August 10, 2017
'A Few Good Men'
HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Chris Ryan and Amanda Dobbins to celebrate and appreciate 1992's 'A Few Good Men' in the inaugural episode of 'The Rewatchables' by discussing what they love about the movie (1:00), which scenes have aged the best and worst (9:30), and whether Jo Galloway was a good lawyer (42:35).
Cast
Tom Cruise as Lt. Daniel Kaffee
Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan Jessup
Demi Moore as Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway
Kevin Bacon as Capt. Jack Ross
Kevin Pollak as Lt. Sam Weinberg
J.T. Walsh as Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson
Kiefer Sutherland as Lt. Jonathan Kendrick
Cuba Gooding Jr. as Cpl. Carl Hammaker
Noah Wyle as Cpl. Barnes
Christopher Guest as Dr. Stone
Wolfgang Bodison as Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson
James Marshall as PFC Louden Downey
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Written by: Aaron Sorkin
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“The movie is thick with plot and heavy with dialogue, and least interesting when it is asking us to follow the strategy in the courtroom. The movie's powerful closing is weakened because it proceeds from legal strategy, not from the emotions of the characters.”
Roger Ebert criticized the movie, gave it only 2.5 stars, said it telegraphed the ending too much.
Most re-watchable scene
- Nominees: The ending (code red courtroom climax), the lunch in Guantanamo Bay, and Cruise & Bacon getting a beer.
- Amanda: Lunch at Guantanamo Bay.
- CR: Cruise and Bacon getting a beer – "You're a lousy fucking softball player, Jack!"
- Bill: The ending – the most rewatchable. But you can't sleep on the Guantanamo Bay scene.
- CR's alt: Nicholson reads Santiago's letter – "Who the fuck is PFC William Santiago?"
What aged the best?
- CR: "Why the two orders" – the moment during the cross-examination. Always gets him.
- Amanda: The mess hall cross-examination – Cruise grabs the notebook back from Bacon with peak Cruise swagger.
- Bill: Harold and Cruise finding common ground at the end – "you don't have to have a badge to have honor." Gets the chills every time, even on viewing #557.
What aged the worst?
- Nominees: Token black newsstand guy, Cruise zoning out for 30 seconds during the Jessup examination, gay slurs, JT Walsh's overly long farewell/suicide speech, and Joe Galloway.
- CR: Tom Cruise rehydrating with Yoo-hoo after softball practice.
- Bill: Joe Galloway has aged the worst.
- Also: Cruise watching random baseball games (Padres, Braves) despite living in DC, with amazing things always happening in the games.
Half-assed (internet) research
- Kiefer Sutherland's Jeep driving was so bad he hit a couple of Marines during filming.
- Jack Nicholson did 40-50 takes of the "You can't handle the truth!" scene. When told they had enough, he said: "I love to act."
- Jason Alexander was supposed to be Sam Weinberg, but Seinfeld Season 2 got picked up.
- Wolfgang Bodison (Dawson) was Rob Reiner's assistant before being cast.
- Aaron Sorkin wrote the play on bar napkins while working as a bartender in NYC, then he and his roommates chipped in to buy an early Macintosh to write the screenplay.
- The movie cost $30 million and made $230 million.
- Sorkin has a cameo as a lawyer at a bar – with about 10 seconds too much dialogue, of course.
- Nothing went wrong during filming – everyone involved says it's the best experience they've ever had making a movie.
Apex Mountain
- JT Walsh: Yes (all agree).
- Aaron Sorkin: No – West Wing Season 1 and 'The Social Network' are his apex. This is more like his "63-point Michael Jordan game" showing he'd have a 30-year career.
- Kevin Pollak: No – 'The Usual Suspects'.
- Kevin Bacon: Bill says yes (great, memorable, likable supporting performance nobody else could have done). Amanda and CR say no.
- Wolfgang Bodison: Yes.
- Jack Nicholson: No overall, but yes for "late Jack Nicholson." Bill says As Good as It Gets for late-career apex.
- Tom Cruise: Yes (all agree).
- Demi Moore: Not even nominated – Bill calls it the nadir.
Casting what-ifs
- Jason Alexander was supposed to play Sam Weinberg before Seinfeld Season 2 was picked up.
- Jodie Foster auditioned for the Jo Galloway role.
- Julia Roberts discussed as who would have been better – but CR argues she can't be in this movie for the same reason Bacon had to have a bad haircut (can't distract from Cruise).
- Linda Hamilton suggested as alternative for Galloway – would have been great, and Terminator 2-era biceps.
- Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts were never in a movie together.
- A TV version was planned, with James Franco rumored for Kaffee at one point.
Picking nits
- Putting Jessup on the stand was an insane gamble – all their careers riding on a bluff.
- Nobody found out Downey wasn't in the room when Kendrick gave the code red order – Sam Weinberg's one job was to prepare the witnesses.
- Cruise saying "don't call me son... you're under arrest, you son of a bitch" would never happen in a real courtroom.
- After the code red verdict, Bacon says he has to go arrest Kendrick – why did he wait?
- Kaffee's softball batting – hitting grounders way too fast, like a batting machine.
- Kevin Bacon leaving the pickup basketball game to deliver news about the doctored logbooks – everyone else just has to stop playing.
(Probably) unanswerable questions
- Bigger impact in fewest minutes: Nicholson as Jessup or Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter?
- What position did Daniel Kaffee play in softball? (Consensus: shortstop, but the other guys are grumbling about it.)
- Did Sam Weinberg mail it in? (Unanimous yes.)
- Did Kaffee and Galloway ever hook up? (No – never even kissed. Zero chemistry. A deleted scene had him asking her out.)
- Is Kaffee straight or gay? (Too busy with work – essentially asexual, like Cruise.)
- Can you really make an entire flight disappear?
- What happens if Jessup never admits the code red? (Kaffee gets court-martialed.)
- Was the code red scene the highlight of Tom Cruise's career? (Consensus: yes.)
- What on-the-rise 1991 black actor would have been better and more influential in the role of Harold?
Who won the movie?
- Who won the movie: All three say Tom Cruise – he runs the gamut of emotions while physically doing nothing but talking.
- Who won the scene (Cruise vs. Nicholson): Bill and Amanda lean Nicholson. Cruise himself marveled at Nicholson's subtle choices. CR says Cruise wins overall but acknowledges Nicholson's power from a seated position.