Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson and the film ‘A Few Good Men’

We go back to the military courtroom drama for today’s review of the film A Few Good Men (1992). Rob Reiner directed the screenplay  written by Aaron Sorkin. The tale of a Navy lawyer who has never seen the inside of the courtroom defending two reticent Marines accused of murdering a colleague, an ensemble cast to rival ensemble casts offers a compelling experience worthy of the four Academy Award nominations the film received.

(Wolfgang Bodison as Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson, left, and James Marshall as Pfc. Louden Downey in the film A Few Good Men).

Marines Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson (portrayed by Wolfgang Bodsion) and Pfc. Loudon Downey (portrayed by James Marshall) face a general Court-martial for allegedly murdering fellow marine Pfc. William Santiago in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. As the military superficially looks for a quick resolution to this matter, Lt. Daniel Kaffee (portrayed by Tom Cruise) is assigned the case owing to his propensity for arranging plea bargains for every case he handles.

(From left to right are Tom Cruise as Lt. Daniel Kaffee, Demi Moore as Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway, and Kevin Pollak as Lt. Sam Weinberg in the film A Few Good Men).

Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (portrayed by Demi Moore) catches the case originally, with the military looking to assign the case to Kaffee. Lt. Sam Weinberg (as portrayed by Kevin Pollak) also is assigned to offer whatever logistical support will be necessary, which initially seems like little to nothing. As Dawson and Downey seek a vigorous defense, the matter will proceed to the full general Court-martial some had hoped to avoid.

(Kevin Bacon as Capt. Jack Ross in the film A Few Good Men).

Opposing council for the proceedings is led by Capt. Jack Ross (portrayed by Kevin Bacon). Ross plays an ultimately straight-laced character who offers sometimes candid advice to his opposing council regarding the severity of the judicial process to Lt. Daniel Kaffee. The larger question of guilt or innocence underpinning much of the drama within this is whether the action undertaken by Downey and Dawson occurred at the behest of Guantánamo Bay marine commander Col. Nathan R. Jessep (portrayed by Jack Nicholson).

(Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessep in the film A Few Good Men).

Col. Nathan R. Jessep is shown through multiple scenes in A Few Good Men to possess a coldly calculating, fierce, and domineering personality that if felt, minimally, to the people under his command. At the heart of the drama is learning the methods and ends of Jessep’s leadership style, as well as whether Kaffee, Galloway, and Weinberg have the wherewithal to go the distance against Jessep through the Court-martial to produce a just outcome for Downey and Dawson.

( J.T. Walsh as Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson, top left, Kiefer Sutherland as 2nd. Lt. Jonathan Kendrick, top right Noah Wyle as Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes, bottom left, and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Cpl. Carl Hammaker, bottom right, in the film A Few Good Men).

Playing more significant supporting roles in moving the story of A Few Good Men to that end are Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson (as portrayed by J.T. Walsh) and 2nd. Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (as portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland). Less significant supporting roles were included Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes (as portrayed by Noah Wyle), and Cpl. Carl Hammaker (as portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr.).

(Screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin, left, and director Rob Reiner from the film A Few Good Men).

The dramatic presentation and emotional depth of the film A Few Good Men made for a compelling experience. Is there justice for all within this film? Do each of the individual characters deserve the fate they received? Could the stakes raised in the film have happened in real life? For that last question, the answer is the real life case the film seems to be based on was more violent. All told, the experience to be had is worth the time and emotional investment. For that, A Few Good Men earns 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars.

Matt – Saturday, July 20, 2019

Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and the Ron Howard film ‘Apollo 13’

It was 50-years ago this week that the first humans to walk on the moon occurred with the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Mission. Less than a year after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked on the moon, the intended Apollo 13 Lunar Landing Mission became a triumph of human ingenuity and tragedy averted when an explosion in space aborted that mission. Child actor and film director Ron Howard brought us the film of that latter mission in the blockbuster film that is our subject today, Apollo 13 (1995).

(Former actor turned acclaimed film director Ron Howard directed the film Apollo 13).

Three astronauts flew the mission depicted in Apollo 13, including Jim Lovell (as portrayed by Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (as portrayed by Bill Paxton), and the bachelor Jack Swigert (as portrayed by Kevin Bacon). Bachelor Ken Mattingly (as portrayed by Gary Sinise) was due to fly the mission, but owing the concern by medical flight controllers over the possibility of Mattingly getting measles while in space, Swigert was a middle-of-training replacement for the space flight. The movie offers a compelling introduction to each of these men, their pre-flight familial situations, and a foretelling of the relationships the men would have once adversity comes both pre-flight and in-mission.

(From left to right – Bill Paxton as astronaut Fred Haise, Tom Hanks as astronaut Jim Lovell, Gary Sinise as astronaut Ken Mattingly, and Kevin Bacon as astronaut Jack Swigert in the film Apollo 13).

Four NASA leaders important to the Apollo Missions overall and the Apollo 13 flight in particular were NASA director Christopher C. Kraft Jr. (portrayed as a loose composite in the film by Joe Spano), flight director Gene Kranz (portrayed by Ed Harris), flight controller Seymour ‘Sy’ Liebergot (portrayed by Clint Howard), and flight engineer John W. Aaron (as portrayed by Loren Dean). Kranz, Liebergot, and Aaron take prominent paths in the story, which dramatized the emotional stakes in the movie Apollo 13 so as to demonstrate effectively in movie presentation the dramatic story of what happened.

(From top to bottom – Joe Spano as a NASA director loosely based on Christopher C. Kraft Jr., Ed Harris as flight director Gene Kranz, Clint Howard as flight controller Seymour ‘Sy’ Liebergot, and Loren Dean as flight controller John W. Aaron in the film Apollo 13).

Heartstrings and emotional impact were shared back on earth during many critical junctures of the film. We met in loving detail an emotional depth for Jim Lovell‘s family and the growing quality of Fred Haise‘s family through the movie.

(From left to right, Mary Kate Schellhardt as Barbara Lovell, Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell, Miko Hughes as Jeffrey Lovell, and Max Elliott Slade as Jay Lovell in the film Apollo 13).

Beyond the compelling drama for whether the crew would make it home within the film, seeing the families of the crew, along with the extended NASA family of engineers pull together to bring about just that outcome, was quite dynamic.

(Tracy Reiner as Mary Haise, left, and Jean Speegle Howard as Blanch Lovell in the film Apollo 13).

The film Apollo 13 was a blockbuster movie with the budget and effects to go with it. The film won Academy Awards for sound and film editing. The film earned high marks among critics and moviegoers alike, per Rotten Tomatoes. As I continue to enjoy watching this film again and again, my overall rating for Apollo 13 is 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars.

Matt – Wednesday, July 17, 2019