Once this picture enters the courtroom it becomes riveting. The build up is intriguing as well in it's may aspects of discovering information and the principals feeling each other out regarding temperaments and personalities. I've usually been on the fence about Tom Cruise as an actor, I guess because I equate him with the Daniel Kaffee we're first introduced to, a cocky and brash hot-shot lieutenant who can do no wrong and has a record supporting his arrogance. What's interesting is that I like him as Jack Reacher, but don't care for him much in the early part of this picture, or as Vincent Lauria in "The Color of Money". But with the passage of time, I can better appreciate him as an actor now, and revisiting this film has a lot to do with that perception.And what can you say about Jack Nicholson? You know his presence here will take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride with the take no prisoners approach to running his unit at Guantanamo Bay. With this role, Nicholson calls to mind George C. Scott in 1970's "Patton" as the kind of forceful and arrogant military leader who sees things only one way. My only qualm about the story is during the courtroom scene when the hot headed Colonel Nathan R. Jessep admits to the Code Red violation. I didn't think back in 1992 when I first saw this, nor did I think when I watched the movie again the other day, that a soldier of Jessep's qualities would crack the way he did under questioning by Lieutenant Kaffee. That was certainly a dramatic scene heightened by the intensity of both actors, but I couldn't see Jessep getting tricked like that. Still, I can overlook that minor glitch to give this film a top rating.What I had forgotten about regarding the picture was the appearance of all those top quality young players who went on to even bigger and better things, like Keifer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and Noah Wyle. Sam Weinberg and Demi Moore were also more than competent in their roles backing Cruise's Kaffee. With the passage of time this film has grown in my estimation, and is one I'd recommend for anyone who enjoys emotional courtroom drama.

I enjoyed the movie however a full bird Colonel ordering a code red is highly unlikely and Lt.Kaffe is obnoxious, arrogant and disrespectful, even to superior officers, which would never be tolerated

A good man is really a good movie, especially the sequence of the court and good game Jack Nixon and dialogs, I personally saw several times that the last minute and I suggest this great movie.

Half way through the movie, I found myself utterly unable to endure such a dumb plot, dumb characters, and dumb thematic message. One part of me really really wants to turn this off, but another part reminds me of the reason to watch this at the first place: no not for Tom Cruise or the director whoever he is, but for Jack Nicholson. Until then he was only in the movie for two scenes, and magically these two scenes work well. Jack delivered his lines in such a masterful way that he somehow hides how trite they really are; and when he can't hide it, he simply alters it and makes it great ("you can't handle the truth"). Almost all other acting are horrible. Tom Cruise delivered a few good lines, but his character is entirely predictable and cliché, which brings us to the character design. The character design is so lazy and bad. No character is lovable, except perhaps Jack Nicholson, who probably does not have a character at the first place as well but he somehow makes the character come true. Tom Cruise has one of the easiest motivation for a writer to conceive-- his dad is a great lawyer so he has this burden on him, nice and easy. And the film uses this newspaper stall thing to build up Tom's character, which works so unbelievably bad that you would wonder what's the purpose of the scene, and what's the purpose of filmmaking, and what's the purpose of life. The heroine is an extremely unlikable character. I really wanted to like her but she just goes around like a grumpy prick that I cannot relate to her at all. The two soldiers, especially Dawson, are terrible. Somewhere in the middle of the film, Dawson I think shouted out something to Tom Cruise, and as audience I am supposed to feel for his sense of honor, but I can't because his acting is so so bad. The other lawyer guy is forgettable. I do not know why he was there. Is he there to make a reaction face? But whatever he was quite bad as well. Overall, the only good character is Jack Nicholson, and not thanks to the writers, but thanks to his experience and talents. I am giving this film a four entirely because of his acting, and some of Tom Cruise's.