A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men is a 1992 American drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. It was adapted for the screen by Aaron Sorkin from his play of the same name. A courtroom drama, the film revolves around the court martial of two U.S. Marinescharged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyer as he prepares a case to defend his clients.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Daniel "Danny" Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is an inexperienced U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General 's Corps lawyer who leads the defense in the court-martial of two U.S. Marines, Private First Class Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Corporal Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of having murdered a fellow Marine of their unit, PFC William Santiago (Michael DeLorenzo), at the Naval Base in Cuba, which is under the command of Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson).
Santiago compared unfavorably to his fellow Marines, had poor relations with them, and failed to respect the chain of command. He went above his superiors to bargain for a transfer in exchange for blowing the whistle on Dawson for firing a possibly illegal shot towards the Cuban side of the island. When the transfer request is seen by the base 's senior commanders, there is a heated argument between Santiago 's commanding officer, LtJonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland), who asserts that he can handle the situation, and Jessep 's executive officer, Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson (J.T. Walsh), who casts doubt on Kendrick 's ability based on a past incident. Markinson advocates that Santiago be transferred immediately for safety reasons before the request gets out, but Jessep says that this would set a bad precedent which could cost lives. Jessep also states that officers have a responsibility to ensure that all personnel are trained, so he orders Kendrick to ensure that Santiago shows significant improvement on the next evaluation report, or he would be held personally
Lieutenant Junior Grade Daniel "Danny" Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is an inexperienced U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General 's Corps lawyer who leads the defense in the court-martial of two U.S. Marines, Private First Class Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Corporal Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of having murdered a fellow Marine of their unit, PFC William Santiago (Michael DeLorenzo), at the Naval Base in Cuba, which is under the command of Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson).
Santiago compared unfavorably to his fellow Marines, had poor relations with them, and failed to respect the chain of command. He went above his superiors to bargain for a transfer in exchange for blowing the whistle on Dawson for firing a possibly illegal shot towards the Cuban side of the island. When the transfer request is seen by the base 's senior commanders, there is a heated argument between Santiago 's commanding officer, LtJonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland), who asserts that he can handle the situation, and Jessep 's executive officer, Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson (J.T. Walsh), who casts doubt on Kendrick 's ability based on a past incident. Markinson advocates that Santiago be transferred immediately for safety reasons before the request gets out, but Jessep says that this would set a bad precedent which could cost lives. Jessep also states that officers have a responsibility to ensure that all personnel are trained, so he orders Kendrick to ensure that Santiago shows significant improvement on the next evaluation report, or he would be held personally