Conference bookie::movies

    I saw this at the weekend (took some time to get to UK).
    
    I liked it too, especially the performance of Tom Cruise, who seems to
    be turning into a serious actor.  Jack Nicholson was in great form,
    although his character was rather a caricature.  Demi Moore was the
    weak link, if there was one - I never understood what her motivation
    was supposed to be.
    
    The movie lasted 2� hours, but I wasn't aware of the passage of time,
    the first time this has happened to me since "Silence of the Lambs".
    
    ****
    
    Mel

  After seeing the list of five movies nominated to win the Oscar for Picture
of the year, Patty and I realized that we had not seen a single one so we set
out on our mission to see all five films before the Oscar presentation this
coming spring. "The Crying Game" was 1st, and "A Few Good Men" was 2nd. 

  As with "The Crying Game", my expectations started out very high since this
movie had gotten good reviews, good word of mouth, and the nomination for best
film and like "The Crying Game" I felt that while it was a pretty good film, it
was far from being a great film. 

  Tom Cruise put in half of a really fine performance. His court room scenes
were some of the best I've ever seen, right up there with Victor Sequenties
from the old L.A. Law and some of the more serious scenes with the defendants
were done really well, but the more personal scenes were shallow, way over
acted, and somewhat out of character. In Rain Man he convinced me that he had
made a transformation but here he seemed like two different guys, one who was a
cut up and one who was a born leader. 

  Likewise, Demi Moore had some really fine moments and there was a real
opportunity here to explore the problems of competent woman officers in the
Navy (a topical issue these days) but instead her character turned into fluff
and made you wonder how someone so young and cute could break through the old
boy "Tail Hook" mentality of the Navy to become a Lt Commander at such a young
age. 

  Jack Nicholson was great. His character was similar to the character that he
most often plays, but for some reason it is always fun to see him play that
part. However his character was not central enough to carry the story. That was
left to Cruise who came up a bit short. 

  "A Few Good Men" is a fine murder mystery with some good acting and great old
time court room dramatics done in the Perry Mason stile but don't go expecting
to see "Breaker Morant" or you will be disappointed.

  Another ***,
  George

                   <<< VALKYR$DKA200:[NOTES]MOVIES.NOTE;1 >>>
                        -< The Movie Review Conference >-
================================================================================
Note 8.3                         A Few Good Men                           3 of 3
32198::KRUEGER                                        9 lines   5-MAR-1993 11:22
                         -< And I loved Cruise, too! >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Best performance, though tiny, was Kevin Bacon's.  Here is a truly
    underused GOOD actor.
    
    I thought Nicholson, whom I adore, was awful in this movie.  It was
    Jack Nicholson playing Jack Nicholson playing an army guy.  
    
    [Possible spoiler:]
    
    
    That last
    scene where he expected to leave the courtroom with no problem was
    ridiculous.
    
    Leslie

  I have to disagree with you about Jack Nicholson.

Spoiler


  I thought he played his character very well. There really are guys like that
in the Military. As for leaving the court room, remember that the reason that
Cruise's character had been able to trap Nicholson's character in the 1st place
was that he realized that the old Col. actually believed that what he was doing
was right. 

  There really is a belief among some hard core military types that there is so
much honor in being on the front lines and the sacrifices they make are so
great, that they are above the law. In fact I've heard it argued that these
guys are so far above the law, it's practically a sin to even question their
opinions on matters of war. 

  I realize it's hard to believe if you've never encountered one of these
types, but they are real and they are out there. The fact that Nicholson's
character was one of these guys and that Cruise's character was able to spot
it, was the thing that determined the outcome of the trial. 

  George 

    -1
    
    Spoiler concerning previous spoiler:
    
    All I'm saying is that obviously Nicholson was reluctant to testify at
    the court martial.  He did everything he could to cover up what
    happened.  If he was this scared of being exposed, why did he act like
    he could get up and leave at the end of his testimony, even after he
    admitted he covered up?  It was crazy!  If he thought the court
    couldn't hold him responsible or make him pay for the coverup, why was
    he covering up to begin with?  That's what I meant by his performance. 
    Not to mention that Jack Nicholson isn't as much an actor as he is a
    movie star .... this last role was no different (other than dialogue)
    than any of his other roles.  He's always Jack Nicholson.
    
    Leslie (who loves him anyway!)

 

<Spoiler>


Because he's "400 yards from the front lines ", that's why.

I liked the Nicholson character a lot.   Even though, in the back of 
his mind he knew he blew it, I'm sure he felt that with enough
bravado, he could just walk on out.  The man WAS slated to be the next
head of the joint chief of staffs.   And yes, I can imagine, putting your
"butt" on the line alters your perception of what's important...

		
 

RE                        <<< Note 8.5 by 32198::KRUEGER >>>

    
    Spoiler concerning previous spoiler:
    

>    All I'm saying is that obviously Nicholson was reluctant to testify at
>    the court martial.  He did everything he could to cover up what
>    happened.  If he was this scared of being exposed, why did he act like
>    he could get up and leave at the end of his testimony, ...

  I think you are confusing what he thought when being rational versus what he
felt in his gut. When he had lots of time to think about it, it seemed prudent
to cover up his tracks. From what I've seen of this kind of person, his 1st
impulse would have been that he was right, but on reflection he would have
taken precautions. 

  Once he got to the trial and Cruise got him cranked up, he dropped his guard
and started acting by his gut again, assuming that he was above the law, etc.
When he left, he was still burning with anger, still feeling above the law.
Later when he calmed down, it would all sink in. 

  George

    From what I understand, the movie is not the same as the play.  In the
    play, they apparently had some incriminating document (my guess:  the
    flight schedule that disappeared) that nailed the bad guys.  But when
    they turned it into a movie, they played around to make it more
    suspenseful, and they had to come up with a way to win without the
    paper.  So Jack's speech is apparently something of a hack.  Still, it
    was compelling drama.

Just saw this last night on video, and I was quite impressed. I'm not a fan
of either Tom Cruise or Jack Nicholson, yet I thought they both did 
outstanding jobs. Also kudos goes to the players in the smaller roles, ie.
Kevin Bacon, Keifer Sutherland, etc. - it all added up to a very solid cast
all around.

I found the storyline a bit predictable (I forsaw most of the events that
took place), but it didn't matter because the acting overcame it.

Like an earlier noter said, it was a very quick 2+ hours!

8� out of 10.

alan

    My daughter and I saw this when it ws in the theaters.... and this one
    question has been driving us NUTS!!!!
    
    I'll put it behind FF, just in case people really don't know the
    premise behind the movie!
    
    
    
    
    Who was the actor who played ???  darn, can't remember his name... the
    guy who was killed!?  He was only in a few scenes, but I KNOW I know
    him from somewhere!
    
    Thansk!

    On the subject of actors in this movie:  I'm convinced that one of the
    two junior officers in Dabney Coleman's (sp?) office when Demi Moore is
    asking to be assigned to the case is played by Bruce Willis.  But the
    two people who watched the movie with me disagree, and his name doesn't
    show up in the credits.  Am I that wrong?

    I watched this recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. Esp Jack Nicholson's
    character.
    
    Can someone enlighten this Brit the reason for a Marine base situated
    in Cuba as I thought the US had no business there. The base was
    at Guantanamo Bay.
    
    Thanks
    
    Royston

    Guantanamo is like Hong Kong in many respects...

    Guantanamo Bay was leased for 99 years (I think) to the US by Cuba
    after the Spanish American War, and the lease was not affected byt  he
    Communist takeover by Castro in '50 (much to his dismay). Each year
    when the lease payment goes to Castro from Washington, he makes much of
    stuffing the check into a drawer where they all are - uncashed.
    
    Since this is entered from memory, I am quite willing to be corrected
    by someone more knowledgeable.
    
    
    Marilyn
    

    Ooops, that last should have read takeover in '59! It was a typo, I
    should know , I was born there............
    
    
    Marilyn

    Thanks.
    
    Royston