A Few Good Men II (2003)
Jack Nicholson and Kiefer Sutherland return to reprise their roles as Nathan R. Jessup and Jonathan Kendrick, respectively. The sequel picks up where the original leaves off, with Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) suggesting he is going to arrest Kendrick, which he does.
In order to avoid jail time, Jessup takes a please deal in which he is reduced in rank and forced into retirement. Things do not turn out as well for Kendrick, whom receives a dishonorable discharge from the Marines. Jessup has turned into a bitter old man who spends the majority of his military pension on drink. Kendrick, meanwhile, cannot find any better employment than managing a fast food restaurant and is otherwise a disenchanted and anti-social loner.
The story gets going when the two have a chance meeting at a biker bar in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. Hard words end up exchanged, and the two almost come to blows, but cooler heads prevail when Jessup states in that sardonic drawl of his, “Jonathan, why don’t we sit down and talk over our differences because we might have more in common than we think”.
As it turns out, both greatly miss the structure and discipline of military life and regret their respective discharges, particularly as it pertains to the order to subject Pfc. William T. Santiago to the infamous ‘code red’. The two end up discussing the post 9/11 world with the idea of ‘making amends’ for their respective decisions that led to the loss of life of an innocent marine. The two eventually reach the conclusion that the best way to achieve this is to use their mutual military experience and background to join a paramilitary outfit as mercenaries to fight insurgents in Afghanistan.
It is an ironic twist of fate, however, that when they arrive in Afghanistan to find that their immediate superiors are none other than former Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson and former Pfc. Louden Downey! The two, now high-ranking officers in the paramilitary outfit, at first balk at the idea of commanding Jessup and Kendrick, but (once more) cooler heads prevail when both sides realize they have more to gain from working together and ultimately develop a sense of mutual grudging respect.
Downey is no longer a naïve and impressionable young man, but rather a cagey and battle hardened veteran with the scars to show for it. The more eloquent Dawson has turned into a master strategist at hunting down and finding the insurgents- and also has more than a little bit of a chip on his shoulder in attempting to make the military regret its decision to dishonorably discharge him.
The four form a crack unit in the fight against the Taliban, with the movie reaching its apex during an attack that goes awry. False intelligence leads the former marines into an ambush, with Dawson and Downey losing their lives in the assault. Jessup and Kendrick suffer serous wounds, but in the end toss hand grenades into a barrack that is supposed to house high-ranking Taliban officials but (again, due to false intelligence) turns out to be a school full of children instead.
When Jessup and Kendrick return to the States to recover from their injuries, the two end-up charged with war crimes. Enter Tom Cruise, who returns to reprise his role as Daniel Kaffee, but he is no longer a lieutenant in the Navy but rather one of the nations most highly regarded defense attorneys. In another ironic twist of fate, Jessup and Kendrick hire Kaffee to represent them in the government’s charges against them for war crimes.
Life might have gone well over the years for Kaffee, but not so A Few Good Men cohorts JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) and Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak). Galloway, unable to duplicate her legal success in the civilian world, has turned into a drug addicted toothless wonder who is now living in skid row eking out a living to help support here ailing mother. Weinberg, having not fared much better, descended into depression following the demise of his marriage and is now working as a circus juggler at a nearby flea market.
Kaffee, determined to get the same ‘legal dream team’ back together, recruits Galloway and Weinberg off the scrap heap following several emotional laden ‘win one for the Gipper’ type speeches to the two. Galloway successfully enters rehab, while Weinberg resumes his legal career. Jack Ross, in the meantime, has become one of the governments top prosecuting attorney’s, and, in another twist of fate, ends up assigned the Jessup and Kendrick war crimes case.
The trial goes pretty much as one would expect. Galloway, despite having no teeth, has one of her ‘strenuously object’ courtroom meltdowns, Wienberg attempts to be the peace keeper in the face of such chaos and Kaffee, true to form, gets drunk when all seems lost but, upon grabbing his trusted baseball bat, has a moment of inspired brilliance that puts the team over the top. Kaffee manages to wrangle a confession from a key witness - a former Taliban official brought in at the last minute - that everything has been a ‘cover up’: the officers that were supposed to be in the barrack were replaced at the last minute by children in order to shed a negative light on the attackers. The jury then finds Jessup and Kendrick innocent of all charges!
Jack Nicholson and Kiefer Sutherland return to reprise their roles as Nathan R. Jessup and Jonathan Kendrick, respectively. The sequel picks up where the original leaves off, with Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) suggesting he is going to arrest Kendrick, which he does.
In order to avoid jail time, Jessup takes a please deal in which he is reduced in rank and forced into retirement. Things do not turn out as well for Kendrick, whom receives a dishonorable discharge from the Marines. Jessup has turned into a bitter old man who spends the majority of his military pension on drink. Kendrick, meanwhile, cannot find any better employment than managing a fast food restaurant and is otherwise a disenchanted and anti-social loner.
The story gets going when the two have a chance meeting at a biker bar in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. Hard words end up exchanged, and the two almost come to blows, but cooler heads prevail when Jessup states in that sardonic drawl of his, “Jonathan, why don’t we sit down and talk over our differences because we might have more in common than we think”.
As it turns out, both greatly miss the structure and discipline of military life and regret their respective discharges, particularly as it pertains to the order to subject Pfc. William T. Santiago to the infamous ‘code red’. The two end up discussing the post 9/11 world with the idea of ‘making amends’ for their respective decisions that led to the loss of life of an innocent marine. The two eventually reach the conclusion that the best way to achieve this is to use their mutual military experience and background to join a paramilitary outfit as mercenaries to fight insurgents in Afghanistan.
It is an ironic twist of fate, however, that when they arrive in Afghanistan to find that their immediate superiors are none other than former Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson and former Pfc. Louden Downey! The two, now high-ranking officers in the paramilitary outfit, at first balk at the idea of commanding Jessup and Kendrick, but (once more) cooler heads prevail when both sides realize they have more to gain from working together and ultimately develop a sense of mutual grudging respect.
Downey is no longer a naïve and impressionable young man, but rather a cagey and battle hardened veteran with the scars to show for it. The more eloquent Dawson has turned into a master strategist at hunting down and finding the insurgents- and also has more than a little bit of a chip on his shoulder in attempting to make the military regret its decision to dishonorably discharge him.
The four form a crack unit in the fight against the Taliban, with the movie reaching its apex during an attack that goes awry. False intelligence leads the former marines into an ambush, with Dawson and Downey losing their lives in the assault. Jessup and Kendrick suffer serous wounds, but in the end toss hand grenades into a barrack that is supposed to house high-ranking Taliban officials but (again, due to false intelligence) turns out to be a school full of children instead.
When Jessup and Kendrick return to the States to recover from their injuries, the two end-up charged with war crimes. Enter Tom Cruise, who returns to reprise his role as Daniel Kaffee, but he is no longer a lieutenant in the Navy but rather one of the nations most highly regarded defense attorneys. In another ironic twist of fate, Jessup and Kendrick hire Kaffee to represent them in the government’s charges against them for war crimes.
Life might have gone well over the years for Kaffee, but not so A Few Good Men cohorts JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) and Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak). Galloway, unable to duplicate her legal success in the civilian world, has turned into a drug addicted toothless wonder who is now living in skid row eking out a living to help support here ailing mother. Weinberg, having not fared much better, descended into depression following the demise of his marriage and is now working as a circus juggler at a nearby flea market.
Kaffee, determined to get the same ‘legal dream team’ back together, recruits Galloway and Weinberg off the scrap heap following several emotional laden ‘win one for the Gipper’ type speeches to the two. Galloway successfully enters rehab, while Weinberg resumes his legal career. Jack Ross, in the meantime, has become one of the governments top prosecuting attorney’s, and, in another twist of fate, ends up assigned the Jessup and Kendrick war crimes case.
The trial goes pretty much as one would expect. Galloway, despite having no teeth, has one of her ‘strenuously object’ courtroom meltdowns, Wienberg attempts to be the peace keeper in the face of such chaos and Kaffee, true to form, gets drunk when all seems lost but, upon grabbing his trusted baseball bat, has a moment of inspired brilliance that puts the team over the top. Kaffee manages to wrangle a confession from a key witness - a former Taliban official brought in at the last minute - that everything has been a ‘cover up’: the officers that were supposed to be in the barrack were replaced at the last minute by children in order to shed a negative light on the attackers. The jury then finds Jessup and Kendrick innocent of all charges!
