Our Flick of the Week is ”A Few Good Men” which should prove-if it still needs to be-that Tom Cruise is a fine actor capable of a laser intensity that overrides his good looks. His concluding courtroom scene with Jack Nicholson, which is Nicholson`s biggest moment in the picture, turns into a showcase for Cruise`s ability to focus. We feel his presence even when he`s not on camera.
Based on a hit Broadway play, which in turn was based on a real-life incident, ”A Few Good Men” is a court-martial drama about a Marine hazing incident that results in the death of a young soldier at an American base in Cuba. Accused of murder are the two soldiers who did the hazing.
Nicholson plays the gung-ho base commander whose permissive attitude toward such harassment may have, at the very least, created a climate in which such a tragedy could occur. And that`s the argument put forth in the soldiers` trial by Cruise, playing a hot-shot, Washington-based Navy lawyer assigned to defend them. Assisting Cruise is another young Navy lawyer played by Demi Moore. To the script`s credit, they do not have a romance.
Rather, the driving force of the story is watching Cruise`s character develop some backbone and staying power. His pattern has been to settle cases out of court; this time he will choose to fight for what he believes is right. The story is cleanly told by Rob Reiner, who quickly has become one of Hollywood`s more polished commercial directors.
”A Few Good Men” is playing at the Burnham Plaza, Esquire, Pipers Alley and outlying theaters. Rated R. (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
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– A FEW GOOD MEN (Esquire and outlying). This week`s Flick of the Week. See above. Rated R. (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)