A Few Good Men


A Few Good Men is a 1992 American legal drama film, produced and directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin, who adapted his 1989 play. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, J. T. Walsh, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Kiefer Sutherland. The plot follows the court-martial of two U.S. Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyers as they prepare a case.
A Few Good Men premiered on December 9, 1992, at Westwood, Los Angeles, and was released by Columbia Pictures in the United States on December 11. It received positive reviews and grossed $243 million on a budget of $40 million. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Plot

At the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, Private William Santiago, a United States Marine, is tied up and beaten in the middle of the night. After he is found dead, Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey are accused of his murder and face a court-martial. Their defense is assigned to United States Navy JAG Corps Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a callow lawyer with an impressive and expedient track record for plea bargains and without any court experience. Another JAG attorney, Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway, Kaffee's superior, suspects something is amiss. Santiago died after he broke the chain of command to ask to be transferred away. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Markinson advocated for Santiago to be transferred, but Base Commander Colonel Nathan Jessep ordered Santiago's platoon commander, Lieutenant Jonathan Kendrick, to "train" Santiago on the basis they are all at fault for Santiago's substandard performance.
Galloway suspects that Dawson and Downey carried out a "code red" order: a violent extrajudicial punishment. Galloway is bothered by Kaffee's blasé approach, and Kaffee resents Galloway's interference. Kaffee and Galloway question Jessep and others at Guantanamo Bay and are met with contempt from the colonel. Kaffee negotiates a plea bargain with the prosecutor, US Marine Judge Advocate Captain Jack Ross, for involuntary manslaughter with a sentence of two years but serving only six months—avoiding a possible lifetime sentence if found guilty at trial. Dawson and Downey refuse the plea bargain, insisting that Kendrick gave them the "code red" order, they never intended to kill Santiago, and a plea bargain would be dishonorable.
Initially intending to be removed as counsel, Kaffee unexpectedly pleads not guilty for the defendants at the arraignment. Realizing that he was chosen to handle the case to accept a plea to keep the matter quiet, he decides to put up a defense. Markinson meets Kaffee in secret and says that Jessep never ordered a transfer for Santiago. The defense establishes that Dawson had received a negative performance review from Kendrick and had been denied promotion for smuggling food to a Marine who had been restricted to water and vitamins. Dawson had been punished for disobeying an illegal order, and the defense, through Downey, proves that illegal "code reds" had been ordered before.
However, under cross-examination, Downey admits he was not present when Dawson received the supposed "code red" order. Ashamed that he failed to protect a Marine under his command and unwilling to testify against Jessep, his longtime friend, Markinson commits suicide before he can testify. Without Markinson's testimony, Kaffee believes the case is lost. Returning home, a drunken Kaffee laments he fought the case, risking long sentences for Dawson and Downey, instead of accepting a lenient deal. Galloway encourages Kaffee to call Jessep as a witness, despite risking court-martial for challenging a high-ranking officer without evidence.
At the Washington Navy Yard court, Jessep spars with Kaffee's questioning, but is unnerved when Kaffee―springing a trap―points out an inconsistency in his testimony that Guantanamo marines would never disobey an order to "not touch Santiago" yet he ordered Santiago off the base fearing for Santiago's safety. Kaffee also questions Jessep's claim that Santiago was to be put on the first flight home. Upon further questioning and frustrated by Kaffee's attitude, Jessep extols the military's — and his own — importance to national security, exclaiming, "You can't handle the truth!" Challenging Jessep's indignation, Kaffee pointedly asks if Jessep ordered the "code red", to which Jessep admits. Attempting to leave the courtroom, Jessep is arrested before he can do so, and tries assaulting Kaffee. He is restrained by MPs and is read his rights.
Dawson and Downey are cleared of the murder and conspiracy charges but are convicted of "conduct unbecoming" and will be dishonorably discharged. Downey does not understand what they did wrong; Dawson says that they failed to defend those who are unable to fight for themselves. Kaffee tells Dawson that it is not necessary to wear a patch on one's arm to have honor. Dawson acknowledges Kaffee as an officer by rendering a salute. Kaffee and Ross exchange pleasantries before Ross departs to arrest Kendrick.

Cast

The title A Few Good Men refers to a marines recruitment slogan.
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was inspired to write the source play, A Few Good Men, from a phone conversation with his sister Deborah. A graduate of Boston University Law School, she had signed up for a three-year stint with the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. She said that she was going to Guantanamo Bay to defend a group of Marines who had nearly killed a fellow Marine in a hazing ordered by a superior officer.
While the film does not inform its audience that it is inspired by a true story, many of the facts of the case that Deborah Sorkin was involved in are directly included in the play and film. This later led to a lawsuit against Castle Rock by the real-life Marines whose actions inspired the story.
In reality, a code red was allegedly ordered in September 1986 against Private First Class William Alvarado, who had written letters to a Texas Congressman and others, complaining of poor conditions and illegal activities on the base, including Marines firing shots across the fence line into Cuba. PFC Alvarado, like his on-screen counterpart, "was perceived as not one of the team" and requested a transfer off the base. This information reached commanding officer Colonel Samuel Adams, who elected not to transfer Alvarado despite concerns that the Marine's violation of the chain of command may put him in danger. One night, a group of Marines known as "the Ten" chose to perform a "code red", a term that apparently was used to refer to hazing at the time but is no longer in the Marine vernacular.
"The Ten" restrained a sleeping Alvarado, binding him with tape and stuffing a pillowcase into his mouth as a gag. Alvarado was blindfolded and assaulted while being dragged out of his room. One of "The Ten", David Cox, produced a hair buzzer as the plan was to shave Alvarado bald as punishment. But then Alvarado began choking. His lungs filled with fluid, he spat up blood and began turning purple as he lost consciousness, perhaps because the gag had been soaked in gasoline as an attorney would later allege. The "code red" was immediately stopped, and the Marines called for help. Alvarado was taken to the infirmary before being transferred to a hospital in Miami, Florida, where he—unlike Private William Santiago in A Few Good Men—went on to make a full recovery.
"The Ten" admitted guilt and were arrested immediately. Seven of the Marines took plea deals to avoid a court-martial trial. The remaining three, including Cox, elected to stand trial. The three argued that they committed the code red under an order from a commanding officer and that murder had never been the intention. Each of the three managed to retain their status as Marines after being found guilty of lesser offenses and went on to be honorably discharged at the conclusion of their military careers. The attorney who defended Cox, Donald Marcari, would later say that Adams "never confessed". In an interview, the attorney Marcari said that code reds "were very prevalent" at the time, even though Adams said that "he didn't realize Code Reds were still going on". In court, "we were trying to show there was an implied order," Marcari said, and "that Marines are so gung-ho they must follow any order, even if it's an implied order."
After the release of the film A Few Good Men, five Marines from "The Ten"—Kevin Palermo, Ronald Peterson Jr., Brett Bentley, Dennis Snyder and Christopher Lee Valdez—hired lawyer Gary Patterson and filed a lawsuit in Texas State Court against Castle Rock and other Hollywood companies linked to the film. They argued that Aaron Sorkin took the idea for the story from their real-life incident, and they were seeking $10 million in damages. The lawsuit did not result in a successful outcome or financial compensation for the Marines.