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

Noah Wyle and mini-series ‘The Red Line’

The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) mini-series The Red Line (2019- ) came to the broadcast network over a period of four Sundays in April 2019. The 8-episode first season takes place in Chicago, Illinois and follows the aftermath of three families involved in the aftermath of an unarmed African American doctor being shot by a Caucasian policeman. Series creators included Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss.

(Caitlin Parrish, left, and Erica Weiss created The Red Line).

Noah Wyle stars in The Red Line as Daniel Calder, the Caucasian high school teacher wedded to Dr. Harrison Brennan, the African American medical doctor innocently at a convenience store seeking milk at the worst possible time. An armed assailant robs then flees the store as police rolls-up on the store in the first episode of the season, and Brennan (portrayed by Corey Reynolds) is shot from behind by patrolman Paul Evans.

(Noah Wyle as Daniel Calder in The Red Line).

The first eight-episode season of The Red Line takes place over the course of a year. We see the grief of Daniel Calder, and are quickly introduced to the adopted daughter of Calder and Harrison Brennan in Jira Calder-Brennan as portrayed by Aliyah Royale. Jira is the teenage student in the high school where Daniel teaches and is drawn with emotional depth and an awareness both of race and a broader sense of love than many. With the loss of her African American father, a large part of the season explores the racial needs of Jira combined with the principle of adding family that will help in ways that her Caucasian father cannot.

(Aliyah Royale as Jira Calder-Brennan, left, and Emayatzy Corinealdi as Tia Young in The Red Line).

Tia Young, as portrayed by Emayatzy Corinealdi, is the Ward 6 candidate for alderman in Chicago partly tasked with being that added family. Young had given Jira up for adoption at age 15 after becoming pregnant to a 16-year-old man that contributed to the pregnancy then disappeared from her life. A deeply explored story line included the introduction of Jira and Tia, and the many angles of emotional complexity involved in delaying the introduction of the two followed by the fall-out of that choice after a potential relationship is bridged. Other, larger narratives are in motion simultaneous in this process for Tia and her current family as well as for Jira and the remains of the family she knew.

(Vinny Chhibber as Liam Bhatt, left, and Howard Charles as Ethan Young in The Red Line).

Howard Charles as Ethan Young portrays the subway driver husband to Tia Young. Ethan Young also is the father to Tia and their son as well as an understanding support system to this family as it struggles with the fitness of their familial situation as well as the larger questions facing an alderman candidate running for office in a predominantly African American ward having questions and issues with a police force that acts unjustly, as was clear in the convenience store shooting that opened the series. Vinny Chhibber portrays the English literature and support system to his student, Jira Calder-Brennan, and his colleague, history teacher Daniel Calder named Liam Bhatt. In addition to being Muslim, gay, and candidly honest, season one explores many aspects of the relationships between and among Bhatt, Calder-Brennan, and Brennan.

(Noel Fisher as Paul Evans in The Red Line).

Two families followed with The Red Line included the Calder-Brennan family as well as the Young family. The third family followed included the Evans family, whose central figure most closely followed and emotionally changing over the season was that of Paul Evans as portrayed by Noel Fisher. Evans shot Dr. Harrison Brennan in violation of policing protocol. Evans’ character experiences many attempts to justify the shooting, with different levels of support by his father, brother, and partner at the time of the shooting. Elizabeth Laidlaw plays partner Vic Renna, who aims to support Paul through emotional support and an unethical act while taking up with Paul’s racist, wheelchair bound brother, Jim Evans. Michael Patrick Thornton portrays Jim Evans.

(Elizabeth Laidlaw as Vic Renna, left, and Michael Patrick Thornton as Jim Evans in The Red Line).

The relationships and pressures to protect Paul Evans, the reputation of police force, and the difficult relationships between Paul and Jim Evans and their father, who dies while offering immense moral judgment at the feet of Paul, through the series. The interaction between how Paul’s narrative as a policeman works out is explored at the familial levels of the Evans family, the Calder-Brennan family, and the burgeoning relationships between the Young and Calder-Brennan families.

(Corey Reynolds as Dr. Harrison Brennan in The Red Line).

The larger questions of the season do get resolved through the eight episodes, some with more satisfaction for the people portrayed than others. The series works at a network broadcast level. The Red Line does not seek to take a political position towards the police, towards the police shooting victim, nor towards the prosecutors or politicians with a stake in administering towards these different forces. The focus of the season was mostly aimed at exposing the moving parts while exploring the human relationships and feeling underlying attempts to make the relationships work for the feelings people experience in the aftermath of the events taking place. My ranking for the eight-episodes of what may be the opening season of The Red Line is 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars.

Matt – Wednesday, May 22, 2019