A Few Good Men
Sorkin adapted his work into a screenplay for a 1992 film directed by Rob Reiner, produced by Brown and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore.
It tells the story of military lawyers at a court-martial who uncover a high-level conspiracy in the course of defending their clients, United States Marines accused of murder.
Play
Sorkin got the inspiration for the play from a phone conversation with his sister Deborah, who had graduated from Boston University Law School and signed up for a three-year stint with the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. She was going to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to defend a group of marines who came close to killing a fellow Marine in a hazing ordered by a superior officer.
A young JAG defends the group, based on the real life experience of novice trial lawyer Donald Marcari. It was his first case. Sorkin took that information and wrote much of his story on cocktail napkins while bartending at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.
Once Sorkin completed a draft, his theatrical agent sent it to producer David Brown who wanted the film rights.
Sorkin sold Brown the rights, getting Brown to agree to also produce A Few Good Men as a play.
Premieres
A Few Good Men had its world premiere at Kennedy Center.
The original Broadway stage production opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York on November 15, 1989 in a production directed by Don Scardino, designed by Ben Edwards, and with music by John Gromada. It starred Tom Hulce as LTJG Kaffee, Megan Gallagher as LCDR JoAnne Galloway, and Stephen Lang as Col Jessep.
Replacement actors included Timothy Busfield and Bradley Whitford as Kaffee, Perry King, Michael O'Hare, and Ron Perlman as Jessep, and Pamela Blair as Galloway. The stage show was directed by David Esbjornson.
Jensen Ackles appeared as LTJG Kaffee alongside Lou Diamond Phillips as Col Jessep in a production of the play at the Casa Mañana Theatre, in Fort Worth, Texas from June 5 to 10, 2007.
It has also been performed in London.
In November 2008 a production of Sorkin's original script will be staged at the Oxford Playhouse by Gitmo Productions - a production company comprised entirely of Oxford University students
Awards and nominations
The Broadway production earned Megan Gallagher a 1990 Theatre World Award and a Best Actor nomination for Tom Hulce at the 44th Tony Awards.
Film
The film version was made by Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema.
It was produced and directed by Rob Reiner with David Brown and Andrew Scheinman also as producers, Jeffrey Stott and Steve Nicolaides as co-producers and William S. Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay.
Cast
The film stars:
Tom Cruise ...
Lawyer bragging in tavern
Plot synopsis
The film starts with a Silent Drill (performed by the Texas A&M University Fish Drill Team).
LTJG Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), son of the late Lionel Kaffee (who held the positions of Attorney General and Navy Judge Advocate General), is an inexperienced US Navy lawyer who leads the defense in the court-martial of two Marines, PFC Louden Downey (James Marshall) and LCpl Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of murdering a fellow Marine of their unit, PFC William T. (The film marked the acting debut of Wolfgang Bodison who played Harold Dawson; Bodison was not an actor but a film location scout.)
Santiago was not quite up to the task compared to his fellow Marines.
He complained of health conditions that his superiors ignored and was generally disliked by everyone in his company. He had gone out of the chain of command to request a transfer off the base, even going so far as bargaining for one in exchange for blowing the whistle on Dawson for an "illegal fence-line shooting" when Dawson exchanged shots with a guard on the Cuban side.
In a flashback, Col Nathan Jessep (Jack Nicholson), the CO of the Marine detachment at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is shown reading the letter detailing the incident to two subordinate officers: his executive officer LtCol Matthew Markinson (J.T.
Jessep and Kendrick are incensed that Santiago would do this, and Markinson is the only one who wants to go ahead with transferring Santiago off the base. However, Jessep gives a speech about their duty as officers to train those who defend their nation, sarcastically suggesting the logical extension of "surrendering our position in Cuba" if just one Marine is sent packing.
Markinson questions it and, after Lt Kendrick is dismissed, is reprimanded for questioning Jessep's authority in the presence of another officer. Jessep then calls Kendrick in order to discuss "young William's training".
When Dawson and Downey are later arrested for Santiago's murder, Naval investigator LCDR JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) suspects that they, who were top-class Marines compared to Santiago, were carrying out a "code red" (a term invented for the film referring to a military colloquial speech term by which a soldier who fails to keep up to standard is "trained" (or rather bullied) by other members of his unit until he is up to it, the correct terminology is called hazing ).
A lawyer herself, Galloway asks to be allowed to defend them, but the case is handed over to LTJG Daniel Kaffee who has a reputation for settling cases out-of-court.
However, she manages to soon bring Kaffee round to her point of view when, late in the day, Dawson and Downey state that they were ordered by Kendrick to deal with Santiago by shaving his head, only minutes after Kendrick had told the whole platoon not to touch the would-be victim.
Kaffee's plea-bargaining methods would have prevented the case from ever going to court and causing embarrassment to the Marine Corps and potentially mar Col Jessep's chances of advancement, since he is being considered for the position of Director of Operations for the National Security Council. Kaffee has never even been to court (except as a defendant when his driving license was suspended) and thus can devote himself to his passion of softball.
Over the course of the trial Kaffee progresses from a novice lawyer to an experienced and effective Navy attorney. There is friction between them the instant they meet: she believes that he does not care about his clients and that he settles cases quickly because he is afraid to actually argue in court.
They come to realize that they both want to learn the truth and give their clients a vigorous defense, and they know that they will have to work together to achieve this. Although there are some flirtatious moments between Galloway and Kaffee, they don't become romantically involved.
What is more important is that they learn to cooperate and respect each other.
The third member of the team is LTJG Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak), who is good at research and preparing witnesses.
On the whole though, Kaffee has few illusions: after weeks of hard work preparing the case he simply mutters: "We're gonna get creamed!" The prosecution, led by his friend Capt Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon), himself a Marine, has a good case: Dawson and Downey have never denied assaulting Santiago, they just never intended to kill him. It takes a lot of prompting to get them to reveal evidence crucial to the defence, such as Kendrick telling them to deal with Santiago after telling the rest of the men that he was not to be touched.
Downey is a simple-minded young man, a stereotype village idiot who doesn't even appear to know where he is or the seriousness of his position. He furiously makes this point to Kaffee when he rejects a deal which would have gotten him and Downey out in six months rather than serving up to twenty years in prison.
Earlier, while investigating the crime scene in Cuba, the defence team had been told by Jessep that Santiago was to be transferred off the base. Markinson now tells Kaffee that there was never any intention of doing this and that Santiago's transfer orders were drawn up long after his death as part of a cover-up.
When Kaffee is unable to find evidence to corroborate his version, he announces his intention to have Markinson testify. Rather than face the disgrace and humiliation of a public exposure for himself, Jessep, and the Marine Corps, Markinson sends a letter to Santiago's parents, blaming his own weakness for the loss of their son, dresses up in full uniform and commits suicide.
At the same time, evidence turns up which questions whether or not Kendrick did order Dawson and Downey to carry out the Code Red, something the defence had always taken for granted.
Galloway, however, is convinced that not only Kendrick, but also Jessep ordered the Code Red and tries to persuade Kaffee to cross-examine him on this point. Kaffee is horrified: there is no proof whatsoever that Jessep was involved and if he makes such accusations against a senior officer he could himself face a court-martial which will ruin his career.
Kaffee, drunk, reflects on his late father, Lionel, along with his friend and fellow lawyer Sam Weinberg.
When they discuss the Jessep issue, Weinberg admits that with the evidence they have Kaffee's father would never have called Jessep to the stand. Daniel Kaffee finally decides to "put Jessep on the stand".
In court, Kaffee confronts Jessep and produces rather weak but convincing evidence that Santiago was never to be transferred.
(This is the scene in which Jessep declares emphatically, "You can't handle the truth!". Jack Nicholson's reading of the line would lead to its being voted the twenty-ninth greatest American movie quote of all time by the American Film Institute.)
Jessep justifies his actions on the grounds that transferring Santiago could have resulted in similar transfers for all the Marines on the base and thus weakening the nation.
I would rather you just said 'Thank you' and went on your way." Santiago's death "while tragic, probably saved lives."
Unmoved by this point of view, Kaffee and the Judge (J.A. Preston) prompt prosecutor Ross to place Jessep under arrest and read him his rights.
Jessep, who feels that he was just doing his job, leaves the stand and is ready to depart the courtroom but told to stand his ground. In surprise and disbelief at the levelling of charges against him, he lunges at the defence counsel, claiming that "all you did was weaken a country today, Kaffee.
Sweet dreams, son." Kaffee answers back by telling Jessep not to call him "son" and that the Colonel is now going to face charges of his own.
Kaffee later admits to Ross to a little bluff which unnerved Jessep enough to cause his downfall. Ross then announces that Kendrick will also be arrested.
Dawson and Downey are later found not guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but are found guilty on the charge of "conduct unbecoming a United States Marine" and are dishonorably discharged from the Corps.
PFC Downey is shocked and angered by the sentence, asserting that Jessep's confession demonstrated that they did nothing wrong. LCpl Dawson, reflecting momentarily, points out that they did do wrong by failing in their duty to fight for those unable to fight for themselves, like Pvt Santiago.
As they leave, Kaffee tells Dawson that he doesn't need to wear a badge on his arm to have honor.
The closest crime to this would be "Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman" or Article 133 of the UCMJ, which applies to only commissioned officers, or those holding appointed office in the US Military or cadets of any of the United States Military Academies or ROTC programs. They were subsequently awarded administrative discharges under other than honorable conditions by an administrative review Officer, not by a legal proceeding.
US Marines and Navy personnel do not salute when indoors, unless under arms (ie, carrying a weapon and wearing cover).
The term "Code Red" has never been used to describe extrajudicial punishment in the US Marines; and was never used at the US Naval Base Guantanamo Bay during the period in question to describe or refer to any kind of activity.
The most commonly used term in that respect is actually "blanket party."
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards:
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Nicholson)
Best Film Editing
Best Picture
Best Sound
The film was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards:
Best Director (Rob Reiner)
Best Motion Picture - Drama
Best Actor (Tom Cruise)
Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson)
Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin)
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