the film. She references all three of the main defense attorneys’ journeys throughout the film. They all change and grow as a result of working together and with the defendants, who have their own evolution throughout the film.

Colleen said that she originally saw the film fairly early in life, and has loved it ever since. She told me that she can’t count the number of times that she has seen it and that she can recite the big “You can’t handle the truth!” scene by heart. She has watched it many times over the years, including on nights before law school exams. Most recently, she finally saw it on Blu Ray, when she watched it with me for this project! She loved seeing it in “heightened quality,” and it just reiterated to her that she gains something new from it every time that she sits down to watch.

I was excited for this week’s film, because I, too, am a huge Aaron Sorkin fan. “The West Wing” and “The Newsroom” are two of my favorite shows of all time, and I’m a huge sucker for Sorkin’s writing style. I was also excited, because this was one of my few chances to watch the film of the week with the participant! So it was just an added bonus.

I had never seen A Few Good Men before this week, but I had seen the play that it is based on, performed by a local theater in DC a few years ago. It’s hard to compete with the feeling of live theater for me, but I actually think I preferred the film in this case. The performances were all so spot on, and the direction lent so much to the way that the feelings and emotions of the actors jumped off the screen. I miss young, charming Tom Cruise. He did an amazing job in the film. And Jack Nicholson was at his smarmy, easy-to-hate best. I laughed out loud when Cruise’s character mocked Nicholson’s and it was legit just Cruise doing a Nicholson impression. And a pretty decent one, too!

Something I’ve learned from this project that I never really realized is that I do love a good courtroom story. There have been a few in this project, and they are all so different from each other (with varying degrees of real world accuracy, I’m sure), and yet I’ve really enjoyed them all. From A Few Good Men to My Cousin Vinny, and even (yes), Legally Blonde. I appreciated A Few Good Men, because in addition to pulling you in to the drama, it also made me think about the case and characters. It felt like a puzzle, and I really enjoyed piecing it together as the plot moved along.

I was actually surprised to see that this film was directed by Rob Reiner. Not that I didn’t think he was a fantastic director already, but this was just such a different film than what I am used to seeing from him. The other films directed by him in this project, for instance, were The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally…. He definitely brought a light touch to the film, which was really nice, but wasn’t afraid to go dark when the story called for it.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the film, and I’m so glad that I got to watch it with Colleen!

Thanks for joining me, and be sure to come back next week for the final main installment of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! I am planning a couple of bonus posts for a couple of weeks after that, but we are still getting so close to the end!!!

Let me know what you thought and please like, follow, subscribe, etc. Is there anything you’d like me to do after this blog is over? Let me know!

Thanks!

Next week: Strictly Ballroom