A Few Good Men

"In the heart of the nation's capital, in a courthouse of the U.S. government, one man will stop at nothing to keep his honor, and one will stop at nothing to find the truth."

1992 2h 18m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 4,358

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.

“In the heart of the nation's capital, in a courthouse of the U.S. government, one man will stop at nothing to keep his honor, and one will stop at nothing to find the truth.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

HBO Max Amazon ChannelSubscription

YouTube TVSubscription

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Tom Cruise
Lt. Daniel Kaffee
Jack Nicholson
Col. Nathan R. Jessep
Demi Moore
Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway
Kevin Bacon
Capt. Jack Ross
Kiefer Sutherland
Lt. Jonathan Kendrick
Kevin Pollak
Lt. Sam Weinberg
James Marshall
Pfc. Louden Downey
J.T. Walsh
Lt. Col. Matthew A. Markinson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Aaron Sorkin
Languages: English, French
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rob Reiner, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marc Shaiman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Leighton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In the heart of the nation's capital, in a courthouse of the U.S. government, one man will stop at nothing to keep his honor, and one will stop at nothing to find the truth.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rob Reiner directs. Robert Richardson behind the camera. Marc Shaiman scores. Robert Leighton cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 6.1× over at the box office.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
4Directed by Rob Reiner, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Marc Shaiman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Robert Leighton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In the heart of the nation's capital, in a courthouse of the U.S. government, one man will stop at nothing to keep his honor, and one will stop at nothing to find the truth.".
9IMDB entry: tt0104257 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 21 themes, including "underdog", "dying and death", "suicide", "navy".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Original score: Marc Shaiman
Editing: Robert Leighton
Production design: J. Michael Riva
Costume design: Gloria Gresham
Makeup / hair: Stephen Abrums
Sound: Kevin O'Connell
Stunt coordinator: Tim A. Davison
Runtime: 138 min · 2h 18m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $243,240,178
Return: 608% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: A Few Good Men (1992)

Awards

Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
MTV Movie Award for Best Movie
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Rob Reiner

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-06-01
★ 7/10
“You can’t handle the truth!” RELEASED IN 1992 and directed by Rob Reiner, "A Few Good Men” is a military drama about a smart-axx young Navy Lawyer (Tom Cruise) who’s never seen a courtroom because he lazily arranges plea bargains. Perhaps this is why he’s assigned to defending two young Marines stationed at Guantanamo Bay who are accused of murdering a fellow Marine. They maintain that they were ordered to enact a “Code Red,” which took an unforeseen turn. Demi Moore and Kevin Pollak co-star as the lawyer’s partners while Kevin Bacon heads the prosecution and Jack Nicholson plays the arrogant commanding officer of Guantanamo. J.T. Walsh is on hand as the Colonel’s weak subordinate. The movie does a good job of depicting the honor code of hardcore Marines, particularly in the sequence where Lance Cpl. Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) refuses to confess to something he didn’t do in order to get a minor sentence. The characters are well written and casted, e.g. Kaffee (Cruise) and his penchant for baseball. The story is dialog-driven and maintains your attention without action/thrills. Nicholson is commanding and intimidating as the pompous colonel. Kaffee discovers his talent as a courtroom lawyer and realizes that the only way to take him down is to use his egotism against him. Other than the cringe-inducing “A Ten Hut” scene at the end, this is a gripping drama. THE FILM RUNS 2 hours, 18 minutes and was shot entirely in Southern Cal (Point Mugu, Crystal Cove, etc.) and Washington DC. WRITERS: Aaron Sorkin (play) and Aaron Sorkin (screenplay). GRADE: B+
CinemaSerf2022-07-04
★ 7/10
I think this my favourite outing for Tom Cruise. He is the cocky young navy lawyer "Kaffee", who usually plea-bargains and as yet has never seen the inside of a courtroom. Surprisingly, he is drafted in to investigate the death of a young soldier at Guantanamo Bay. Two marines have been arrested for his murder, but they claim that they were ordered to administer a "Code Red" - a fairly brutal form of discipline used on their fellow soldiers deemed to have broken their code of honour. Teamed up with his pal "Sam" (Kevin Pollak) and with the more by-the-book "Galloway" (Demi Moore) the three face a subtle, but definite, hostility from the commanding officer "Jessep" (Jack Nicholson) and his enforcer "Kendrick" (Kiefer Sutherland). Soon their search uncovers evidence that not only was this attack authorised but that the instructions might have come from the top. Cruise is at his most natural here; his character comes across as arrogant and selfish, but also quite likeable and engaging - and he plays ball with Moore and a slightly over-played Nicholson really well too. The courtroom drama elements are kept tight and intense - thanks to a stronger than usual effort from Kevin Bacon ("Ross") and though I thought the ending rather flew in the face of the whole point of the narrative, it is still a well structured and delivered evaluation of trust and of the nature of human behaviour when faced with abusive authority figures. Rob Reiner resists any temptation to introduce any sloppy romance into film, and though there are the odd distracting sub-plots here and there, for the most part this stays on track as a strong and enjoyable thriller.
crastana2022-07-18
★ 10/10
Another good all stars ensemble movie were everything is perfect, the actors and the script. A greate court room drama. Having an enjoyable time of entertaining nobody needs bright colors and super CGI to have a good story, just good acting and a great story, but as a Graphic Designer, i can say the photography is great.