"A Few Good Men" - Still Holds Up (For the Most Part)

Okay, so I re-watched "A Few Good Men" last night. I gotta say, for a courtroom drama from the early 90s, it still packs a punch. The writing is sharp – Sorkin at his best (even if it's stage-y at times, which I usually hate, but it kinda WORKS here). And the performances? Forget about it. Nicholson is, well, NICHOLSON. That intensity – you literally feel the heat radiating off the screen during the "You can't handle the truth!" scene, which, yeah, is iconic for a reason. Tom Cruise as Kaffee sells the arc of him going from a slacker lawyer to actually caring about the case really well. I actually believed it, which isn't always a given with early Cruise roles. Demi Moore is solid too, even if her character sometimes feels a little…shoehorned? Like, the script needs her to be the 'serious' one to push Kaffee, but it occasionally feels forced. Where it kinda falters, for me anyway, is in the pacing. Some scenes drag on a little too long, especially in the first act when they're just setting up the case. Like, we get it, Kaffee is lazy and doesn't want to work hard. We don't need 20 minutes of him playing baseball. And the whole romantic subplot with Galloway and Kaffee? Totally unnecessary and kinda distracting. I think the movie would be tighter and more focused if they'd just cut that out entirely. But overall, the structure of the trial itself is really well done. The way they slowly unravel the conspiracy feels earned, and the tension builds up nicely. The ending, obviously, is great – even if its predictable. I think that's the strongest thing about it overall, it's a well constructed story. So, yeah, it's not perfect, but "A Few Good Men" still manages to deliver a satisfying and engaging courtroom drama. Definitely worth a watch (or re-watch) if you're into that kinda thing. But maybe fast forward through the baseball scenes ;)