A Few Good Men (1992) Rob Reinder WK

William Klingbeil

A Few Good Men (1992)

A Few Good Men (1992) directed by Rob Reinder uses many filming techniques that help to personify the mood during each scene. The opening scene is a classic way to present the problem that is going to occur during the story. Like in the T.V. show Law and Order and many other judicial system based films, such as My Cousin Vinny (1992) there is a crime that is committed and the audience experiences the crime happen first hand.

The filming techniques including, waste down shots, dark lighting, and slow pan shots helped to set the mood for the murder of one the Marines. The initial slow pan shot of a dark sunset followed by waste down shots of the murderers as they waked made it seem like they were up to no good. Then when they killed the marine the murderers were shown with extremely dark lighting on their faces. These elements of filming put together helped to set the tone for the First scene.

One thing that I noticed in the film is that Tom Cruise always plays a cocky role. For example in the Film Top Gun he plays a cocky young pilot, and in this film he plays a cocky young lawyer, who at first doesn’t seem fit to have the job. The way in which the director portrays Tom Cruise at first makes him seem as if he isn’t serious enough for the job. The film first shows him playing softball and being unaware of obvious things such as who his clients are. Showing him playing softball makes it seem like he isn’t serious enough for the job. At first he seems as if he doesn’t have enough experience in the court room, but after buckling down and getting serious he wins his trial and proves Downey and Dawson innocent.

The amount of big name actors in the film really attracted me to want to watch it. In knowing that Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Tom Cruise and Kevin Bacon were in the film made me expect the film to be very well played. This is a perfect example of how having a big named actor in your film can boost your audience. Because people will go and see your film just because they like those actors.,

Overall I believe that the film was very good, and it kept my attention the entire time watching it. It also made the military seem corrupt and its soldiers brainwashed. This is one of the messages, which I believe the director wanted to get across to his audience.