Cinepals - A FEW GOOD MEN Movie Review!

Episode Date: February 20, 2024

Jaby and Kristen watch a popular 90's legal drama film, A Few Good Men, about a military lawyer (Tom Cruise - Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, Rain Man, Jack Reacher, & Edge of Tomorrow) defending two Marines accused of murder.   This film is directed by Rob Reiner (Spinal Top, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally & The Princess Bride) & it also stars: Demi Moore (Ghost & G.I, Jane), Jack Nicholson (The Shining, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Batman (1989), & The Departed), Kevin Bacon (Footloose, Tremors, Hollow Man, & X-Men: First Class), Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects, The Whole Nine Yards, & She's All That) & Wolfgang Bodison   You can watch the cut down reaction to this movie (and many others) on our YouTube channel https://www.YouTube.com/@Cinepals and the full length reaction is available on our Patreon page https://www.Patreon.com/JabyKoay   SOCIAL MEDIA: ~CINEPALS~ YouTube: @CinePals Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals  Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals    ~KRISTEN STEPHENSONPINO~ Instagram: @Kris10Kesp

Sina. Pals. What is going on, everybody? I'm Jabby Kauai, joined by Characirk. Natsana Characirk. Wow. Autopilot. Whoa. Unbelievable. Whoa. Unbelievable. That's the third time this week that that's happened. All right. Let me go get her, you know, because, like, I'm not the one he wants to be with anymore. So I got, I got deleted. What's going on, everyone? I'm Jabby Kauai. Welcome to Sinda Pals. I am joined by Kristen Steffin Spino. What is up? And we are watching a few good men for the very, very first time. I have long wanted to watch this film and finally have the opportunity. to do so because Kristen is unfamiliar with it. I believe this is written by Aaron Sorkin. If you are unfamiliar with him, he has fantastic dialogue. I was talking about this the other day.

I'm like, if we were to have Shakespeare's from our generation remembered like 500 years from now, I feel like Aaron Sorkin would definitely be one of those writers that's remembered throughout time. Aaron Sorkin and David Mamet, those are the two. And so very excited to get into this. And here we go. I gotta go arrest Kendrick.

Tell him I say hi. We'll do. Aaron Sorkin, one of the things he's mentioned, which is kind of a classic thing with writing, is that your villains can't know that they're villains. They have to think that what they're doing is heroic and right. And like, the way he phrased it, if I recall correctly, is your characters would make their case before God,

why what they are doing is the most, you know, valiant and honorable thing, why it's the right move, why it's the right path. And he did such a great job with Jack Nicholson's character of like three-dimensionally making it clear like his values. And it's like you hear it's like, I get it. I don't like you, but I get it. You know what I mean?

And that's the only thing that that's why I have sympathy for him only because I do understand the military background pretty well. Yeah. So I understand where he's coming from. Yeah. And I understand what he was trying to. like try to do no matter what it's wrong and somebody died in the process which is horrible but at the end of the day you this is a man who's been to war he's like the front of the line and he's constantly

putting his life on the line so therefore yeah i would want respect too for how far i've come and all the things i've seen that are like horrendous and yeah i would want people to fall in line do as i say because i'd be like look i'm trying to do my best and the responsibilities that fall on my shoulders are so intense that you most people couldn't even fathom what I've seen and been through so it's almost like it's like I'm not going to sit there and weaken us we're going to try to make you stronger and even though it's the wrong it's the wrong move you know what I mean it was the wrong move but I do feel his intentions that's not what he wanted at the end of day that wasn't I don't think he wanted the kids get killed that wasn't his intention his intentions was

like a tough love from a dad or whatever. And that's why like when I hear him speaking, I can't help but feel for him because I'm like, dude, you're right though. Like you're literally protecting our country and all this stuff, right? When it comes to Marines, like, you know, they're like first line, right? And then, yeah, I'm sure they get like some feel some type of way about the other branches, including like most people when they think of the Air Force, for example.

They're like, oh, the Air Force, you know, they say aim high, right? Why do they say that? And why do they always say, oh, the Air Force is snotty, right? Because they're in the sky, but not only that. They're quarters and stuff, like a lot nicer. They're, like, everything they have is a lot nicer, right? Then you do, like, Marines, they're pretty rough. They're, like, almost bottom of food chain when it comes to how they live and, like, the things they're given.

Where then you have, like, also the Navy. Navy is pretty good, for the most part. Navy's pretty good. But the Air Force is very luxury-ish, like, very luxury. Where are you going with this? Okay. all I'm saying is when you're that when you're when you're when you're actually like a marine your your mindset that's why he has such a problem with Tom Cruise right because he's like that you're the level that we're at it's not the same due to the fact that I actually put myself on the line more than you do yeah yeah also my I don't have the luxuries you have therefore you will respect me right you know what I mean and that's why he demands it yeah and it's like you know I don't know and I do know like every branch they all have like their little corals within each other as any cliques or whatever you want to or whatever right so for me

i get it but i do like i'm like yes obviously i'm rooting for the guys right because it's like yes our main characters do the fact that yes when your orders said you don't question it you follow the order because like our like jack said he he said when people when orders are not followed people die and things happen that's true it's tricky and it is tricky it's tricky it's tricky because of the Nuremberg defense, it's like you're just following orders, but if you're following orders that are wrong, it's still wrong. Yes. And that's the troubling part is like the young guy, I forgot his name, but the young kid who was like, wait, I don't understand. Like, what do we do wrong? You know, what do we do wrong? It's like, but that's the problem is like you still have to

activate your moral compass even when you're given orders because it's like you can, you can get court-martialed, you can end up in court, accused of something. It's like, no, but I was just following what he said and it's like no but that was wrong and now you're going to jail or you're going to be dishonorily discharged. And it's and it's I feel like I just feel like when it pertains to military, it's it's very hard because there is that fine line. But it's very hard because you also also when you're coming together as one as they all dead. Yes. You want to protect the people who are fighting by your side throughout throughout the time frame. You know what I mean? Like you do want to sit there stay loyal. You want to protect. Military people are very tight. You're close like that.

So I get that, but yeah, you're right. So let's talk about the movie. Great film. Great film. Rob Reiner is a name that is very famous, but I can't recall everything he has directed. This was such an engaging movie. He did such a fantastic job with this because I was engaged from start to finish on a court drama. Now, a lot of that is leaning on the brilliant writing with Aaron Sorkin because he's just such a talented writer.

I watched, you know, a few seasons of West Wing and, like, it's just, it's so engaging, everything he does. I loved Molly's game and social network. Aaron Sorkin's just brilliant. And so them together, they made a very, very compelling film. Tom Cruise did a fantastic job leading the film with Demi Moore and supported by, oh, I forgot his name, I just read it too, Kevin Pollock.

And so not only that, you had a great supporting cast filling out all these different roles between, you know, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and, et cetera, et cetera. Like, they all did such a great job of bringing it to life. One of the things that I love about cinema is when they are able to, like, give you those nuanced looks, like, with the close-ups or whatever, and it's just like a little...

You feel it. Yeah, you feel it. It's very human. It's like little character stuff. I mean, that's one of the beautiful things about cinema is you can get in tight and everything reads. The most subtle looks will read, and they all mean something. And so, you know, Kiefer Sutherland, when he was on the stand, on the witness stand,

and you could just feel that tension. and it feels so real. You know, the scene work that they were doing was so meaty and so great. The actor J.T. Walsh, I feel like we've seen him a million times. He's one of those actors that appears everywhere or he died in 1998.

He's been in so many things over the years. So anyway, everybody in this film did a fantastic job, you know, with the material that they were given. And Tom Cruise, like you mentioned, you know, everybody had an... You were enjoying his arc, you know, the changes being made along the way. I thought it was a little bit hilarious.

You were pointing it out, but I enjoyed it too. Because this one was like, okay, there's some that you're like, okay, you know it's there. But this one was so enjoyable. I had to point it out because it was like, I'm like, I'm having so much fun. Yeah. With this guy. Yeah. And I'm really enjoying exactly every little dipshit thing he's doing to the point where I want to smack him.

And then I'm like, yeah, let's go. And I'm like, what's wrong with me? There's Tom Cruise films I've seen. I don't feel like that. Sure. That's all I'm saying. That's all, yeah, I'm going to point it out. I was wondering why Aaron Sorkin did not give into his temptation for a baseball analogy.

It never happened. Like all this talk about baseball, and it's just a character thing, which is fine. It's respectable. It's his character thing, right? The one thing where it helped out was the bat was in the closet. Yeah. And he went to go get the bat and he's like, oh, I saw the uniform and that triggered like the chain reaction of thoughts at the realization of, wait a second. If he was supposed to leave, why weren't his bags packed?

And it's such a simple but beautiful detail. Because I didn't even ponder that possibility, you know, but that's what makes him a great lawyer in this story. One of the things that had me wondering throughout is how much of this is purely fiction and how much of this is based on some, like, real events and stuff like that. Because it felt so real. And one of the cool things that Aaron Sorkin did, he's talked about how you don't necessarily need to know what the characters, because they have all this high level vernacular, right, of like lawyer speak. It's like, I don't exactly know what he's talking about. And it's almost meta, because at one point, Tom Cruise says, oh, he said the doctor said he died of this, this, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Don't know what any of that means, but it sounds awful. And it's like, that's kind of what it's like when you're watching Aaron Sorkin. It's like Aaron Sorkin's work on display. It's like all these characters have such high-level speak. And it's like, you don't necessarily need to know what it means, right? You get it. But you get it. You get it because the characters get it.

And so you're kind of on the ride with them. And it's brilliant. It's obviously like one of Aaron Sorkin's most noteworthy pieces because it's just so strong. from a writing standpoint. Yeah. The big challenges of something like this is like, it's a courtroom drama. How do you...

Make court fun? Yeah. Like, you don't really get too many of these today that are this noteworthy that I'm aware of. You know, everything today is like Marvel DC, high level, high octane action, PG-13. It's made for China and teenagers. It's like, there's not a lot like this today that I'm aware of.

You might get stuff that's artsy and people are into it, like everything everywhere all at once, but generally speaking, you're not getting courtroom dramas that are this compelling and that just have you on the edge of your seat biting your nails, right? Yeah. And so I forgot where, oh, so Rob Reiner. For a moment, I forgot where I was going with this. It's like to take this material that's obviously great, but like keep you engage with it and keep it compelling between him and the cast of actors, they did such a great job because it's a courtroom drama at the end of the day. How do you make that so interesting?

There's three hours of Oppenheimer. And I was like, this, Oppenheimer doesn't hold a candle to this. And that's also more of a courtroom drama than anything. It's like, obviously, this set such a high bar that people try to, you know, reach. So they did a fantastic job of keeping the camera moving when needed, getting the close-ups they needed. Like, the camera work was just enough to keep you focused on what was happening. Very, very smart use of it in subtle ways. That's not drawing attention to itself, but only enhancing the story.

Anyway, you want to talk about the military some more? No, that's okay. No, I do like, though. Do you like how they started this off with there's absolutely no way we can win and it was based off of the law? It's impossible. And that, when he said that, he's like, I know the law. And whether it doesn't matter what I believe, I know the law. And it went from, I just, I really love that because it just kind of goes to show like anything's always possible, right?

And we know this. But we do get caught up in that fear of like, but I know this, this, this. and like it's not, it's not gonna budge. Yeah. And then you have to get creative. Have you seen Training Day? Mm-mm. In Training Day, one of the lines that Denzel says is,

it's not what you know, it's what you can prove. And it's like a line that's stuck with me because it's like, it is so true. It's like, it doesn't matter what you know. Well, what matters is what you can demonstrate effectively to illustrate, to introduce doubt into the jury, whatever. It's like, it's not what you know, it's what you can prove. It's like the most important thing.

And so that's, what this movie did over the course of two hours and some change. So, I really. And how they did it was like, I, I, is, you're right? It's chef's guess, yeah. Like, there's no way I would have been like, this is how they're going to prove it. Yeah. I was just like, oh.

Yeah. And what was great about it too is how it introduced everything because immediately, you're like, these guys are guilty, obviously. They're bad. They beat up this kid. Like, what the hell? But to have you feel empathy for them over the course of the journey, Yeah.

That was awesome because it's like, I started out hating them and then I got them and I understood where they were coming from. So once again, great job, like everybody involved in this movie. I thought it was fantastic. The only thing that I had, the only complaint I had was that there were some, I don't know if you caught it, but there were instances where like on the extreme close-ups where it was getting a little bit soft, like the focus was just a little bit soft and I'm like, oh, man, I love film. But it's one of those things where it's like, you don't know what you got until you, you know, developed. You have no idea what you got.

But, like, it's still like the, the talent on display was so powerful that it didn't matter. So, anyway, enjoyed the crap out of it. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed with us. Thanks so much for hanging. I'm Jabby Kouye. This is. Kristen Steven Sabino. Peace out.