It would be a broad (if fairly accurate) generalization to say that the majority of movie fans get a real kick out of the intense legal thriller when it’s pulled off with style, panache, and aplomb, with few doing it better than Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men.
Aaron Sorkin penned the screenplay for the feature film adaptation of his own stage play, which came packing a near-perfect storm of blockbuster polish, A-list stars giving their showiest performances, and the sort of climactic argumentative showdowns the subgenre has been thriving on since its very inception.
Throw in four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, a $242 million haul at the box office, and the film’s infiltration of popular culture thanks to Jack Nicholson’s iconic “you can’t handle the truth!”, and we can’t be talking about anything other than a stone-cold cinematic classic.
Streaming fans are in agreement, too, with A Few Good Men celebrating its 30th anniversary by reappearing on the charts of two separate platforms. As per FlixPatrol, the effortlessly entertaining Tom Cruise vehicle has surfaced on the Google Play Movie rankings for paying customers, while ad-supported service Freevee has also welcomed the incendiary drama into its bosom.
There’s a reason why A Few Good Men is always cited when the best entries in Hollywood’s legal ouvre are brought up, and it’s largely down to the combination of excellent performances from Nicholson, Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevins Pollak and Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland and more, Reiner’s economical direction that’s stylish without being flashy, and Sorkin’s breakthrough script that established him as the go-to guy for intricate rat-a-tat dialogue that packed a punch.
Published: Jun 27, 2022 03:06 am