A Few Good Men
Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Produced by David Brown
Rob Reiner
Andrew
Scheinmann
Directed by Rob Reiner
Cast List:
Tom Cruise Lieutenant
J.G. Daniel Kaffee
Jack Nicholson Colonel
Nathan R. Jessep
Demi Moore Lieutenant
Commander Joanne Galloway
Kevin Bacon Captain Jack Ross
Kiefer Sutherland Lieutenant
Jonathan Kendrick
Kevin Pollak Lieutenant
Sam Weinberg
James Marshall Private First
Class Louden Downey
J.T. Walsh Lieutenant
Colonel Mathew Markinson
Christopher Guest Dr. Stone
EXT. A SENTRY TOWER
In the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere.
Small beams of light coming from lamps attached to the tower cut
through the ground mist. We HEAR all the unidentifiable sounds of night in
the woods. We also HEAR, very, very
faintly, a slow, deliberate drum cadence. And as this starts, we begin to MOVE
SLOWLY UP THE TOWER, more becomes visible
now: ... the sandbags on the ground piled ten-high... the steel, fire
escape-type stairway wrapping around the structure and leading to the lookout
post, and finally... THE LOOKOUT POST,
maybe forty feet off the ground.
Standing the post is the silhouette of a MARINE. He's holding a rifle
and staring straight out.
The drum cadence has been building slightly.
CUT TO:
A WIDER SHOT OF THE FENCELINE
And we see by the moonlight that the tall wire-mesh fence winds its
way far, far into the distance.
SUBITLE: "united states
naval bas guantanamo bay – cuba"
CUT TO:
INT. A MARINE BARRACKS
We HEAR two pairs of footsteps and then
CUT TO:
THE BARRACKS CORRIDOR
Where we see that the footsteps belong to DAWSON and DOWNEY, two young marines who we'll get to know later. They stop when they get to a certain door. The drum cadence is still growing. Dawson puts his hand on the doorknob and turns it slowly. He opens the door and they walk into
INT. SANTIAGO'S ROOM – NIGHT
WILLY SANTIAGO, a young, very slight marine, lies asleep
in his bunk.
Dawson kneels down by the bed, puts his
hand on Santiago's shoulder and shakes him gently. Santiago opens his yes,
looks at Dawson, and for a moment there's nothing wrong –
– and then Santiago's eyes fill with terror. He lunges out of the bed – but forget about it. In one flash Dawson and
Downey grab him out of bed, and before the scream can come out,
Downey's shoved a piece of cloth into Santiago's mouth.
Everything that happens next occurs with speed, precision and
professionalism.
– A strip of duct tape is pulled, ripped, and slapped onto his mouth
and eyes –
– A length of rope is wrapped around his hands and feet.
DOWNEY
(quietly)
You're lucky it's us, Willy.
– The drum cadence has built to a crescendo. We HEAR four sharp blasts from a
whistle and we
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. THE WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – DAY
And the drum cadence we've been hearing has turned into Semper
Fidelis and it's coming from
THE U.S. MARINE CORPS
BAND, a sight to behold in their red and
gold uniforms and polished silver and brass.
The Band is performing on the huge and lush parade grounds before a
crowd made up mostly of TOURISTS and DAY-CAMPERS.
As the TITLES ROLL, we watch the Band do their thing from various angles. Incredible
precision is the name of the game. Each polished black shoe hitting the ground
as if they were all attached by a rod. Each drumstick raised to tho same
fraction of a centimeter before striking. A RIFLE DRILL TEAM that can't possibly be human. Flags,
banners, the works.
SUBTITLE: "THE WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, WASHINGTON, D.C."
CUT TO:
HIGH ANGLE
Of the entire band an we end credits.
CUT TO:
EXT. A RED BRICK BUILDING – DAY
CUT TO:
A WOMAN
As she walks across the courtyard toward the brick building. The WOMAN is JOANNE GALLOWAY, a navy lawyer in her early 30's. She's
bright, attractive, impulsive, and has a tendency to speak quickly. If she had
any friends, they'd call her Jo. As she walks, she mutters to herself ...
JO
I'm requesting... I'm... Captain, I'd like to request
that I be the attorney assigned to rep – I'd like to request that it be myself
who is assigned to represent –
(she stops)
"That it be myself who is assigned to
represent"?... Good, Jo, that's confidence inspiring.
CUT TO:
INT. WEST'S OFFICE – DAY
As Jo enters. CAPTAIN WEST and two other officers, GIBBS and LAWRENCE, sit around a conference table.
GIBBS
Jo, come on in.
JO
Thank you, sir.
GIBBS
Captain West, this is Lt. Commander Galloway. Jo, you
know Mike Lawrence.
JO
Yes sir.
(to West)
Captain, I appreciate your seeing me on such short
notice.
WEST
I understand there was some trouble over the weekend
down in Cuba.
JO
Yes sir... This past Friday evening. Two marines,
Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Louden Downey, entered the barracks room of
a PFC William Santiago and assaulted him. Santiago died at the base hospital
approximately an hour later. The NIS agent who took their statements maintains
they were trying to prevent Santiago from naming them in a fenceline shooting
incident. They're scheduled to have a hearing down in Cuba at 4:00 this
afternoon.
LAWRENCE
What's the problem?
JO
Dawson and Downey are both recruiting poster marines
and Santiago was known to be a screw-up. I was thinking that it sounded an
awful lot like a code red.
Jo lets this sink in a moment.
WEST
(under his breath)
Christ.
JO
I'd like them moved up to Washington and assigned
counsel. Someone who can really look into this. Someone who possesses not only
the legal skill, but a familiarity with the inner workings of the military. In
short, Captain, I'd like to suggest that... I be the one who, that it be me who
is assigned to represent them.
(beat)
Myself.
Jo looks around the room for a response.
WEST
Joanne, why don't you get yourself a cup of coffee.
JO
Thank you, sir, I'm fine.
WEST
Joanne, I'd like you to leave the room so we can talk
about you behind your back.
JO
Certainly, sir.
Jo gets up and walks out.
WEST
I thought this Code Red shit wasn't going on anymore.
LAWRENCE
With the marines at GITMO? Who the hell knows what
goes on down there.
WEST
Well lets find out before the rest of the world does,
this thing could get messy. What about this woman?
LAWRENCE
Jo's been working a desk at internal affairs for what,
almost a year now.
WEST
And before that?
GIBBS
She disposed of three cases in two years.
WEST
Three cases in two years? Who was she handling, the
Rosenbergs?
GIBBS
She's not cut out for litigation.
LAWRENCE
She's a hall of an investigator, Jerry –
GIBBS
In internal affairs, sure. She can crawl up a lawyer's
ass with the best of 'em, but when it comes to trial work –
WEST
I know. All passion, no street smarts. Bring her back
in.
Lawrence goes to the door and motions for Jo to come back in.
WEST
(continuing)
Commander, we're gonna move the defendants up here in
the morning.
JO
Thank you, sir.
WEST
And I'll have Division assign them counsel..
JO
(beat)
But... not me.
WEST
From what I understand from your colleagues, you're
much too valuable in your present assignment to be wasted on what I'm sure will
boil down to a five minute plea bargain and a week's worth of paper work.
JO
Sir –
WEST
Don't worry about it. I promise you, division'll
assign the right man for the job.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOFTBALL FIELD – DAY
THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB
His name is LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE
DANIEL ALLISTAIR KAFFEE, and it's almost
impossible not to like him. At the moment he's hitting fungoes to about a dozen
LAWYERS who are spread out on the
softball field on a corner of the bass. The '27 Yankees they're not, but they
could probably hold their own against a group of, say, Airforce dentists.
Kaffee's in his late 20's, 15 months out of Harvard Law School, and a brilliant legal mind waiting for a courageous spirit to drive it. He is, at this point in his life, passionate about nothing ... except maybe softball.
KAFFEE
(calling out to the team)
Alright, let's get two!
He smacks one to the SECOND BASE. The ball bounces right between his legs.