Smell the Movies
Smell the TV
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 | |
| Year: | 1992 |
| Country of origin: | USA |
| Director: | Rob Reiner |
| Genre: | Bloated courtroom drama |
| Starring: | Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland |
| Rating: | 3/5 |
| IMDB link: | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/ |
| 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. |
| Favourite line: | "I'm gonna rip the eyeballs out of your head and piss in your dead skull! You fucked with the wrong Marine!" |
A real movie of two halves.
When a US Marine is killed in his bunk, it is up to two hot shot young military lawyers to get to the bottom of what happened. Along the way, they must fight against the machismo of the Marine Corps and their code of values, as well as a hard as they come Colonel played by that master of the over acting, Jack Nicholson.
Fairly lengthy, clocking in just under the two hour twenty mark, this takes a while to build up a head of steam and, in truth, the first half is hackneyed Hollywoodese of the worst kind. All of the protagonists are 'The Beautiful People' and each has a sharpness of wit to rival their good looks. Problem is, though, you simply fail to believe that any of the characters are real, in particular the Cruise / Moore characters. You get the vague impression that there is supposed to be a little sexual chemistry between the pair, but it simply never convinces.
Then the halfway mark strikes, and suddenly the court case begins, and everything changes.
Tense, taut, with a razor sharp script, this is top drawer movie making.
It's just a shame the first half took so damn long to finish.
Fist half: 1/5
Second half 5/5.
So overall, 3/5
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