When it comes to the stage – it’s “You can’t handle the truth!” is one of the most famous pieces of dialogue in film history – this phrase feels very, very familiar and sometimes a little rushed, perhaps even rushed, as if it were in Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway revival of some good men He doesn’t want cheap applause or to distract the audience even for a moment with cinematic nostalgia.
It’s a remarkable moment in director Michael Arden’s handsome staging of this Lincoln Center Theater revival starring Bradley Whitford, Tom Blythe and Krista Rodriguez, a new attempt at a familiar property that feels almost vital.
In some ways the play is more relevant now than it was in ’89, when a young, largely unknown Sorkin introduced both it and his unique narrative voice to an unsuspecting public.
But if that’s relatable – after all, this is a story in which a chauvinistic, egotistical, bullying commander finds himself blamed for a foolish, reckless action by pinning it on two unpatriotic thugs who blindly followed his orders – then it seems a bit much. obviousIts power to deliver a shock seems to be waning. Not even an actor as skilled a wordsmith as Sorkin, and as in command of his talents as Whitford, could present a new form of villainy interesting enough to inspire some fresh, good-faith reconsideration after so many years. As Sorkin proved with his remarkable adaptation To Kill a MockingbirdRevivals work best when they demand audiences to rethink their long-held assumptions. some good men It would be much more compelling now if Sorkin could make us believe, even for a scene or two, that there are some very good people on both sides of the argument. The narcissistic bully at the dark core of some good men There’s nothing to say that we don’t hear about it every day, in some version or another, on the news, let alone the courtroom drama without much drama, let alone the sting.
If you haven’t seen the famous 1992 film adaptation starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore in a while, here’s a refresher: The year is 1989, setting up the United States Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. If Gitmo hasn’t yet become the shorthand for torture that it would be post-9/11, Sorkin’s telling, it’s no less suspicious: A young Marine private has died after some kind of hazy incident, and two fellow Marines (Colin Kelly-Sordelet and Lavelle Schley) have been charged with murder. But who ordered the “Code Red” that led to the bullying is so wrong.
Tasked with defending the accused swindlers is young Lieutenant Daniel Caffey (Blythe), whose inexperience and lack of seriousness have a lot to do with why, exactly, he was chosen for this very serious case (the audience will likely catch on before he does). He will be assisted by his friend, the somewhat more objective Lieutenant Sam Weinberg (Nick Blamire) and the highly inquisitive Internal Affairs officer Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway (Rodriguez).
It is Galloway who has already discovered that the two low-level defendants are mere scapegoats and that there is a conspiracy afoot, possibly involving the revered (or at least feared) base commander, Colonel Nathan R. Jessup (Whitford), who values tight control, strict conformity, his reputation, and a future career in Washington equally.
if heart and soul some good men Courtroom drama that it is, this new revival – played on the airy set design of the always reliable Dan LaFrey – feels altogether more elaborate, using the large Lincoln Center stage to suggest that judicial activities are only a part of the metaphorical stakes that are being waged. There’s a lone army cot that soon serves as an autopsy table, a courtroom set-up area, a locker-room area, even an eagle-nest observation tower. There is no mistake about this: the truth may hide in the plainest of scenes, but not for long.
And that brings us to the line that is so famous it’s printed on T-shirts on sale at the Lincoln Center merchandise table. When Blythe’s coffee demands the truth, he abandons Cruise’s sputtering delivery for a more conversational tone (a valid choice), though Whitford’s delivery of the punchline – to repeat, “You can’t handle the truth!” – It’s as powerful as it should be. Overall, this famous exchange is less historic than we remember.
Anti-climate? Maybe a little, but I suspect it has less to do with the familiarity of the line than the now-rather dated sentiment behind it. Not only can we handle the truth, but we are acutely aware of it – the notion that our lives are controlled and even protected by shadowy, immensely powerful string-pullers and the conspiracies in which they conceal themselves is now so taken for granted that its big reveal as some kind of deeply hidden agenda seems completely bizarre. We certainly don’t need our eyes opened by the deus ex whistleblower that Sorkin gives us late in the game.
Christa Rodriguez and Tom Blythe in ‘A Few Good Men’
emilio madrid
It’s not an unfortunate consequence of the play’s arcane mystery that the defenders fighting for justice seem more than a little naïve in their flippant approach to making a case, and it’s here that Sorkin misses an opportunity to indulge in the level of revisionism that made him his. Mockingbird Such an amazing achievement. Imagine if he had written again some good men To give a nice lady – Joan, the JAG officer – enough material to transform innocent Coffey from mere Jiminy Cricket to heroism? At the very least, Rodriguez’s performance, though committed, may not seem so helpful.
Blythe’s performance is better, which makes sense since her character has the most notable (if entirely expected) arc, going from frat-boy egomaniac to righteous justice-seeker. The actor makes good use of his boyishness here, and makes the transformation into Atticus Finch-in-dress-white a credible dramatic payoff.
If Blythe makes good use of his affability, Whitford destroys it. Sorkin is best known for his honest politician Josh Lyman in West Wing, Whitford here becomes passionate and mean-spirited, his Colonel Jessup ruthless incarnate, obstinate and convinced of his own indispensable value to society and the system. Whitford’s barreling performance some good men A worthy villain, combining a blind worldview with self-serving careerism that creates a frustratingly unrecognizable monster.
From Jessup’s perspective, the do-gooders of the world rely on these ruthless, truth-seeking rule-breakers for their lives, and while there is no shortage of advocates of that mentality in the real world, their anarchic justifications are the stuff of daily headlines, not deeply hidden revelations. some good menEven in such a generously appointed and lavishly performed production, there are truths presented that aren’t that difficult to handle.
Topic: some good men
venue: Broadway’s Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center
Written by: aaron sorkin
director: Michael Arden
Mould: Tom Blythe, Bradley Whitford, Christa Rodriguez, Stephanie Berry, Nick Blamire, Michael Braugher, Christopher Gurr, Billy Eugene Jones, Collin Kelly-Sordelet, Shantae Lofton, Michael Oberholtzer, Lewell Schley, Thom Sesma, Daniel Velez, John Zdrojewski.
running time: 2 hours 35 minutes (including intermission)