July 31, 2023
'A Few Good re-Men' live from L.A.
Live from the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey are in the business of saving lives. They revisit one of the first movies they covered on 'The Rewatchables,' nearly 300 episodes ago, Rob Reiner's 'A Few Good Men,' starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. Written by Aaron Sorkin.
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
Notes
- This is the SECOND time The Rewatchables covered 'A Few Good Men'. The first was August 10, 2017 (the first non-sports Rewatchables episode), with only Bill and Chris Ryan, about 50 minutes, with only four categories. Sean was not invited and was upset for months. This re-do was recorded live at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.
- Near episode #300 of The Rewatchables.
- $40 million budget; grossed $243 million worldwide. 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Nominated for Best Picture (lost to 'Unforgiven'), Nicholson for Best Supporting Actor (lost to Hackman in 'Unforgiven'), also for editing and sound. Won nothing. Reiner and Sorkin were not nominated.
- William Goldman did an uncredited script pass. His key contribution was removing the smoking gun – in the play, there was evidence of the erased flight; in the movie, Kaffee gets it out of Jessup purely through interrogation.
- Rob Reiner's anecdote: Nicholson insisted on performing the full 'You can't handle the truth' speech for every camera setup (8 versions), even when the camera wasn't on him. When Reiner worried he'd run out of gas, Nicholson said: 'Rob, you don't understand. I love to act.'
- Sorkin took the story from his sister, a Navy JAG lawyer defending Marines in a hazing case. He wrote the play on cocktail napkins while bartending at the Palace Theater on Broadway.
- TriStar executives wanted a Kaffee-Galloway sex scene; Sorkin refused: 'Women have purposes other than to sleep with Tom Cruise.'
- The hosts agree Cruise wins the final courtroom scene over Nicholson, reversing conventional wisdom. Sean: 'When I was a kid, the conversation was there's an amazing Jack Nicholson scene. But when I watch it now, I'm watching it for Cruise.'
- Wolfgang Bodison was Rob Reiner's location scout who had never acted before – cast directly into the role of Dawson.
- Kiefer Sutherland couldn't drive the Humvee and kept hitting Marines, so they switched to Noah Wyle.
- Special guest Mallory Rubin joined about an hour in to discuss whether the movie needed a better sex scene.
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men is one of those movies that tells you what it's going to do, does it, and then tells you what it did.”
Also: 'The movie doesn't think the audience is very bright.'
Most re-watchable scene
- Nicholson's first scene ('Who the fuck is PFC William Santiago'), the outdoor lunch with cigar-chomping Jessup, Drunk Cruise ('galactically stupid'), and the 21-minute final courtroom scene described by Bill as a 5-round prize fight.
- Chris: Downey not understanding the dishonorable discharge ('What did we do wrong?').
- Sean: Drunk Cruise at the bar ('Rocco Colombo School for Women').
What aged the best?
- No coda at the end – trial ends, movie ends.
- The Kaffee-Dawson rollercoaster ending with '10-hut! There's an officer on deck.'
- Sorkin's trademark walk-and-talk invented here.
- Cruise's unscripted Nicholson impersonation.
- Guantanamo Bay as site of corrupt action resonates today.
- Early 90s Cruise generally.
What aged the worst?
- 'You're under arrest, you son of a bitch' – would never happen that way.
- Christopher Guest as Dr. Stone – wasting the funniest guy on a boring role.
- Luther the newspaper stand guy – 'absolute horseshit' Sorkin dialogue.
- Cruise modeled his performance on David Miscavige (from Going Clear).
- The real story: Lance Corporal David Cox was acquitted but vanished in 1994, found dead, murder unsolved.
The hottest take award
- Chris: Danny Kaffee is the Jimmy Butler of law; also, 'are we sure this case is that big of a deal?'
- Bill: Did Private Santiago deserve to die? Not big on snitches.
- Sean: Cruise should have been nominated AND won Best Actor – 'This should have been the first of his three Academy Awards.'
Casting what-ifs
- Gene Hackman turned down Jessup to do 'Unforgiven' (won Oscar).
- James Woods was considered for Jessup; offer yanked when Nicholson said yes.
- Demi Moore battled Jodie Foster and Linda Hamilton for Galloway; Moore dropped her asking price from $3M to $2M.
- Jason Alexander was originally cast as Sam Weinberg; dropped out when Seinfeld renewed for season two; replaced by Kevin Pollak.
- Wolfgang Bodison was Rob Reiner's location scout, cast directly into the role.
Weak link of the movie
Demi Moore as Joe Galloway – 'miscast' but enjoyably so; couldn't deliver Sorkin dialogue; had to audition while all other stars did not.
Over-acting award
- Kiefer Sutherland as Kendrick.
- Drunk Tom Cruise wins the overacting award.
Best "that guy"
- J.A. Preston as Judge Julius Randolph.
- Xander Berkeley (also Ralph in Heat).
- Michael DeLorenzo (New York Undercover) as Santiago.
Re-casting couch
- Will Smith and Brad Pitt as Dawson and Downey.
- Angela Bassett as Joe Galloway (Bill's winner; crowd approved).
- Runners-up for Joe: Julianne Moore, Geena Davis.
Half-assed (internet) research
- Cruise was paid $12.5 million; Nicholson $5 million for 10 days ($500K/day).
- Nicholson was mad Columbia moved the release date to compete against his film Hoffa.
- Nicholson and J.T. Walsh were in both Hoffa and 'A Few Good Men'; became very good friends; Nicholson dedicated his third Oscar to Walsh's memory.
- Kevin Bacon has played characters named Jack in six movies.
- Kevin Pollak said there was a 'Godfather Night' at Tom and Nicole's home theater.
- Goldman was on retainer at Castle Rock.
- Lawyers in Connecticut in the 2010s falsely claimed to be the inspiration for Kaffee (NYT investigated).
Apex Mountain
- Code Reds – yes.
- Kevin Pollak – yes.
- Wolfgang Bodison – yes.
- Yoo-hoo – yes.
- Softball practice – yes, cinematically.
- Nicholson – no (Chinatown / Cuckoo's Nest era). Tom Cruise – no ('Jerry Maguire').
Picking nits
- Dream team took six weeks to realize Santiago was packed for a 6am flight.
- Sam Weinberg contributed almost nothing to the trial.
- 'Conduct unbecoming a United States Marine' is not an actual crime (Sorkin admits it).
- Jack Ross makes 32 sustained objections and Kaffee just blows by them.
- Kaffee's diet: Yoo-hoo, Cocoa Puffs, popcorn from bar tables, beer, Jack Daniels.
- Kaffee doesn't shake the Yoo-hoo before drinking it.
- Oregano called a 'condiment' (it's a seasoning).
(Probably) unanswerable questions
- Are we sure Markinson killed himself? How did he get a gun in a guarded hotel room?
- What happens if Jessup never admits the code red?
- Has Jessup actually ever ripped someone's eyes out and pissed in their skull?
- Why didn't Kaffee's team call Tom (Jessup's clerk) as a witness?
Would this movie be better with...?
Katherine Hahn (winner per crowd reaction).
What memorabilia would you want (or not want!) from the movie?
- Bill: Jack Ross's Georgetown Supreme Court tank top.
- Sean: Jessup's dress uniform.
- Also discussed: Kaffee's bat, Tom Cruise's varsity jacket, the 1963 Chevy Impala.
Best double feature for this movie
- Bill: American President (double Sorkin).
- Sean: Paths of Glory or The Caine Mutiny; also Oppenheimer.
Best (or worst!) life lessons from the movie
'You don't have to have a patch on your arm to have honor.'
Who won the movie?
Tom Cruise – unanimous (Bill, Sean, Chris, audience). Also discussed: Cruise won the final courtroom scene over Nicholson.