This is one of my favorite movies, and one of the best courtroom dramas ever. I can watch it over and over again. It's one of those movies that if I flip the channel and it's on, welp, that's it, I'm going to end up watching the entire thing. (Also in this category: Apollo 13. The constant? Kevin Bacon!) .. A Few Good Men is gripping. It's one of those rare films that is built almost entirely on it's dialogue, and succeeds brilliantly. The script is intelligent and thoroughly engaging. The directing is crisp and suspenseful. The performances are top-notch. Specifically, this is some of Tom Cruise's best work. There are, of course, a few unforgettable quotes, but the build up to these scenes is what makes them unforgettable. As the viewer, you feel like your fighting for justice right along side the cast. Their battle becomes yours, and the movie is all the more powerful for it.

Tom Cruise Shit his pants in this movie around 20 minutes.

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.

Aaron Sorkin leaves a unique mark on all his work, and if you like "The West Wing," you'll like this movie, even if it is imperfect.A Few Good Men is about the trial of two US Marines stationed in Cuba who have been charged with killing one of their peers in a hazing ritual. They are appointed attorneys Lt. Kaffee (Tom Cruise) and Lt. Commander Galloway (Demi Moore). The two attorneys feud at first, but end up working together to expose a sinister cover-up job within the Marines.Sorkin does what he does best in "A Few Good Men": writing intelligent, engaging, and wit-filled dialogue. The characters feel like real people because they talk like real people. The wit in the dialogue also adds a lot of levity to this film with a pretty dark subject matter. Characters toss out jokes at each other that never feel out of place or silly, setting a nice tone for the entire movie. Some parts of the film have the potential to be dry, but they never are due to the nature of the dialogue.Since the film is based on Sorkin's stage play and the screenplay is written by Sorkin, so his idiosyncrasies come through much more strongly than those of the actual director, Rob Reiner. As the case of many films based on stage plays, film elements like cinematography and editing take the back seat to dialogue and acting. It's a good thing that the performances across the board do the script justice.The criticism I have of the film is just how predictably things unfold. Big reveals and turning points in the case are predicted by the characters during trial preparation meetings. When these big reveals actually happen in the courtroom, the audience is already expecting them, and their power is lost. The underwhelming reveals pale in comparison to films like "12 Angry Men," or other similar court dramas with unexpected narrative twists.The film is also pretty uncompelling on a larger, thematic level. It seems to be an indictment of the "for the greater good" moral system that the military operates with. Military bigwig Col. Jessup (Jack Nicholson) is a stereotypical testosterone-filled figure with warrior-like pride. Jessup is not likable and not very complex at all, an easy target for the audience to vilify. Even lower-ranking soldiers are blamed for following orders that perpetuate the military's culture. The film almost comes off as purely anti-military more than anti-military culture.In a lot of ways, "A Few Good Men " plays like a long episode of the West Wing. Sorkin's style comes through clearly and the film is fun, even though it feels like it could have reached greater heights.