I think this my favourite outing for Tom Cruise. He is the cocky young navy lawyer "Kaffee", who usually plea-bargains and as yet has never seen the inside of a courtroom. Surprisingly, he is drafted in to investigate the death of a young soldier at Guantanamo Bay. Two marines have been arrested for his murder, but they claim that they were ordered to administer a "Code Red" - a fairly brutal form of discipline used on their fellow soldiers deemed to have broken their code of honour. Teamed up with his pal "Sam" (Kevin Pollak) and with the more by-the-book "Galloway" (Demi Moore) the three face a subtle, but definite, hostility from the commanding officer "Jessep" (Jack Nicholson) and his enforcer "Kendrick" (Kiefer Sutherland). Soon their search uncovers evidence that not only was this attack authorised but that the instructions might have come from the top. Cruise is at his most natural here; his character comes across as arrogant and selfish, but also quite likeable and engaging - and he plays ball with Moore and a slightly over-played Nicholson really well too. The courtroom drama elements are kept tight and intense - thanks to a stronger than usual effort from Kevin Bacon ("Ross") and though I thought the ending rather flew in the face of the whole point of the narrative, it is still a well structured and delivered evaluation of trust and of the nature of human behaviour when faced with abusive authority figures. Rob Reiner resists any temptation to introduce any sloppy romance into film, and though there are the odd distracting sub-plots here and there, for the most part this stays on track as a strong and enjoyable thriller.
