A Few Good Men - Jake Lyon

Title/Year: A Few Good Men, 1992
Director/Country/DOB: Rob Reiner, USA, 1947
Budget: $40,000,000
Gross: $237,300,000
Synopsis: A hot-shot navy lawyer in Washington D.C. is assigned to defend two marines from Guantanamo Bay accused of murder. The marines contest that they were following orders from their commanding officers. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is a young, talented, fast talking, quick thinking officer with a reputation in the military law community for settling quickly and never having to fight a prosecution. His father, who passed away quite some time ago, was known in washington as the best lawyer in the military. This puts pressure on Kaffee to live up to his father's expectations.

Assigned to the case along side Kaffee is Lt. Cdr. Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore), a young, passionate, female officer. After a rough introduction the two travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to investigate the crime and interview personel, including the commanding officer Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson). After numerous inquiries and the same answers over and over, the case appears to be a dead end, yet the two marines still contest their charges claiming that they were following orders.

A break comes when Lt. Col. Markinson (J.T. Walsh) confesses to Kaffee that the order for a "code red" was given by Col. Jessup, the highest authority at Guantanamo. Kaffee's optimism is crushed when Markinson takes his own life before taking the stand. He left no option but to put Col. Jessup on the stand, drawing a confession out through aggravation tactics, an extremely risky, career ending move for Kaffee. Going out on his last limb, he calls on Jessup. After an intense bout, Jessup is infuriated to the point of losing control. He screams he ordered the code red, and would do it again. The marines are found not guilty of the murder charges, but guilty of conduct on becoming a marine, and face a dishonorable discharge.

Keywords: Honor, courage, truth, justice.

Character Arc: Although Kaffee is known as an already accomplished lawyer, he still has little experience in a court room, having closed most of his cases with a deal before prosecution, and riding on the reputation of his father, he still has to prove himself as a remarkable lawyer. The deeper the case goes, the more his passion for arguing for the truth grows. By the end, he has fought against the odds and risked his privileged career to defend the truth.

Political/Social Commentary: The film brings the internal practices of the U.S. military under the glass for examination. The murder in question was caused by a "code red" being executed on a marine as punishment for his physical short comings and an attempt to circumvent authority by ratting on a fellow soldier for misconduct. The film goes on to make an example of the chain of command by questioning authority. This results in the famous line "you can't handle the truth", implying that the powerful officers of the military consider themselves above the law.