Shattered Glass

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

Shattered Glass (2003), based on an article by journalist Buzz Bissinger, (who wrote Friday Night Lights), deals with what we now call “fake news.” This story is based on reporter Stephen Glass and his invented pieces that he wrote for the magazine, The New Republic (which the film notes “was first published in 1914. It has been a fixture of American political commentary ever since”). The movie suggests that when an esteemed publication allows fiction to be published as fact it not only damages the world of journalism, but also democracy, since accurate information is essential for the population to make informed decisions regarding their lives. The title of the movie uses the writer’s name, which implies transparency, and shows how that pledge of honesty was broken. The movie is subversive, depicting Stephen (Hayden Christensen) pulling off a deception by presenting the audience with a cinematic lie. He addresses a journalism class as a celebrity, and, in the end, we realize we have been conned, just as the real Stephen Glass fooled his readers. 

 

The film takes place in 1998. Stephen Glass was the youngest of the staff of twenty-something writers and editors at The New Republic, which is an indication of how someone with a lack of maturity found a place there. The opening has Stephen walking around a memorabilia convention. His narration, ironically, criticizes the self-involved players in journalism, “the braggarts and jerks” who contrast with those that can write a “memorable” story that can win a Pulitzer Prize. He mentions that a person stands out if that individual is “humble,” takes time to remember “birthdays” and brings a co-worker lunch. But, is Stephen saying that someone is noticed because he or she is really “self-effacing” and considerate, or can a person attract the same attention if those qualities are an act? And, is a special news article memorable because it is genuine, or just a good tale? He says he is interested in stories about the “quirks” and “flaws” of people, what “moves” and “scares” them. He is an accurate observer, and records details about human behavior. It is what a good writer does, whether the work is fact or fiction.

 

We get a shot of the outside of Highland Park High School, and then Stephen inside, looking at a display of the magazines he contributed to followed by his former journalism teacher, Mrs. Duke (Caroline Goodall), listing his accomplishments. He is charming as he recalls his days as a student in that very classroom. Mrs. Duke says Stephen is an example of what happens when “greatness” is demanded of one. It all sounds so inspirational, if it were only true. 

 The next scene is at the office of The New Republic in Washington, D. C., and Stephen shows he practices what he preaches. He compliments Gloria (Linda E. Smith), the receptionist, on her necklace and gets small gifts for his colleagues. He even remembers that fellow employee Amy Brand (Melanie Lynskey) likes her diet soda refrigerated, which she mentioned two years ago, and labels a bottle for her with her name on it. Caitlin Avey (Chloe Sevigny) tells him that his most recent piece is good but “a little rough.” Stephen calls it “horrible,” putting his humility on display. He says it’s the worst thing he ever wrote, acting like a devastated child who can’t do anything right after being disciplined by a demanding parent. In a way, Stephen never graduated emotionally from being a child, as his behavior in the film shows. He is overly dramatic, saying he “might have to kill” himself unless he gets help. He gets sympathy and aid by behaving like a hurt boy who needs mothering. He asks Caitlin and Amy if he throws a party, would people play monopoly, which sounds like what kids would do. 

 

Editor Chuck Lane (Peter Sarsgaard), Stephen’s immediate boss, holds a meeting to check out the status of the stories the staff members are working on. There is a cut back to the classroom where Stephen says that it is a “privilege” to be working for the “in-flight magazine of Air Force One.” He says, again ironically, that it is “a huge responsibility” to write for such a periodical, and “journalism is about pursuing the truth.” However, he allows for the devious means of “assuming a phony identity” to get a story. The film reveals here that the supposedly innocent appearing Stephen has the ability to be deceptive.

 

Stephen gives an example of the obstacles to overcome in getting a story in print by using his article on a conservative convention for young Republicans, entitled “Spring Breakdown,” as an example. He again talks about how details make a story convincing, “down to the mini-bottles in the fridge.” (A similar speech about writing appears in Reservoir Dogs, analyzed earlier).  We then get a dramatization of what was supposed to have happened when Stephen pretended to be attending the convention. The young men procure a large woman to come to their room so they can humiliate her. She runs out of the hotel room, clinging onto her clothes as the drunken guys jeer at her. Stephen mentions the story to Chuck, noting how these men were binge drinking, doing drugs, and paying for hookers. 

 

The editor-in-chief, Michael Kelly (Hank Azaria), questions a fact about the story. Kelly says the hotel where the convention was located stated it does not furnish the rooms with refrigerators. Stephen again presents vulnerability to obtain sympathy, stating that he will resign if necessary if the story will cause damage to the magazine’s reputation. When he explains that the young men rented a mini-fridge, the discrepancy seems like a minor flaw in the story. Stephen always says he will check his notes when there is a question about the reporting, since he later says to the high school students that in some instances there is a flaw in the fact-checking system, and “the only source material available are the notes” of the journalist. It is his way of exploiting the verification process.

 

Stephen’s immediate response when Kelly has a problem with the “Spring Breakdown” piece is, “Are you mad at me?” He sounds like a youngster who is worried that he might have been caught doing something wrong, and wants the adult’s approval that he is still loved. At the party that he does have, Stephen says the same thing to Caitlin about her being angry at him when she disapproves of him for applying to law school. Her response is, “I’m not your kindergarten teacher,” which shows she is aware of his juvenile behavior. Apparently, this child-like need for approval comes from not being able to please his parents unless he becomes a lawyer or a doctor. 

 

At another meeting, Stephen says that following the infamous Mike Tyson ear-biting incident at a prize fight, he pretended to be a “behavioral psychologist who specializes in human-on-human biting.” He told a radio station that he did extensive research on people who “chomp flesh” when they are under stress. He says that they put him on the air and he took phone calls for forty-five minutes. His lying to the radio station shows how capable Stephen is at making up a story. The whole group laughs, and he follows the response by saying he knows it was “stupid” and “silly,” and he’ll probably just “kill” the story. He always undercuts his accomplishments with self-criticism or acts as if whatever he has in the works is “nothing.” This behavior is consistent with what he said at the beginning about getting attention by being “humble” in a world of self-promoters. It is part of his ploy to win over others. 

 

The big boss, Marty Peretz (Ted Kotcheff), surprises everyone by showing up at the meeting, and Kelly is immediately tense. He is in conflict with Kelly much of the time on how to run the publication. Stephen tells the class that Kelly is a great editor, one that has the “courage” to defend his writers under all circumstances. That quality is important to someone like Stephen, who we come to realize does not want to be questioned about his writing. So, it is very upsetting to Stephen, and others, when Marty fires Kelly, and replaces him with Chuck, who points out to Marty that he hasn’t built the loyalty of fellow workers the way that Kelly did. Stephen complains that Chuck gets irritated when others fact-check his own writing, and stresses that they have to get their facts right, an ironic statement, as we see, coming from Stephen. As Chuck walks to the Editor’s office, he gets a silent, unsmiling greeting from the rest of the staff. He shakes his head slightly, acknowledging to himself that he’s going to have a difficult time with the transition. 

 

Stephen does tell Chuck that he’ll help him with moving boxes to his new spot. So, he is already trying to ingratiate himself with his new boss. Stephen narrates that it began to feel more like a job with Chuck, which means work was less enjoyable, presumably. He concedes that he wrote fourteen pieces while Chuck was in his new job, as the titles of the stories appear. Stephen says his biggest story was about computer hackers. He says he met Ian Restil (Owen Roth), who Stephen describes as the “biggest computer geek of all time.” He says that the youth hacked a prominent software company called Jukt Micronics, inserted pictures of naked women on their network and listed employee salaries. Restil supposedly left a message that said, “The Big Bad Bionic Boy has been here, baby!” Stephen says that Jukt found it cheaper to hire Restil as an IT security worker than to attempt to prevent his hacks. 

 

Stephen says that Jukt met with Restil at a hotel where the “National Hackers’ Conference” was going on. We get a dramatization of Restil demanding a Miata, a trip to Disney World, and subscriptions to erotic magazines. Stephen gets up and imitates how Restil apparently behaved, gyrating his hips and shouting, like in Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money!” The rest of the staff enjoy Stephan telling the story. Stephen says the teenager was treated like a rock star by the other hackers. Stephen then says there are several states trying to pass the “Uniform Computer Security Act,” which would make it unlawful to make deals granting immunity to “hackers and the companies they’ve torched.” Restil has an agent who has another hacker client who received a million dollars and “a monster truck.” Again, he says, modestly, that he may not finish the story, but it is, of course, published under the title “Hack Heaven.”

 The movie switches to the Forbes Digital office in New York City. Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn) is called into the office of his boss, Kambiz Foroohar (Cas Anvar), and asked why he didn’t get the Restil story first, since the company deals with tech topics. Adam is surprised by the article and starts to do research. He types in Jukt Micronics in a search engine and comes up with no matches for a supposedly prosperous software company in California. We now get the first evidence that Stephen is fabricating the story. Adam tells Kambiz that there is no listing in the phone book for Jukt Micronics. Also, there is no record of taxes paid by such a firm, and there is no license application for the business.  Adam also says his hacker friends never heard of the organization that held the conference, or of Restil or his handle, “The Big Bad Bionic Boy.” Adam found no evidence of the existence of Restil, or Joe Hiert (Terry Simpson), Restil’s agent. Adam is funny when he says the one thing that checks out is that “there does appear to be a state in the Union named Nevada.” 

 

The sad fact is that Stephen is a mentor and role model for other writers. He tells David Bach (Chad Donella) that he must verify the facts in his pieces, while Stephen is fabricating his. Amy tries to imitate Stephen’s humor, which is not her strength. When Caitlin asks if Amy wants “smoke blown up your ass by a pack of editors,” which is what happens to Stephen, Amy says, “Yes. Yes it is.” Everyone wants acceptance, but the question here is whether that attention is earned for genuine reasons. 

 

Things begin to fall apart as Adam from Forbes leaves a message for Stephen that he wants to do a follow-up piece to “Hacker’s Heaven,” but can’t locate Restil. Then Chuck asks Stephen for phone numbers associated with the story, eliciting the usual juvenile “Did I do something wrong?” and, “Are you mad at me?” from Stephen. Meanwhile, Adam’s co-worker Andy Fox (Rosario Dawson) becomes curious about the investigation. She tells Adam she discovered that the “Uniform Computer Security Act,” that Stephen wrote was under consideration in several states, does not exist. Another writer adds that the existence of certain individuals mentioned in the story can’t be verified, nor the National Assembly of Hackers.

 Stephen adds typographical errors when he provides the text of emails from sources to add authenticity to his allegations. He tries to dispel suspicions about difficulty contacting his sources by calling them “quirky,” or depicting them as eccentric. He provides the phone number of the chairman of Jukt Micronics, George Sims, who he says, as he does with other contacts, he has spoken to “a million times.” The exaggerated amount also mimics the speech of a child who wants to impress by using a large number. Chuck leaves a voicemail message. When Adam calls and gets the same abrupt instruction to leave a voicemail message, Adam has Andy call at the same time that he does. The fact that one of the calls is always busy confirms his suspicion that it is unlikely that a supposedly large firm gives no other option but to leave a message and has only one telephone line in operation. A person calling himself George Sims returns Chuck’s call and the man is dismissive, saying he will not comment on the article, saying whatever information he gave Glass was supposed to be off the record. He tells Chuck he wants him to “get lost.” Of course the less talk there is with “Sims,” the chances of finding errors in the story are reduced.

 

Stephen speaks to the high school class, summing up the numerous fact-checking stages an article must go through that is part of the magazine’s protocol, and how lawyers and the publisher review the piece for problems. It is difficult to understand how all these reviews did not catch the fabrications in Stephen’s stories. The publication’s failure to detect the deceptions perpetrated by Stephen shows the magazine’s guilt in allowing the fraud to occur.

 At the office, Stephen shows Jukt’s website to Chuck, and it looks like it was thrown together, with only a couple of pages of text, one of which criticizes The New Republic. The hostility is meant to evoke a protective response from Chuck, which is what Stephen experienced with Kelly on the “Spring Breakdown” piece. It does not go as Stephen hoped. Stephen hands Chuck the business card of Joe Hiert, Restil’s agent. It is another bare bones offering, and Chuck comments, “This doesn’t look like a real business card.” Of course, Stephen offers his usual eccentricity explanation, calling Hiert a “clown.” 

 

There is a grueling conference call in Chuck’s office with Stephen present as Adam says they were either only able to get voicemail messages of the people noted in the story, or emails were sent back as undeliverable. Stephen again offers his “million times” hyperbole of the number of occasions he reached those noted in the piece. On the defensive, Stephen starts to backpedal, saying he was told that Jukt was a major software company, but didn’t verify that fact personally. He now says that his story was misleading if it said that he was in Restil’s home with his agent. Adam’s boss, Kambiz, says that the Jukt website looks fake, like it “was created to fool someone.” The camera now stays on Chuck’s face who has been mostly silent, and he has a look of impatience building as his facial features become more tense. He now orders Stephen to provide a requested phone number. As he starts to provide it, Adam points out it does not have the proper area code. Stephen offers that all of the problems that Adam found indicate that Stephen probably was “duped.” That would be bad enough, but it would still place the blame of deception elsewhere. 

 

After the phone meeting, Stephen continues to push the blame off of himself. He tells Caitlin and others, who see Chuck as the villain for taking over Kelly’s job, that Chuck didn’t back him up and only cared about the magazine. But a subsequent phone call between Chuck and Kambiz shows the opposite. Chuck is concerned about the harm that will be inflicted on Stephen. Chuck knows he has no control over what Forbes will print, and that is only fair since The New Republic must take responsibility for its content. Kambiz at the moment is only going to say that Stephen was the victim of a hoax, but they must responsibly publish what they found. Kambiz tells Chuck that they will be asking him for his comments and he wants to know how much Chuck will stand behind the story. As he holds the bogus-looking business card in his hand, Chuck says he will have to look into things more. He feels he must do his own investigation to see what is true and what is false, and, therefore, how much Stephen is to blame.

 

Chuck and Stephen go to Bethesda, MD to try to track down the agent Hiert or at least get some clues as to what really happened. Stephen tries to make his recollection appear valid by correcting himself as to where he sat at lunch outside with Restil, his mother (Michelle Scarabelli), and Hiert, and how they moved because someone smoking bothered Mrs. Restil. The shot shows the individuals as Stephen acts like he is recreating the facts, and it seems that what he says actually happened, since we see them, even though they turn out to be phantoms. Chuck and Stephen go to the building next door to where supposedly close to two hundred people were in attendance at the hacker conference in the lobby. The area is obviously too small for such a gathering, and the man at the desk says that the building is closed on Sundays, which is when Stephen said the event occurred. Stephen keeps saying “it’s in my notes,” trying to use that fallback as the journalistic justification for what he is saying. 

 Stephen still insists he was there, and Restil and nine others, including Stephen, went to dinner because it was so cramped in the lobby. He says they went across the street to a restaurant, which has a sign that says it was only open until three in the afternoon on Sunday, which means they don’t serve dinner. Stephen says they just made it before the eatery closed. He just keeps improvising to cover himself. He is starting to talk in a rapid, shaky voice now as Chuck chips away at his story. Stephen says Chuck isn’t really having a back-and-forth conversation anymore, which is true. Chuck begins distancing himself from Stephen, ignoring his claim that he is innocent of any wrongdoing. But Stephen persists with his lies, and Chuck says Forbes is going to check out his whole story since the assertions are not holding up. As Stephen continues to say he didn’t do anything wrong, Chuck knows that is not true and yells, “I really wish you’d stop saying that!” 

 

As they ride back, Stephen is so rattled he runs a stop sign and almost gets into an accident. He finally admits to Chuck that he wasn’t at the conference. He acts as if he had accounts of the gathering from others and embellished to have an “eyewitness” feel to the story. Stephen says he’ll admit that he made it up if it will help Chuck. He is still acting as if he was fooled. Chuck says, “I just want you to tell me the truth, Steve. Can you do that?” The question gets to the center of Stephen’s character, because he isn’t capable of being honest. Lying is his shield against, as he sees it, being judged unfairly and not getting rewarded as he deserves. 

 

Lewis Estridge (Mark Blum), who works for The New Republic, falls into the trap that Stephen has created that makes one feel that they must defend this “confused, distraught kid,” as Lewis calls him. But Chuck sees Stephen as a devious person who “doctored his notes” and made up “a bunch of phony quotes” as if they were facts, which Chuck says is offensive. Lewis offers that Chuck should only suspend Stephen because firing him will turn the staff against Chuck, and many will quit their jobs so there may be nobody left to run the magazine. Caitlen joins their conversation, pleads that Stephen is devastated that he lied to Chuck, and says he is hanging by a thread, psychologically. Stephen is acting like a scared child afraid of the punishment his father will dispense on him. Chuck gives in to suspending Stephen, but for two years. At this point Chuck still sees Stephen as being deceived by a source, and then he made up stuff to expand on the amount of information he was fed.

 Stephen then goes to the “good cop,” or benign father figure, Kelly, looking for comfort. He acts contrite about blindly trusting his sources and then lying to complete his story. Stephen tries to sell Kelly the idea that Chuck always hated Stephen because Stephen said positive things about Kelly. He says that the real reason Chuck is “punishing” Stephen is because of his “loyalty” to Kelly. Stephen is trying to get Kelly to see Chuck as his enemy and thus come to Stephen’s side of the fight. But Kelly says that Stephen committed “fireable offenses,” and instead of rushing to support him, Kelly wants to know if Stephen “cooked” stories when he worked for Kelly. He specifically asks about “Spring Breakdown,” and Stephen doesn’t answer, so it’s assumed Kelly realizes Stephen’s offenses go way back.

 

David, Stephen’s fellow journalist, calls Chuck at home saying that Stephen asked him to drive him to the airport because he was afraid he couldn’t do it safely. Again, Stephen looks for sympathy from others by showing what bad shape he is in. David says Stephen said he was going home for a while. Chuck learns from David that Stephen has a brother at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, which is where Jukt Micronics is supposed to exist. Chuck now realizes that there was no manipulative source behind Stephen’s story. He fabricated the whole tale, using his brother to play the CEO of Jukt, George Sims. 

 

Chuck goes to the office and tells Stephen he knows he faked everything. Stephen tells Chuck, “You got this totally backwards.” He is trying to pass off his fabricated world as the real one. The movie suggests that those who are liars may try to defend themselves by declaring that their accusers are guilty of the crimes they have committed to divert attention away from their own misdeeds. But Chuck says he can easily find the evidence he needs to prove how Stephen engineered his hoax. However, Stephen will not back away from the fantasy. So, Chuck tells Stephen to leave without taking anything but his law books, most likely to secure evidence he needs to show what Stephen has done. When Stephen repeats that he is not a criminal, Chuck says, “Oh, I heard you.” It’s an acknowledgement of Stephen’s words but there is no longer a belief in them. Stephen repeats that he is sorry, like a child who is still learning what and what not to do. But Stephen is an adult and must take responsibility for his actions, and that is why Chuck says, “You have to go.” 

 

After Stephen leaves, Chuck takes several issues of the magazine that contain articles by Stephen off of a display wall. As he looks at them, Stephen’s voice recites some of the sentences from each in Chuck’s head. Now that Chuck knows that he is dealing with a liar, he views the stories from a cynical perspective. He throws the magazines onto the floor with disgust as the impact of the fraud hits him. Stephen reenters and reinvents his story, admitting that it was his brother pretending to be George Sims, but he insists that the man really exists, and Stephen spoke to him “a million times,” (the exaggeration sounding especially pathetic now). Stephen asserts Sims stopped talking to him and he was buying time to reconnect with him. Stephen is delusional to think that, after all his lies, Chuck will believe a new falsehood. Chuck of course isn’t buying anything Stephen says now and tells him he is fired (IMDb notes that as Chuck replaces the copies of the magazines on the wall, there is one issue that has a headline that reads, “Lie About It,” an appropriate sentence for what is happening in the film). Stephen is now whimpering, and plays the pity card, asking Chuck to drive him to the airport because he is afraid of what he might do to himself. Chuck tells him he can sit and calm himself down, but he declares that he isn’t going anywhere with him. Stephen can’t believe he isn’t getting the emotional response he seeks and asks if Chuck heard him. Chuck’s sarcastic comment is, “It’s a hell of a story.”  As Stephen continues to plead for comfort, Chuck puts the last nail in the professional coffin when he says, “Stop pitching, Steve. It’s over.” Chuck sees through the fake façade and will not be manipulated any more by a tale pretending to be true. 

 There is a return to the high school classroom, as the teacher, Mrs. Duke, recites the list of articles that Stephen wrote as the adoring students listen. That look of praise turns to one of anger as there is a shift back to the even-tempered Chuck who finally explodes when Caitlin challenges him for firing Stephen. She acts as if he is out to get those who were loyal to Kelly. But Chuck says she is a good reporter and if she is objective she will judge appropriately. The suggestion here is that if someone gets away with something once, and is rewarded for the transgression, he will repeat the infraction. He says that there might not be any magazine after he exposes what happened because Stephen “handed us fiction after fiction and we printed them all as fact.” He says they are all guilty of allowing Stephen to get past their fact checking because they “found him entertaining.” He says what was done is “indefensible.” The implication here is that those who are in a responsible position to provide accurate information betray the public trust when they fail to deliver the facts.

 

As Stephen heads to the conference room for a staff meeting he assembled, the receptionist, Gloria, makes a good point. She says that this problem would have been avoided if pictures were taken since one can’t invent people if they must be photographed. But, that statement shows how faith in journalism is eroding when one can’t trust that a periodical’s reporters are trying to be truthful. Chuck thought he was going to face a hostile group, but he is grateful to find a typed apology to be published for what happened, signed by all the writers and editors. There are cuts back and forth to the classroom where the students applaud Stephen, while at the same time The New Republic staff claps to acknowledge Chuck’s strength of moral character. That reception is real, but Stephen’s adoration is only in his head, as he has imagined the school presentation. He is alone in the classroom, mirroring the emptiness of his world, populated only by fictitious characters. 

 

The next scene has Chuck and Stephen accompanied by their lawyers. Chuck reads a list of the titles of articles that Stephen wrote and the magazine has found to be suspicious. Stephen can object to any story being considered untruthful. He doesn’t contest any of them. 

 

The notes at the end of the film state that the magazine apologized for twenty-seven pieces written by Stephen Glass as either being “partially or entirely invented.” He eventually graduated from law school. His novel, The Fabulist, was published in 2003. It is “about an ambitious journalist who invents stories and characters in order to further his career.” It is ironic that the man who wrote fiction and pretended that the stories were nonfiction then created a novel that was based on fact. It was not a commercial success. The movie may be asking what does that say about a population that prefers to believe that invented stories are real?

The next film is Breathless.

A Few Good Men

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

A Few Good Men (1992), directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin, asks whether orders should always be carried out, or are there situations when they are be questioned. Do desirable ends justify unscrupulous means? It also deals with who takes responsibility within the military for the ramifications of those orders. 

 

The opening shot is of a fence with barbed wire and armed towers defending the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, an American outpost on an island that is a Communist nation, one that is at odds with the capitalist United States. This image is symbolic of the division not only between America and its enemies but also of conflicting stances within the military concerning its practices.

 

At night, when actions take place that are not condoned in the light of day, two soldiers, Private Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Corporal Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) invade the room of Private William Santiago (Michael De Lorenzo). They shove a rag into his mouth and tie him up with duct tape. Here we have violence against a fellow soldier. So, a comrade in arms is treated like an enemy. 

 

Next, as the titles run, we have images of the American Flag and a military marching band along with an impressive display of synchronized discipline as Marines present their rifles in various displays that show the soldiers operating as a fluid, interconnected machine. This scene of united precision follows the one of internal, fracturing violence within the ranks. 

 

Lt. Commander JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) is on her way to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in Washington, D. C., to request that she be assigned as counsel for Dawson and Downey. Her rehearsing of what she is about to say shows a lack of confidence, which will improve as the story proceeds. She visits Captain West (John M. Jackson) concerning the court martial trial. She prefers to stand but is basically ordered to sit down. This exchange not only shows the dominance of authority in the military but also implies an extra degree of male control over a woman. We now learn from Galloway that Santiago died shortly after the assault. The assumption is that the action against Santiago was to prevent him from implicating Dawson “in a fence-line shooting incident.” Galloway believes that because Dawson and Downey were exemplary Marines and Santiago was considered a “screwup,” that there is an indication that the attack was a “Code Red.” We at this point do not know what that term refers to, but West obviously does, and sees it as a “messy” situation he would not want exposed. Galloway asks, in the same previous halting manner, that she be assigned to the case and the trial be held in Washington. After making her step out, West discusses her request with the other officers in the room, who point out that Galloway is special counsel for Internal Affairs, is a great investigator, but has little trial experience. West agrees that the proceedings be moved to the United States Capital, but wants a swift plea bargaining deal (in other words, sweep the affair under the rug), and the division will assign a capable lawyer.

 

In contrast to West’s statement, the next scene shows us that desired legal representative, Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), a wise-cracking attorney who does not look like a serious litigator. He is playing baseball (the bat he swings later becomes a metaphor for how he will beat the opposition), and is superficial when it comes to his cases, only caring about how many of them he has finalized through compromises so that they never reach a courtroom. An irritated prosecutor, Lt. Dave Spradling (Matt Craven), arrives. His uniformed appearance contrasts with the relaxed look sported by Kaffee, indicating the latter’s nonchalant attitude. Spradling complains that Kaffee missed their meeting, implying incompetence on Kaffee’s part. But Kaffee knows the law. He quotes various legal actions that will bury Spradling in paperwork, and points out that his client only bought “a dime bag of oregano,” which means he is not guilty of a law, but is only “a moron.” His remark may be funny, but it is also condescending, and humility is something Kaffee is short on, at least on the surface. His humor is obvious when he asks if the prosecutor is going to charge the man for being in “possession of a condiment.” Kaffee gets his deal.

 

At a meeting with Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollack) in attendance, Kaffee is late and doesn’t even know what a “fence line” is in Cuba, which again shows his lack of dedicated involvement in his job. He is given the case involving Dawson illegally shooting into enemy territory and Santiago’s subsequent death. The examining physician said the rag contained some type of poison, which the defendants claim was not so. Kaffee has to go to Cuba and the family man Weinberg, who has a baby at home and does not want to travel with Kaffee, is nevertheless assigned as backup. As Weinberg rightly assumes, he has “no responsibilities whatsoever.” So, the implication is his job is supposed to just make things look efficient, not thorough.

 Kaffee (eating an apple, looking like a youngster more at home on the schoolyard than a legal office, and forgetting the name of the person he is to see) and Weinberg (who repeats that he has no responsibilities whatsoever) go to see Galloway. Obviously, Galloway is not impressed by the selection of counsel. Galloway doesn’t think she was taken seriously about her interest in the case given that Kaffee is out of law school for only a little over a year. Weinberg tries to assure Galloway of Kaffee’s competence, saying he has “successfully plea-bargained 44 cases in nine months,” to which the cavalier Kaffee adds, “one more, I get a set of steak knives.” When asked if he’s been in a courtroom, he continues his humorous attitude by saying he was in one involving his driver’s license. She tells Kaffee that he will be seeing the barracks Commanding Officer, Col. Nathan Jessup, who Kaffee naturally does not know. Weinberg fills him in that the man has been in the newspapers and will be the next “director of operations of the National Security Council,” which means he will be in the White House. Galloway gives Kaffee the numerous letters Santiago wrote requesting a transfer. He offered to expose Dawson’s wrongful gunshot to get out of Guantanamo, thus giving Dawson a motive. Kaffee can’t even remember the victim’s name but because he assumes the letters paint a bad picture of Marine life on base, he can get the prosecution to “drop the conspiracy and conduct unbecoming” charges and reduce the sentence to twelve years. She is alarmed that he hasn’t studied the records or interviewed anybody, and already concluded the case to his satisfaction. She tells him he will have to “go deeper,” whereas Kaffee is happy to remain on the emotional surface. She says her job is to make sure he does his job properly, and as he gets up to leave, she tells him he is “dismissed.” Her command stresses how even though she is a woman, she outranks him. It shows her being in a powerful position now, as opposed to her subservient first meeting about the case. Galloway warns against Kaffee using his smart mouth at Guantanamo because the Marines there are fanatical about “being Marines.” (The title of the film refers to an old advertising slogan for the U. S. Marine Corps which said that they were looking for “few good men.” The implication was that there were not that many men who were good enough to qualify for that branch of the service. As this story points out, that sense of elitism can draw some scary individuals).

 

What follows is a dramatization as Santiago’s voice is heard reading one of his letters. He notes that he was feeling dizzy and nauseated during practice maneuvers. He was literally pushed by his sergeant at one point and he fell down a steep hill and blacked out. He was diagnosed with heat exhaustion, and decided he wanted a transfer. At the mess hall Santiago eats alone, not welcomed by his fellow soldiers, most likely because they felt superior to him and thought he did not dedicate himself to performing like a true Marine. 

 Col. Jessup (Jack Nicholson) finishes Santiago’s letter in his own voice and is upset that the soldier has broken the chain of command by sending out letters all over the place asking for a transfer and using a fellow Marine as a bargaining chip. Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (J. T. Walsh) says they should transfer Santiago to avoid bad publicity. Jessup frames his sarcasm in an exaggerated polite manner and says Markinson must be right, so maybe they should transfer everyone off of the base. He calls in his assistant, Tom (Josh Malina) to tell the President that they are surrendering their position in Cuba. Because there is no questioning of orders in the Marines, Tom is ready to carry out the ridiculous command, and Jessup has to stop him from doing so. Jessup continues with his sarcastic attitude by suggesting that maybe they should be training Santiago instead to protect the country, because he knows he “read that somewhere.” He drops the snide attitude and says that Santiago isn’t going anywhere, and he tells platoon leader Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (Keifer Sutherland) that he should make sure that Santiago does well on his next evaluation or else Jessup will blame Kendrick and then “kill” him. Fear and intimidation seem to be the tools Jessup uses to get his way. 

 

Markinson states that he believes what Jessup is doing is not the right way to proceed. In private, Jessup says he thinks Kendrick is a “weasel,” but that he is a good soldier, and he is in sync with what Jessup believes good soldiering entails. He says that they are in the business of saving lives, and for Jessup, there is no leeway in trying to reach that goal. He notes that he and Markinson went to the academy together, were commissioned together, and did their tours in Vietnam together. But Jessup has been promoted quicker, and if that upsets Markinson, Jessup says he doesn’t “give a shit.” He comes down hard by saying, “Don’t ever question my orders in front of another officer.” Jessup uses the iron rule that comes with his dictatorial position. In this case, that authority empowers a narcissist like Jessup, who sees everything being about himself. So, he can’t even consider that Markinson’s opinion has to do with the well-being of the soldier and not about envy. 

 

Back in Washington there is a shot of the statue that shows Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. It is a symbol of brotherhood and victory which appeals to patriotic zeal. The film does not lose sight of this type of accomplishment, but it also presents how the methods to achieve military successes can be abused. The shot is followed by Dawson and Downey arriving handcuffed, being both physically and psychologically restrained. Downey is confused as he views the seat of the government that he thought he was serving but now instead is punishing him. 

 Galloway visits Kaffee at his favorite spot, the baseball field, where he is practicing hitting but has neglected practicing law, since he hasn’t consulted Dawson and Downey. Galloway has researched Kaffee’s background and found his father was Lionel Kaffee, who was an esteemed man, having been a Navy Judge Advocate and an attorney general of the United States. It doesn’t seem coincidental that the supposedly aloof Kaffee joined the Navy. Perhaps he wants to be close to his father’s legacy. But maybe he is intimidated by the man’s accomplishments, and puts on a show of not even trying to achieve courtroom success so as not to be compared to his dad. Galloway, however, is upset that he will handle the present case in a “fast-food, slick-ass, Persian bazaar manner,” and the defendants will suffer for it. She doesn’t believe that the two Marines are guilty of murder. After being harangued, Kaffee cuts the act and shows he has researched the case. He knows that Santiago died of asphyxiation brought on by lactic acidosis, and the medical report “strongly suggests poison.” She argues that the doctor took a while to announce the cause of death. The implication here is that the physician may have been persuaded to make a determination that would put the blame on Dawson and Downey. Since Kaffee thinks the Marines are guilty, she wants him removed. But he points out that since he was assigned by Division, he will remain on the case. She asks if he knows what a Code Red is, and the look on Kaffee’s face reveals he doesn’t, which means despite acting like he understands what’s happening, he doesn’t.

 Kaffee and Weinberg meet with Dawson and Downey, and their different military perspectives are apparent. The Marines are trained to repeat “sir” often, and act by-the-book, whereas Kaffee promotes an informal approach, and the two styles grate on each other. Dawson informs Kaffee that a Code Red is a disciplinary action carried out by soldiers in a unit to get a comrade back “on track.” An example is if a soldier doesn’t bathe regularly, he gets a “G.I shower” involving Brillo pads and steel wool. Ouch! Dawson insists that they were ordered to perform a Code Red on Santiago, which only entailed shaving his head. Downey, who doesn’t understand why he is on trial for following orders, says there was no poisonous substance on the rag they put in Santiago’s mouth, and when they saw blood dripping down the man’s face they called an ambulance. Dawson admits to firing into Cuban territory because an enemy soldier was ready to shoot at him. So, he is saying his action was in self-defense. But that’s not how the official report reads. Dawson says the Code Red was issued because Santiago went outside the chain of command and he didn’t put “his unit before himself.” That suggests that a Marine shouldn’t think about his own personal safety before those of his fellow soldiers, which makes Santiago seem selfish by military standards. Dawson says a Marine must respect “the code,” which is in order of importance, “Unit, Corps, God, Country.” The level of loyalty to the branch of service is so demanding that it supersedes allegiance to the Almighty and the nation, and Kaffee sees that fact as a difficult stance to defend.

 The prosecuting attorney is Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) who says he will be asking for twenty years and Dawson and Downey will only serve half. Kaffee sticks to his prior plea for twelve years, and then asks about Code Reds. Off the record, Ross says he’ll grant the twelve-year sentences, but Kaffee should know that Kendrick told the unit that Santiago was not to be disciplined. Kaffee will not close the deal until he returns from Cuba. These two are friends, and even joke with each other, but they have to be opponents even though they respect each other. Galloway wants to cooperate with Kaffee, probably because she has no choice, and secured authorization from Downey’s only living relative, Aunt Ginny (Maud Winchester), so Galloway will be going to Cuba, too. Kaffee envisions the aunt as a rural hick and an old lady but who turns out to be an intelligent young woman, showing Kaffee’s preconceived notions can be wrong.

 

Kaffee confers with Weinberg because it was too easy getting the sentence he wanted. Kaffee also wonders why Ross brought up the story about Kendrick, since Kaffee doesn’t even know about the officer. He most likely is considering there is a cover-up going on. Weinberg believes the story told by the Marines, but still thinks that they “ought to go to jail for the rest of their lives.” He implies that blindly following orders to assault another soldier which causes his death is a punishable offense. So, he sees a twelve-year sentence as a “gift.” 

 

Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes (Noah Wyle) picks up Kaffee, Weinberg, and Galloway at the landing site at Guantanamo, and tells them they must wear camouflage jackets because their white uniforms will indicate they are officers worthy of enemy fire. This fact stresses the danger that the country’s soldiers are faced with every day. It is funny that they have to take a boat and Kaffee doesn’t like riding in one, despite being in the Navy. They go to Marine Barracks Windward to meet Jessup, who is accompanied by Markinson and Kendrick. Markinson once saw Kaffee’s father in person, and Jessup realizes that Lionel Kaffee argued for school integration in the South, which suggests that a defiance of unjust practices runs in the family. 

 Kendrick takes the lawyers on an orientation tour where he says that despite having an “informer” among them, he told his soldiers Santiago must not be harmed. The word “informer” has more than a negative connotation concerning the individual doing the informing because it can also mean that there is something being hidden that should be exposed. They go to Santiago’s room that still has blood stains on the bedding and floor. Kaffee sees that the Marine’s closet was filled with his uniforms (which becomes an important fact later). Kendrick’s Marine superiority is evident as he will not permit Kaffee to call him by his first name, and says when Marines have to fight, Navy “fellas” give them a “ride,” which suggests that is all the sailors are good for. When Galloway asks Kendrick if he believes that Santiago was murdered, Kendrick’s self-righteous response is “I believe in God, and His son Jesus Christ” which justifies him saying that Santiago died because “he had no code” and therefore “no honor, and God was watching.” Kendrick thinks that those who dare to question or defy what the Marine Corps dictates will suffer divine wrath. There is no room here for independent thinking.

 The meeting with Jessup reveals his contemptuousness for the Navy lawyers who dare to investigate his handling of the Santiago matter. Jessup reveals that before Santiago died, he was scheduled to take the first flight off the base the next morning at six o’clock for his own safety, once it became known that Santiago was offering information to trade for a release. Kaffee is in a rush to leave, but Galloway wants to know, despite orders prohibiting Code Red’s, if any took place under Jessup’s command. Jessup tries to shut her down by making a sexist statement, saying because Galloway is of higher rank than Kaffee, it makes for a more sexually provocative interaction, as if a woman’s qualifications aren’t what’s important in promoting her. He is crude, too, in order to intimidate Galloway, by saying if someone hasn’t gotten “a blow job from a superior officer, well, you’re just letting the best in life pass you by.” She does not let him deter her and she says he must answer, at which point he warns her about her “tone,” which is not deferential toward him. He admits that officially he discourages Code Reds, but unofficially he says they are an “invaluable part of close-infantry training,” and if they occur without his knowledge, that’s fine with him, adding basically that he is the sole person who decides how to run his base. The contradiction here is obvious: Jessup is a Marine, who believes in taking orders, unless he is ordered to do something that he doesn’t like. He tries to justify his stance because he puts his life on the line every day, so outsiders don’t have the right to question his methods. 

 

On the way out Kaffee says he needs a copy of Santiago’s transfer order. Jessup now aims his superiority at Kaffee, trying to undermine his masculinity by saying he wears a “faggoty white uniform,” and demands Kaffee has to ask him “nicely” for any help. This scene shows that Jessup requires others to beg for anything from such an exalted personage as himself. Since he is dismissive of Kaffee’s Harvard degree, Jessup shows how that doesn’t make Kaffee exempt from giving Jessup some “fucking courtesy.”

 

Back at his place in Washington, Kaffee has the baseball game on, but he uncharacteristically isn’t paying attention, probably on edge about how Jessup acted. He holds his baseball bat and grips it as if he is ready to take some swings at an opponent. Galloway shows up and says Markinson disappeared just after they left Cuba, which suggests that there is something off about the case. Galloway says she thinks Kendrick ordered a Code Red, and her statement gives Kaffee enough of a push to go and ask Dawson if that was the case. The Marine confirms the order. Kaffee is angry that he didn’t say so earlier, and Dawson says he wasn’t asked. The suggestion is that the military way of not volunteering anything, unless prompted to do so, is detrimental if the information involves the well-being of the individual. Galloway intervenes and gets Dawson to state that although Kendrick gave orders to leave Santiago alone, right after that meeting he told Dawson and Downey to discipline Santiago. With this specific information, Kaffee tells Ross that the defendants were ordered to attack Santiago. Ross, who doesn't know anything about Kendrick issuing a Code Red, says that there is no evidence of Dawson's story, and Markinson was in counterintelligence for seventeen years, so they will never find him, saying, “There is no Markinson.” Ross admits, in order to not have anything interfere with Jessup’s future, he is authorized to offer sentences of two years for involuntary manslaughter, and Dawson and Downey will actually get discharged in six months. The movie implies condemnation of those in power who want a megalomaniac like Jessup in power. Galloway doesn’t want to accept the deal, but Ross tells her what the silent Kaffee is thinking, which is that in court Ross will charge the men with conspiracy, murder, etc., and Kaffee, not a trial lawyer, will lose and likely have his clients go away for life.

 

There is the image of a floodlit Washington Monument, another symbol of “liberty and justice for all,” but the question here is will the handling of this case live up to that standard. Kaffee tells Dawson and Downey about the deal, which he makes sound like he pulled a legal rabbit out of his lawyer’s hat. But these men aren’t about compromises, as they have been drilled in doing their “job” as ordered, which they see as honorable, no matter what the “consequences.” Dawson says he will not plead guilty because the two men have a moral center that they found in the Marine Corps code, and not sticking to what they believe is right means they will agree to a dishonorable discharge. Dawson is saying that he will not voluntarily forfeit his honor, but will accept a court’s determination on the merits of the case. Kaffee meets with Dawson alone, trying to get the Marine to take responsibility for what he is subjecting Downey to. Dawson asks Kaffee if he thinks he and Downey were “right.” Kaffee says he thinks they will lose. We have here an idealistic man colliding with a practical one, who may have become cynical about what is right and what is wrong. Dawson calls Kaffee a “coward,” most likely because he believes Kaffee doesn’t stand for anything, and says he can’t believe he wears a uniform with that lack of a code of conduct. Dawson refuses to salute Kaffee on his way out, showing his contempt for the man.

 

Kaffee wants new counsel assigned since he sees his connection to Dawson as broken. Weinberg has no sympathy for the defendants, likening them to the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials and the Vietnam My Lai incident, implying that the “I was just taking orders” defense doesn’t work. Kaffee disagrees with Weinberg, saying Dawson and Downey aren’t like the Nazis because the Marines were “executing an order they never believed would result in harm.” After being with Kaffee, Galloway now thinks he is a winner and Dawson and Downey need him. Kaffee insists that they need a new lawyer. Angry, Galloway says he is intimidated by his father’s greatness and calls Kaffee “an ambulance chaser with a rank.” She sees him devoid of passion and purpose, and that is why, as a human being, she says he “is nothing.” 

 Kaffee takes time for contemplation, and at the arraignment stays on to represent Dawson and Downey, and pleads “not guilty.” He now puts his ego aside and objectively observes that he was chosen because he makes deals so that the case would never get to trial, He tells the other two to get ready to prepare for the trial, and then amusingly observes, “So this is what a courtroom looks like.” At Kaffee’s apartment, Weinberg looks like he wants off the case as he still argues Dawson and Downey carried out an illegal order, and are therefore guilty. Kaffee is entering the mindset of the Marines and says they follow orders no matter what, so the implication is that it is the person issuing the illegal order that is the true guilty person. Also, when there is an immediate life and death situation, as can be the case in the military, the suggestion here is that the training teaches soldiers that there is no time to contemplate the morality of an order they are carrying out.

 

The film then depicts a collage of scenes to show witness preparation and research, including trying to find out what could cause lactic acidosis other than poison. Kaffee says they are going to go after Kendrick as the one who told the defendants to carry out the Code Red. Kaffee puts on a confident face but after Weinberg and Galloway leave the night before the trial he admits misgivings about the case, and probably about himself, when he says, “We’re gonna to get creamed.” 

 The judge at the court martial trial is Colonel Julius Alexander Randolph (J. A. Preston). In his opening statement, Ross says that Dawson and Downey entered Santiago’s room, bound him, shoved a rag down his throat which caused the man’s lungs to bleed and he drowned in his own blood. He adds, “These are the facts of the case, and they are undisputed.” He is right to that extent, but Ross says that the rag had poison on it, and there was a motive to kill Santiago. Kaffee immediately says that there was no poison and no intent to murder the victim. And “any attempt to prove otherwise is futile ‘cause it just ain’t true.” Kaffee’s delivery is strong by being so definite. He appeals to the military jury members mindset by saying Dawson and Downey were ordered to assault Santiago, and when you are a soldier in a possible combat zone, orders must be followed. Kaffee repeats what Dawson told him, which was that they were doing their “job.” This use of Dawson’s words shows how Kaffee has come to understand what makes his defendants tick. 

 

A witness investigating Dawson says that although a round was discharged from Dawson’s rifle, he was not charged with an illegal firing of his weapon because Santiago was the only witness, and being deceased, he could not be questioned to back up his claim. The testimony suggests that the death of Santiago prevented him from corroborating Santiago’s accusation, thus letting Dawson off the hook, and establishing a possible motive for killing Santiago. Cpl. Carl Hammaker (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) states that Kendrick told them Santiago was an informer who went outside the chain of command to implicate a fellow soldier, which angered Hammaker. He goes on to say that Kendrick gave an order that Santiago should not be harmed. Ross is ready to call all the other witnesses to confirm what Hammaker said. But Kaffee halts this piling on for effect by saying he will concede that all of the witnesses heard the same command as long as Ross agrees that none of the witnesses was in Dawson and Downey’s room following the meeting. Kaffee wants to make sure there is nobody who can contradict Dawson’s statement about when the Code Red was assigned.

 Although they suspect coercion on the part of Jessup concerning the doctor’s findings, they have no evidence to back up that allegation. Dr. Stone (Christopher Guest) explains lactic acidosis is the result of the body burning sugar instead of oxygen, causing the lungs to bleed. Stone is adamant that despite there being no evidence of a poison, there are many toxic substances that are undetectable. Kaffee then argues that there can be a coronary condition that can cause lactic acidosis. Symptoms of the heart condition would be chest pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Kaffee produces a medical evaluation signed by Stone that has those exact symptoms which justified placing Santiago on temporary restricted duty. Nevertheless, Stone is adamant that Santiago was poisoned. Galloway makes the mistake of continuing to object to Stone’s professional opinion, and angers the judge. Weinberg lets Galloway know that her confrontational manner weakened their case, but underneath that anger Galloway knows that Weinberg is frustrated by being involved in something he doesn’t believe in. She asks why he hates Dawson and Downey, and he says that they “beat up on a weakling,” and all the rest of the case is “crap.” He says they “tortured and killed” Santiago because “they didn’t like him” for the simple reason “he couldn’t run very fast.” Kaffee calms them down, but before leaving, Weinberg wants to know why Galloway is on the side of Dawson and Downey. She says because they are on that defensive line and they pledge to make sure nothing will harm their fellow citizens on their “watch.” We again have the two sides presented concerning what it takes to maintain military protection versus the need to have safeguards based on individual conscience against tyranny.

 

Galloway awkwardly asks Kaffee if she could take him out to dinner, on a kind of date, where she talks about her legal background. He asks why she is always giving him her “resume.” She wants him to think she is a good lawyer, but shows her insecurity again by saying he doesn’t. She says that watching him in action convinced her that he is an exceptional attorney, and believes that he will win the case. He gives her enthusiasm a reality check, saying that they have no evidence of the Code Red, only the testimony of the defendants. She is optimistic that they will find Markinson, despite that seeming impossible.

 Cpl. Barnes testifies to the fact that Code Reds do exist at Guantanamo because he received one, which was to punish him for dropping his rifle in the heat. He says the disciplinary action worked because he never let go of his weapon again. Barnes says he was punched and glue poured on him, which seems cruel, but it also shows the effectiveness of the disciplinary act. Kaffee gets Barnes to say that despite Santiago’s numerous inadequacies as a soldier he didn’t receive a Code Red because Dawson protected Santiago. Kaffee is suggesting that it is inconsistent that Dawson would want to hurt a man he had a history of shielding from harm. Ross presents manuals to show that there’s nothing in them about Code Reds, but Kaffee negates that argument by saying not everything is written down, such as where the mess hall is. Kaffee’s grabbing one of the books out of Ross’s hand as they exchange places shows how Kaffee can improvise, which makes him different from his father who planned everything, following military rigidity. Guidelines are one thing, but between the lines of written rules is the leeway to exercise freedom, but also to justify exerting authoritarian will.

 

The mysterious Markinson seems to appear out of thin air in the back of Kaffee’s car. He says that Kendrick ordered the Code Red, and that Santiago was never going to get off the base, because Markinson signed the transfer orders after Santiago died as part of the cover-up. He also says Jessup lied about the flight for Santiago being the only one since there was a plane leaving several hours earlier. Kaffee says he will get Markinson immunity to testify. But, Markinson doesn’t want it, feeling he deserves no reward as he says he is not “proud” of what he did or is doing. Which means he feels guilty for allowing Dawson and Downey to take the blame for Santiago’s death, and also for becoming an informer, which is what Santiago was, and which led to his death. Markinson feels like a lost man, a person without a military or a civilian code.

 

As Weinberg looks for the flight log, Kaffee meets with Ross to tell him he has Markinson. Ross, who is a Marine, says he is not like Jessup or Kendrick (those “fanatical” ones Galloway mentioned). He says he doesn’t believe Dawson and Downey belong in jail, but his personal thoughts can’t interfere with his job, which he feels he must carry out, as did Dawson and Downey. So, he is like the other Marines who put the mission above personal views which may conflict with orders. Ross also warns Kaffee that he can be court-martialed for accusing an officer of a felony without evidence, since the legal system in the military is rank protective.

 

On the witness stand, Kendrick continues to be hostile toward Kaffee, who tries to show inconsistencies in Kendrick’s behavior and evaluations of soldiers, specifically concerning Dawson. Kendrick again stresses what he relies on for his actions, which are The Marine Corps Code of Conduct and The King James Bible. The only authority he pays attention to are, “Nathan R. Jessup, and the Lord our God.” He is repeating the putting of the leadership of the Corps before God, showing his priorities and his rigidity, since he relies solely on rules that are inflexible. Kendrick gave orders for another soldier, Pvt. Bell, to be restricted to barracks and have his nourishment reduced for committing an offense. However, Kendrick does not concede that his order was a Code Red. He says he knows they exist but that he has never ordered one. Dawson’s humanity again is revealed, since he secretly supplied food to Pvt. Bell. Kaffee suggests that Dawson, whose record was perfect, then received a low rating because he defied the meal restriction. Kendrick considers disobeying an order to be “a crime.” Kaffee suggests that shouldn’t Dawson be allowed, in a non-combat situation, to decide which orders to follow and which to ignore based on his own sense of right and wrong. Of course, Kaffee knows that in the military that is not the way things operate in crisis situations. When Kendrick says Dawson can’t disobey any order, Kaffee says that Dawson, following his low rating, was then motivated to carry out any subsequent order from Kendrick, including a Code Red, because defiance meant punishment. 

 

The flight log backs up Jessup’s version of what happened, and Markinson tells Kaffee that Jessup had the logbooks altered for take-offs and landings. Markinson just wanted to be an information source, and the thought of testifying in court and breaking his allegiance to the Marine code of conduct is too much for him to bear. He puts on his dress uniform and commits suicide with his firearm. At the trial, Downey testifies that he received the order to perform a Code Red from Kendrick. But Ross gets him to admit that he was hiking at the time Dawson said that Kendrick gave the Code Red. Downey only heard it from Dawson. He seems to be committing perjury, but Downey doesn’t understand the legal restriction against hearsay evidence. So devout is his belief in the Corps that he believes that whatever Dawson told him was the absolute truth, just as if he heard the words from Kendrick in person.

 

Kaffee, after learning about Markinson’s suicide, shows up drunk at his place where Galloway and Weinberg wait for him (there is a rainstorm, the inclemency of the weather reflecting the possible severe punishment the Marines may receive). After telling them that they now have no more witnesses, Kaffee says the case is over, and that Dawson and Downey needed a trial lawyer. His insecurity comes through here as he is probably feeling the weight of his father’s reputation bearing down on him. Galloway relentlessly pushes to continue fighting by putting Jessup on the stand and getting him to admit he ordered Kendrick to issue the Code Red. Kaffee is savagely sarcastic toward her, saying her advice is “galactically stupid!” Galloway says with sad sarcasm that she is sorry she lost him his set of steak knives, and leaves. Weinberg tells Kaffee that although his father was a great trial lawyer Weinberg would choose his son to represent the defendants based on how he was in the courtroom. Given the circumstances, Weinberg says, even though Lionel Kaffee and Weinberg would not put Jessup on the stand, the real question is what would Kaffee do? Weinberg is trying to get Kaffee to realize he has to get out from under the legal shadow of his father. Kaffee shows he is his own man and chases after Galloway, saying he will go after Jessup.

 

The next day the three go over how to deal with Jessup. Kaffee says he thinks Jessup would love to admit he ordered the Code Red because he is so arrogant he doesn’t like hiding how he runs things, especially not in front of the Harvard grad with the “faggoty” uniform. He isn’t sure how to get Jessup to the point of revealing what he did. He says he thinks better with his baseball bat and when he retrieves it from his closet, he looks at his clothes, which reminds him of the uniforms hanging in Santiago’s room, and he gets an idea. He goes to his office and gets a list of personnel who worked at Andrews Air Force Base, and tells Weinberg to go to the base. Kaffee and Galloway are ready to go into the courtroom, but Weinberg isn’t there yet with the “guys.” Galloway, in a bit of reversal of her gung ho attitude, tells Kaffee that if it doesn’t look like he’s going to get Jessup, he should back off, because he could get into serious trouble.

 Jessup walks to the stand with an intimidating look at Kaffee. Weinberg then enters with two air base groundsmen. Jessup notices their entrance, possibly feeling a twinge of concern. Kaffee wants to make sure that the jury now knows that Markinson killed himself, possibly planting a seed of curiosity in their minds as to why the second-in-command to Jessup would be so conflicted. Jessup testifies that he gave Kendrick the order to tell his men not to harm Santiago and at the same time had Markinson arrange Santiago’s departure to keep the man out of danger. Kaffee then establishes that Jessup was only coming for a day and brought a change of clothes, personal items, and contacted some people. Yet Santiago, after writing dozens of letters begging to get out of Cuba, supposedly was “leaving for the rest of his life,” but hadn’t packed one item and didn’t call anyone. The thrust here is that there was no plan to transfer Santiago since he didn’t take action that would indicate he knew he was leaving. When Kaffee pointedly suggests that there wasn’t any transfer order, Jessup is cool, saying maybe Santiago was an early riser and packed then, and maybe he didn’t have any friends to contact. He is sarcastic toward Kaffee, wondering if all he was asked to do was talk about phone calls and clothes. It is at this point that Kaffee looks around the room, since he has reached that line Galloway was talking about where he may not get Jessup’s admission of the Code Red, and he must be courageous if he continues. 

 

Jessup thinks he has won and starts to walk away, but Kaffee shows no respect toward Jessup, telling him he isn’t done with him and that he should “sit down.” His attitude is meant to antagonize Jessup. Jessup questions the judge about how he is running his court. Kaffee’s plan is working because he revealed Jessup’s condescending attitude. The judge then says Jessup should address him as “Your Honor,” because he has earned the right to be shown respect, too. 

 

Kaffee asks if there was an earlier flight that was supposed to leave at eleven the previous evening and arrive at Andrews at two in the morning. Jessup says no, but Kaffee says that he will be calling the two ground crew men to testify shortly. He then asks if possibly Kendrick never gave Jessup’s order that Santiago shouldn’t be touched. Kaffee makes himself look like an ignorant man who has no idea of the sanctity of the chain of command. His stance stokes Jessup who asks rhetorically if Kaffee ever was in a position to put his life in the hands of others on the front line of battle, or have fellow soldiers rely on him. Jessup instructs Kaffee that if orders aren’t followed, “people die.” Then Kaffee springs his trap: if Jessup’s orders are always followed, and his order was that Santiago should not be touched, then why was there a need to transfer him off base to protect him? Jessup backpedals and says that sometimes men take matters into their own hands. But Kaffee persistently interrupts, saying Jessup just said his men never act on their own without receiving orders. Jessup starts to break and calls Kaffee a “snotty little bastard.” Ross tries for a recess, but the judge wants to hear Jessup’s explanation. When Kaffee demands to hear the truth, we get the famous line from Jessup, “You can’t handle the truth!” He then angrily says that Santiago’s death actually saved lives most likely because in Jessup’s mind there can’t be exceptions as to how his men must learn to meet his standards. He says he provides the safety blanket that others live under by doing the “grotesque” business that Kaffee and others don’t want to do nor appreciate, and then they have the audacity to question how Jessup provides that protection. He says they “want” him and “need” him on that line of defense. Kaffee roars that there was no transfer order, Jessup doctored the flight logs, and ordered the Code Red. When he continually challenges Jessup, the man finally admits to Kaffee about ordering the Code Red, “You Goddamn right I did!” 

 It is now Jessup’s turn to not understand why he is being charged with anything. As the MP’s guard him and Ross reads him his rights, Jessup tries to physically attack Kaffee. After being restrained, he says that Kaffee just put the lives of people in danger, and uses the word “son” in a dismissive way to refer to Kaffee. For Kaffee, being called “son” by this man is an insult compared to the esteemed father who addressed him that way. Kaffee tells him that he is an officer and a lawyer, and says, “You’re under arrest, you son-of-a-bitch.”  Jessup’s hat has fallen to the floor, implying he has been deprived of his power.

 

Kaffee tells Ross that the two airmen knew nothing about an earlier flight, and were only a bluff. Ross says he has to arrest the self-declared religious Kendrick for his part in the Code Red and perjury. The jury finds Dawson and Downey guilty of “behavior unbecoming a Marine,” and they receive dishonorable discharges (which is really a charge for officers, and they should be discharged “for the good of the service,” given their ranks, as noted on IMDb). Downey doesn’t understand why they were blamed for anything since it was shown that they were following orders. But Dawson says they are guilty of not fighting “for people who couldn’t fight for themselves,” and they should have protected Santiago, as Dawson had done earlier. Dawson now gives Kaffee respect by saluting him as he leaves. The movie is stating that orders should not be followed without question under circumstances when human decency indicates that the ends do not justify the means.

The next film is Shattered Glass.