Most courtroom dramas revolve around finding the truth. A Few Good Men is about what happens when people in power do everything to conceal the truth. The famous line at the end of the movie is not a twist, but just a man who truly believes what he did was right. Rob Reiner’s film follows Danny Kaffee as he defends two Marines who have been accused of killing a fellow Marine on a military base in Guantanamo Bay. What seems like an open and shut case for both the audience and Kaffee, it slowly becomes evident that there is a conspiracy behind this.
Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, at the start of the film, is not the lawyer you would want as your counsel. He plea bargains every case, skips out on the cases he knows he will lose, and rides on his father’s coattails. When he is assigned to Lance Corporal Dawson and Private Downey’s case, his first instinct is to make a deal and get them the lowest sentence he can. What changes him is not the ambition to win the case, but the pressure of a case not allowed to be settled quietly, and colleagues who didn’t let him take the easy way out. The real tension of the movie is not whether the marines are guilty, but whether Kaffee has the ability to become the lawyer he has the capability of being.
Despite only appearing for 15 to-20 minutes of the film, Nathan Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, leaves a lasting impression on the audience. He is one of the film’s compelling figures, but at the same time, he is not a straightforward villain. He genuinely believes that the military’s code is what keeps the country safe, and citizens like Kaffee benefit from this and are too foolish to understand the cost of it. The problem with his belief is that the institution allows him to surpass accountability. Jessep truly believes that he did nothing wrong by giving the order, and Nicholoson plays that with mastery. This makes him a menacing and frightening figure who refuses to be shaken.
The scene that defines the film is Jessep’s breakdown at the end of the movie. As a man who didn’t flinch during Kaffee’s clever examination, he finally cracks and confesses that he was the one who ordered the Code Red. He only confesses because he is simply too proud not to, just as Kaffee predicted. When Kaffee does push him to the truth, Jessep wants him to know the truth. He wants Kaffee and the court to know that what he did was right, that the base runs like a well-oiled machine because of officers like him, and that the world is safer because of his discipline. Aaron Sorkin’s writing and Reiner’s direction truly excels here and make it one of the best watches in film.
Apart from the courtroom drama, A Few Good Men is a film about institutional power and the lengths people will go to protect it. Jessep’s base operates with a code that exists outside of the law enforced by subjugation and fear. The two Marines at the center of the case are not evil men. They are men who trusted the system completely and paid the price at the end. While these institutions are incredibly necessary, the film argues how it can be corrupt at the same time.
In the end, the film is not about the unfortunate murder on the military base. It is about what happens when someone decides to hold uncontrollable power accountable. Kaffee does win the case; Dawson and Downey are discharged. Jessep is arrested, but the stringent system he built remains. The truth came out, but nothing changed because of it. Some films show that justice prevails and will be served. But this one shows the cost of justice.
