Starring: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland, J. T. Walsh
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Studio: Castle Rock/Columbia Pictures 19170
Video: 2.35:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9, 1080 p HD
Audio: English or German PCM 5.1 uncompressed; English, German, French, Hungarian DD 5.1; Polish Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish, French, Chinese, Hungarian, Thai, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Icelandic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovene, Korean
Extras: Documentary: “Code of Conduct,” with interviews with Rob Reiner, Aaron Sorkin & cast; “From Stage to Screen,” with Aaron Sorkin and Rob Reiner
Length: 138 minutes
Rating: *****
With such a lineup of great actors and one of our best directors it would be hard to have a flop, but working with a terrific screenplay by the same author who wrote the original stage play insured that this was a gripping, first-rate motion picture. Aaron Sorkin based his story on an incident at Guantanamo Base in which a recruit was nearly killed in a disciplinary action. In his version the soldier does die and the plot concerns the brash young Navy attorney played by Cruise, who is forced to work with the serious litigator played by Moore. They are defending the two Marines accused of killing their fellow Marine. Many involved issues come up dealing with loyalty and honor, including the sacred code of the Marines. The two attorneys must deal with the powerful and wily general played superbly by Nicholson. In the documentaries several of the actors said how having Nicholson in their midst raised the bar on the level of acting they were striving to achieve. The ramifications of either following orders in the military or following one’s conscience is at the heart of this story.
An interesting aspect of the second documentary is Sorkin’s discussion of his efforts to “open up” for the screen the stage play he had written. He didn’t have any prior experience with that, and learned from Reiner and others how to proceed. The courtroom scenes don’t need to go anywhere, though. They will knock out the fans of courtroom scenes, and even though that’s not myself, I was on the edge of my seat. The transfer is excellent, no visible artifacts, and as usual the uncompressed surround track rocks. Also, the two documentaries are better than most such.
– John Sunier
