A Few Good Men 1992

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune: By pitting Cruise against Nicholson in the film`s final courtroom confrontation, Sorkin and Reiner are pitting two notions of masculinity and two notions of stardom against each other. Read more

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: The driving force of the story is watching Cruise`s character develop some backbone and staying power. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A brisk and familiar courtroom drama of the old school, as pleasant to watch as it is predictable, Men more than anything else is a tribute to pure star power. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: As you may have suspected, Jack Nicholson steals the show. His Col. Nathan Jessep isn't in a lot of scenes, but when he's there, you can't take your eyes off him. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The literally in-your-face camera work can easily expose an actor's weaknesses, but, with the lens framed on Nicholson's bulldog visage, he lets loose with volcanic fury. His demagoguery and gung-ho self-righteousness are something to behold. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: The film's entire cast and crew prove up to the task, and there's something both comfortably old-fashioned and blazingly contemporary about Aaron Sorkin's screenplay. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: That the performances are uniformly outstanding is a tribute to Rob Reiner (Misery), who directs with masterly assurance, fusing suspense and character to create a movie that literally vibrates with energy. Read more

Vincent Canby, New York Times: The screenplay is a good one, directed with care and acted, for the most part, with terrific conviction. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: I'm usually a sucker for courtroom dramas, but Rob Reiner's highly mechanical 1992 feature... kept putting me to sleep. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Directed by Rob Reiner, from Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of his hit Broadway play, A Few Good Men is a thrillingly effective crowd pleaser. Read more

Michael Sragow, New Yorker: The whole film, with its steady, important-picture pacing, its foursquare visual style, and its pseudo-profundity, is a piece of glorified banality. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A Few Good Men is one of those movies that tells you what it's going to do, does it, and then tells you what it did. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: An extraordinarily well-made movie, which wastes no words or images in telling a conventional but compelling story. Read more

Time Out: The intellectual cut-and-thrust of the courtroom is largely absent here, and the denouement seems slick, arbitrary, and derived from the Captain Queeg catalogue. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The same histrionic fireworks that gripped theater audiences will prove even more compelling to filmgoers due to the star power and dramatic screw-tightening. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Men is full of loaded, manly moments, great clashes of will and excellent buzz cuts. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: It's a grand undertaking that wrangles with the heavy questions that cropped up at Nuremberg and My Lai, questions that deserve and get lots of imposing shots of monuments and not a little swashbuckling from the big stars. Read more