History Film / AFewGoodMen

** Possibly justified also in that a dishonorable discharge is going to make it very hard to make a living in the civilian world as employers are going to be very wary to hire someone with a dishonorable discharge, especially for manslaughter. [[spoiler: He ultimately gets it, anyway.]]

** Downplayed in that said epiphany is not the game-changer in itself - it just leads Kaffee's thought in the right direction ("how can I make my allegation that there was no transfer order plausible?") and then prepares the ground for the following IndyPloy to save the day.

** A more plausible alternative explanation, however, is that it was not the first time when an impulsive Jessep sarcastically gave insane orders, so the subordinate just knew that the reverse order would be incoming in a few seconds and didn't actually intend to call anyone in the first place. If you look at Markinson's reaction, you can tell that he knew that his cause was entirely lost the second Jessep began to give the order.

** Kaffee's entire strategy of gambling that Jessep will lose his cool and admit that he ordered the Code Red is incredibly implausible and real lawyers don't do it because it's unbelievably stupid to base your entire argument on the hope that your crucial witness will do something that people in court never actually do, i.e. suddenly admit their guilt. It's somewhat understandable in that Kaffee's key witness was dead and he had no material evidence, meaning he had nothing left to lose by trying this tactic -- and even Kaffee himself looks shocked that it actually works -- but most of the time, the actual result would probably just be the witness invoking the Fifth Amendment. The longshot nature of this gamble is at least given a nod in Kaffee's conversation with Sam the previous night: Sam admits that neither he nor Lionel Kaffee would put Jessep on the stand, because not only is it extremely unlikely to pay off, it could result in severe consequences for Kaffee if it goes badly (and it nearly does; the judge holds Kaffee in contempt at one point).

*** A "strenuous objection" simply doesn't exist (and even worse, Jo says she said this in order to ensure it was on the record even though literally everything that is said during a trial goes on the record unless the judge specifically strikes it). The only thing it could do if it ''did'' exist is piss off an otherwise cooperative judge and jury.

[[caption-width-right:300:"''YOU CAN'T '''HANDLE''' THE TRUTH'']]

[[caption-width-right:305:YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH]]

[[caption-width-right:315:YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH]]

[[caption-width-right:325:YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH]]

* WindmillCrusader: Jessep honestly believes that by standing post at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he is keeping the world safe for democracy.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Markinson is in full dress uniform before shooting himself.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] It's implied Santiago tried to sell Dawson out for a transfer even though Dawson was his only ally. Nevertheless, he didn't deserve to be hog-tied and left to suffocate.

* AssholeVictim: It's implied Santiago tried to sell Dawson out for a transfer even though Dawson was his only ally.

->'''Jessup:''' You want answers?!\\

'''Jessup:''' ''You can't '''handle''' the truth!''[[note]]The rest of the line is [[Quotes/AFewGoodMen here]].[[/note]]

''A Few Good Men'' is a 1989 play written by Creator/AaronSorkin, which was later made into a 1992 film directed by Creator/RobReiner and starring Creator/TomCruise, Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/DemiMoore. It is a military-themed courtroom drama in which young navy lawyer Daniel Kaffee (Cruise) defends Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) and Louden Downey (James Marshall), two Marines accused of murdering fellow Marine William Santiago (Michael [=DeLorenzo=]) at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. The accused, however, say they were acting under orders from Col. Nathan Jessup (Nicholson).

YouCantHandleTheParody is based on Jessup's rant at the end of the film.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Kaffee turns Ross's own cross-examination of one of the Marines against him - Ross points out "Code Reds" aren't in either the Marine handbook or the handbook about operating on Gitmo, and Kaffee shows that mess halls aren't in the latter either, which doesn't mean Gitmo doesn't have one - Ross is seen smiling and chuckling. He also chuckles at the end when Kaffee reveals [[spoiler: the two airmen whom Kaffee brought in to testify that Jessup forged the log books actually had no information whatsoever]].

* AnachronicOrder: The film opens with Dawson and Downey ambushing Santiago in his quarters and assaulting him. Col. Jessup's meeting with his officers about Santiago, which leads to the assault (or Code Red) is shown later.

** Colonel Jessup has a preference for saying "we're in the business of saving lives" to justify the bullying way he manages his base.
** "Code Red", the unwritten, unofficial (and quite illegal) order to punish (read: haze) any Marines Jessup considers incompetent.

** At the end of Jessup giving a MotiveRant, Kaffee asks a question that turns the case completely on its head.

---> '''Col. Jessup:''' You're goddamn right I did!
** The real question that shatters Col. Jessup is the one before this exchange. Jessup had kept his cool, arrogantly stating that his orders have always been followed ''and'' that he did not order the Code Red. Kaffee seizes on the LogicBomb: if Jessup gave an order that Santiago wasn't to be touched, and his orders are always followed as he so claims, then [[SpottingTheThread why would Santiago be in danger]], and why would it be necessary to transfer him off the base?

** Jessup wouldn't be allowed to say "This is ridiculous, check the tower logs for Christ's sake!" That would be opining, and Kaffee would be entitled to object and have it struck from the record.
** Kaffee wouldn't be allowed to question Jessup in such detail about what Kendrick did with regard to his orders, or what he thought of them, without first establishing exactly ''how'' Jessup knew with such certainty what Kendrick did or thought. As it's presented, it's speculation and would be disallowed.
** Jessup's question "You ever serve in an infantry unit, son?" would be disallowed. Witnesses aren't normally allowed to ask questions of the attorney when they're on the stand. Kaffee could ask the judge to order Jessup to answer the question, but in this case, it's arguably justified that he doesn't because he's leading Jessup into a trap.
** Kaffee wouldn't be allowed to interrupt Jessup when they're going back and forth about what Jessup said; neither is Jessup allowed to interrupt him. It would result in a muddy and unclear trial record.
** Kaffee's question "Santiago shouldn't have been in any danger at all, should he, colonel?" is far from the only argumentative question that Kaffee asks Jessup (an argumentative question presumes its own answer, in this case, that Santiago was in danger.)
** Kaffee wouldn't be allowed to start shouting at Jessup.

*** Later on, during Jessup's cross-examination, Ross objects that Kaffee is only trying to smear Jessup's name and asks that he be excused entirely. The problem with this objection is three-fold. First, this type of speaking objection isn't a valid objection and is given with no real basis. Second, such an objection implicitly confirms that the alleged strategy is working and that Kaffee's questions are making his witness look bad, essentially saying that the questioning should be stopped because Ross's witness is flunking. Third, it completely rejects the rights of the defendants.
** Kaffee's entire strategy of gambling that Jessup will lose his cool and admit that he ordered the Code Red is incredibly implausible and real lawyers don't do it because it's unbelievably stupid to base your entire argument on the hope that your crucial witness will do something that people in court never actually do, i.e. suddenly admit their guilt. It's somewhat understandable in that Kaffee's key witness was dead and he had no material evidence, meaning he had nothing left to lose by trying this tactic -- and even Kaffee himself looks shocked that it actually works -- but most of the time, the actual result would probably just be the witness invoking the Fifth Amendment. The longshot nature of this gamble is at least given a nod in Kaffee's conversation with Sam the previous night: Sam admits that neither he nor Lionel Kaffee would put Jessup on the stand, because not only is it extremely unlikely to pay off, it could result in severe consequences for Kaffee if it goes badly (and it nearly does; the judge holds Kaffee in contempt at one point).

** "{{Just following orders}}" is a valid defense in real life[[note]]Essentially, it's a defense to say you were ordered to do something unlawful, but only if you couldn't have known the order was unlawful[[/note]], but not to this extent; Dawson and Downey would still be liable for the manslaughter (minimum) of Santiago. Jessup's testimony incriminates him in addition to them. It would likely be offered in mitigation in sentencing, but it would not excuse them. This one is on the prosecution though: they charged the defendants with murder, not manslaughter, and murder requires intent. Since no poison was found, once it was established that the cause of death could have been an undiagnosed medical condition, intent could not be proven and the murder charge was, if you'll pardon the expression, dead on arrival.

** After being convicted of conduct unbecoming, Dawson and Downey are given a dishonorable discharge. In real-life, this would be seen as an act of DisproportionateRetribution, especially considering that the government had Jessup to make an example of, and would be what you'd expect them to receive (along with jail time) if they ''had'' set out to murder Santiago. The actual punishment would more likely be a bad conduct[[note]]Sometimes known as a less severe-sounding "other-than-honorable" discharge[[/note]] discharge, which "only" sees the recipient ejected from the military and stripped of all veterans' benefits; a dishonorable discharge additionally sees the recipient banned for life from owning any firearms, and is treated by many states as legally equivalent to a felony conviction.
** The subplot of Jessup arranging for the deletion of all records of a flight that could have taken Santiago off the base before he was murdered is complete and total nonsense. Bottom line, he's just a Colonel with a limited amount of authority, and trying to have tower records altered is something that would land him in more hot water than he could imagine. In addition, it was an ''Air Force'' flight, and in order to completely "erase" the flight, then the cargo manifest, list of passengers, flight plan, radio transmissions, fuel consumed, and the tower records for the Air Force base that the flight originated from, would ''all'' have to be erased. Isn't going to happen. There is some low-level muttering about the Marine brass covering for Jessup because he is on the fast track from promotion, but there's no way anyone would stick their neck out for him to that extent. Hell, just the act of contacting the Air Force base to try to have the tower records altered would trigger so many red flags and fireworks that he would be relieved of command and facing charges before the day was out.
*** The film tries to HandWave this by saying Jessup is about to be appointed to the National Security Council as the Director of Operations and thus he has enough political capital to be able to pull the necessary strings to make the records of the flight vanish. However this is actually averted in the original play; Jessup is able to cover up the flight taking off (which as the commander of the base, is at least slightly plausible) but ''not'' the flight landing, and Kaffee is able to obtain the logs of the latter through Markinson.
*** The HandWave detailed above runs into ArtisticLicenseMilitary, full stop. Jessup is a full Colonel, he ranks below all the General Officer ranks and would have little-to-no political capital. If there was any it would be held by senior Generals and Admirals. The only Marine on the Joint Chiefs is the Commandant of the Marine Corps. In addition, if Jessup was being considered for the NSC, the Marines wouldn't have him in Cuba, he'd be at the Pentagon in DC being groomed for the position.
** The idea that the Base Commander would be talking directly to a Platoon Leader about a Private and not involving the Company Commander at all is utterly bizarre, especially since the issue at hand is that the Private jumped the chain of command. The obvious implication of the scene is [[EstablishingCharacterMoment showcase from the get-go]] that Jessup is ''that'' much of a ControlFreak, considering all the other atrocities the plot ends up exposing about him, but regardless that can be a jarring detail if you know command structures.
** Kaffee states Jessup is wearing his "Class A dress uniform" in court, which Jessup confirms. He isn't. The green and khaki uniform Jessup is wearing is the Service A uniform; "Class A dress" is the Blue Dress A, the Marine Corps's iconic midnight blue coat, sky blue trousers with scarlet stripe, and a white peaked cap (or barracks cover), also known as Dress Blues. Dress Blues would be wildly inappropriate (and unauthorized) to wear in court (Service is the prescribed order of dress for serving on a court martial or attending an off-base criminal court).

* AsYouKnow: Delivered by Jessup to Markinson, but then played with in it allows him to get to the real point of what he’s trying to say:
-->'''Jessup:''' We go back a while. We went to the Academy together, we were commissioned together, we did our tours in Vietnam together. But I've been promoted up through the chain of command with greater speed and success than you have. Now if that's a source of tension or embarrassment for you, I don't give a shit. We're in the business of saving lives. Don't ever question my orders in front of another officer.

* AteHisGun: [[spoiler: Markinson]]'s alternative to testifying against Jessup because he feels that he failed to act sooner and refuses to betray his commander.
* AwfulTruth: Jessup's rant at the end is about why he admits his actions might disgust people, but he feels they are necessary to protect the nation.
* AxCrazy: Colonel Jessup. He orders a Code Red that ultimately kills a marine, doesn't flinch from the deaths of Santiago [[spoiler: or Markinson]], and, after his VillainousBreakdown, lunges screaming at Kaffee.

--> '''Col. Jessup:''' "You want to investigate me, roll the dice and take your chances. I eat breakfast 300 yards from 4,000 Cubans who are trained to kill me, so don't think for ''one second'' that you can come down here, flash your badge, and make me nervous."

** Kaffee uses ObfuscatingStupidity quite a bit on the Marines to either box them up or get their reactions. Unfortunately, Galloway clearly doesn't understand what he's doing and tips Kaffee's hand during the lunch with Jessup, clearly frustrating Kaffee.
** This also plays into the final scene in court, where Kaffee uses Jessup's hard-nosed reputation against him to set him up for the ArmorPiercingQuestion.

** Jessup responds to Kaffee telling him he needs Santiago’s transfer orders for his file by essentially biting his head off and insisting Kaffee ask “nicely”. While this plays into Jessup’s obsession that people take his authority as unquestionable, it also might have to do with [[spoiler: the fact that no such orders existed as Santiago was never going to be transferred and Kaffee asking for it forces Jessup to give him a fake one Markinson signed after Santiago’s death.]]
** Judge Randolph is a [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure remarkably neutral authority figure]] for most of the film, but even he doesn't take it lightly when Jessup mouths off to ''him'' one too many.
--->'''Jessup:''' I would appreciate it if he would address me as 'colonel' or 'sir'. I believe I've earned it.

--->'''Jessup:''' I don't know what the hell kind of unit you're running here...
--->'''Randolph:''' And the witness will address this court as 'judge' or 'your honor'. ''(gives Jessup a look)'' I'm quite certain ''I've'' earned it. Take your seat, ''Colonel''.
** Kendrick has the same flaw as Jessup. When Kaffee brings up how Dawson disobeyed an order to not bring food to a Marine on barracks restrictions and questions what exactly Dawson did wrong, he only responds with barely concealed rage at having his authority questioned and seems like he wants to physically attack Kaffee for doing so.
* BigBad: Col. Nathan Jessup. Dawson and Downey acted on his illegal orders and Kaffee and his legal team have to thwart his attempts to evade justice and throw them under the bus.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: [[spoiler: Jessup and Kendrick are certainly the villains here, issuing illegal orders and then denying involvement when things went awry. But Dawson and Downey both display practically no remorse over killing a fellow Marine (accident or not, they entered his cabin with intent to hurt and humiliate), sticking to their belief they did nothing wrong because they were following orders against a known screwup. In the end, they do receive just punishment (a dishonorable discharge) and Dawson realizes it's fair, even if Downey probably would have gone to his grave thinking he was in the right if Dawson didn't spell it out for him. Even Santiago, though put in a difficult situation, was willing to rat on a fellow marine, the one who wouldn't allow the others to harass him no less, for his own benefit, and may have been knowingly lying about the nature of Dawson's fence shooting in order to get transferred out. None of the three parties come out looking all that great.]]
* BluffingTheMurderer: Kaffee brings in a pair of {{Surprise Witness}}es to help pressure Jessup at the end. [[spoiler: They don't have any actual information.]]

* BrokenSystemDogmatist: [[spoiler: Jessup. When Kaffee finally has him on the ropes, Jessup angrily rants that he is the only one keeping America safe from its enemies, and if anyone has to die to do it, so be it.]]

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: Santiago's closet at the crime scene at the start leads to Kaffee's EurekaMoment when he goes to retrieve the baseball bat at the end of the movie and looks up at his own array of uniforms and begin SpottingTheThread needed to challenge Jessup's story. For a guy who had been begging and pleading for a unit transfer and had supposedly received word he was finally getting his wish and was leaving on the first flight out the next day, why were Santiago's personal belongings and uniforms still squared away as though he wasn't leaving at 6 AM?]]

--> '''Kendrick''': "I have two books at my bedside, Lieutenant: the Marine Corps Code of Conduct and the King James Bible. The only proper authorities I am aware of are my commanding officer, Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, and the Lord our God."

* CoDragons: Markinson is Jessup's OnlySaneMan counsel who tried to offer reasonable, legal options for dealing with Santiago while Kendrick is his attack dog who was more than eager to follow the brutish commands of his colonel.
* ColonelKilgore: Being a man who eats breakfast three hundred yards away from men who are trained to kill him, Colonel Jessup feels that he is fighting a war all the time to protect America and will not have his methods questioned, no matter how disgusting or illegal.
* CourtMartialed: The entire premise of the movie. Kaffee's HeroicBSOD included saying to Galloway that putting Jessup on the stand and failing would get ''him'' court-martialed.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Jessup serves as one of these on the concept of a ColonelKilgore who is essentially given a blank check to do anything he wants [[IDidWhatIHadToDo as long as it is for the sake of national defense]]. In having this mindset, however, he practically steps on everything he claimed to uphold for the sake of his own ego, and then, when a call ''he'' made ended up killing one of the Marines under his command, [[DirtyCoward he immediately throws two other Marines (also under his command) under the bus and follows up by doing everything in his power to cover up his involvement.]] Suffice to say, instead of being AFatherToHisMen who had to make a tough call, he comes across as a cowardly, egotistical, incompetent commander [[TheNeidermeyer who shouldn't have been trusted to run an outhouse let alone a military prison]] whose ego and pettiness killed a young man whose worst crime was that he wasn't as cut out for the Corps as he thought.

** Jessup, who despite his claims of toughness, was willing to throw two Marines under a bus to protect himself.
** Markinson believes so strongly that Jessup will do anything to win the case and has connections powerful enough to do so (even if it doesn't makes sense--see ArtisticLicenseMilitary above) that he goes on the lam, provides his info to Kaffee Deep Throat-style, prefers to blow his brains out rather than testify when the latter subpoenas him. In his suicide note (to Santiago's mother), he states "the only truth that you need to know is that I was too weak-willed to prevent your kid's death".

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Done early, and it sets the stage for the critical plot point later. While discussing Santiago, transferring him off the base to just get rid of the problem comes up. This clearly pisses off Jessup, who starts saying they should just transfer everyone, shut down the base, and withdraw from Cuba completely. Taking it up a notch, he calls for one of the Marines in the outer office to come in and starts telling him to call the President and inform him that he's shutting the base down and sending everyone home. While his voice is dripping with sarcasm, the important part of the scene is that the Marine he is addressing ''does not bat an eye'' and turns around when Jessup is done, fully prepared to go call the President. Jessup has to stop him and specifically tell him ''not'' to call the President before he can let him leave the room. Bottom line, Jessup's orders are ''always'' obeyed. As everyone knows, this fact comes back to bite him in the ass hard.
** A more plausible alternative explanation, however, is that it was not the first time when an impulsive Jessup sarcastically gave insane orders, so the subordinate just knew that the reverse order would be incoming in a few seconds and didn't actually intend to call anyone in the first place. If you look at Markinson's reaction, you can tell that he knew that his cause was entirely lost the second Jessup began to give the order.

** Played with yet ultimately subverted in regards to Jessup's opinion of Kendrick. He confides to Markinson in private that that he thinks Kendrick is a “weasel” but given Jessup approves of and even encourages Kendrick’s worst behaviors, it’s hard to figure out exactly what about Kendrick he finds distasteful.
** Played straight when Jessup expresses genuine respect for Kaffee’s father for winning a landmark desegregation case.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When the member of the court exits the courtroom after [[spoiler: Jessup confesses]], his reaction is not anger or denial, but confusion at something that strikes him as ridiculous, asking "Colonel, what the hell is this? I did my job and I'd do it again" with the bored irritation as if [[ButForMeItWasTuesday someone just stole one of his French fries at lunchtime.]]

* FailedFutureForecast: Can affect perceptions of Jessup's attitude. The play was written in the mid-'80s, but the Soviet Union broke up during the production of the film, which makes it even ''less'' likely that the Cuban Revolutionary Army forces on the other side of the Guantanamo perimeter fence would be stupid enough to pick a fight with Jessup's Marines: said another way, Cuba's most significant military ally was in no position to back them up even if it ''wanted'' to be the aggressor in WorldWarIII. But Jessup still appears to think the Cold War could go hot at any moment.

** With Jessup, it's the fact that he's a GungHolierThanThou hard-ass that doesn't tolerate his orders being questioned in any way, shape or form nor anybody else in the military performing in a way he thinks is poorly (even if justified because of such reasons like bad health or ''[[HeManWomanHater being a woman]]''). He's so arrogant that when Kaffee asks him if he ordered the code red, Judge Randolph tells him he doesn't have to answer the question... and Jessup answers it anyway because he's that ''proud'' of what he did.
** With Markinson, it's his UndyingLoyalty to Jessup even in the face of a crime that he acknowledges is going too far (and so when he's confronted with having to testify, and thus betray Jessup, [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide he decides to take the coward's way out]] and [[ItsAllMyFault puts the blame on his lack of willpower to prevent it on his letter to Santiago's mother]]]]).

** With Jo, it's her KnightTemplar tendencies (that made her refuse any and all plea options and go straight to court, which could have gotten Dawson and Downey executed or imprisoned for life and may have gotten Kaffee a black mark on his file, be expelled from the Navy or worse if his courtroom antics hadn't worked) and desire to catch those actually responsible for Santiago's death and other misconducts on Gitmo (namely Jessup), even if that is not the actual objective of her assignment and she's embarrassingly wet behind the ears as a JAG attorney (doubly so as a Lieutenant Commander, a grade which requires at least 12 years in the service to reach).
* FauxAffablyEvil: Jessup is polite and charming when he wants to be, which only makes his volatile personality and complete willingness to sacrifice people for his own gain more terrifying.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Markinson criticises Kendrick over his handling of "the Curtis Bell incident" in the first meeting the pair have with Jessup about Santiago. This incident forms the basis of Kaffee's questioning of Kendrick in the courtroom and is revealed to have been a Code Red.

* GeneralRipper: Colonel Jessup towards the Cubans whose island his base is on. He essentially can't accept that the UsefulNotes/ColdWar is over (and that the Cuban government isn't stupid enough to try and restart it) and is constantly on guard as if he was stationed in the Korean DMZ. This mentality combined with his GungHolierThanThou attitude is shown to filter down to the troops.

* HamToHamCombat: The famous climactic scene between Kaffee and Jessup. Even Jack Ross gets in on the action.

** Col. Jessup isn't that far behind him. His ''only'' redeeming quality is that some of the arguments he makes are not completely wrong. Personality-wise though? He's an arrogant, misogynistic, petulant, narcissistic bully, whose incompetence [[spoiler: indirectly led to the death of one of his men, which he then attempted to cover up by throwing two more of his men under the bus.]]
** Lt Kendrick is almost as bad as Jessup, being a rude, egotistical weasel who represents every terrible stereotype about Marines. He doesn't even pretend to be charming or less of a macho dickhead like Jessup does.
* HeManWomanHater: Jessup is a sexist, [[SarcasmMode in addition to all of his other winning qualities.]]

* HesBack: Downey's terrible examination for the defence combined with [[spoiler:the suicide of their star witness Markinson]] causes Kaffee to get drunk and blame their seemingly inevitable defeat on Galloway. Weinberg's reminiscing about Kaffee's father and encouragement that only Kaffee could put Jessup on the stand ''and win'' enables him to mend fences and build towards winning the case.

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Jessup ends up being his own worst enemy.

** For all of his talk about how Marines never disobey orders, Jessup thinks nothing of ignoring the orders of his own superiors because he thinks he knows better. He lectures about loyalty yet is more than willing to throw two of his men under the bus to save his own hide. Best illustrated when he insists on being addressed by his proper rank in court and given the respect he feels he's earned before mouthing off and openly disrespecting the judge who responds with barely concealed rage.

* IndyPloy: Ultimately, all the false transfers, doctored logs, and witness testimonies mean nothing in regards to proving the case. Kaffee's last-minute hail mary to Jessup's ego saves the day.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Jessup has this in spades. He has no remorse for ordering a weak marine killed and only becomes angry when his validity as a soldier is questioned or his orders disobeyed.

** Col Jessup. Aside from being the villain, he's also a colossal jerk to his underlings.
** Also Kendrick. He's equally unpleasant to Kaffee and Galloway and becomes equally incensed when his authority is remotely questioned and he doesn't even have Jessup's [[FauxAffablyEvil false charm]]. Even Jessup refers to him as a "weasel".

** Jessup is right that, as tragic and undeserving as Santiago's death was, Santiago was a substandard Marine and his incompetence was a burden to his unit. Somewhat subverted in that it’s clear that Santiago has some sort of medical condition that should necessitate a medical board discharge from the Marines but Jessup won’t even entertain a transfer from the unit.
** Jessup makes a minor salient point when he castigates Markinson for directly disagreeing with him in front of a junior officer/platoon leader, which is considered poor form in the military. He condescendingly reminds Markinson that he's "been promoted up through the chain of command with greater speed and success" than Markinson, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.
** Jessup was also right about officers being responsible for training the people under their command. While Santiago's problem was medical, Jessup had no way of knowing that. Had he gone about it the right way, deciding to help a substandard officer get better instead of shipping him off to be someone else's problem could have been considered the more noble approach.

* KnightTemplar: Colonel Jessup. He reiterates several times throughout the movie the phrase "We're in the business of saving lives," indicating that he truly believes he's doing the right thing. The view in his courtroom speech might be a reasonable statement of the unique role of the military in protecting a free society and the compromises that come with that. [[spoiler: When that turned into ordering assaults on his own men and covering it up...]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Jessup getting charged with Santiago's death after trying to pin it on Dawson and Downey.]]

* {{Manchild}}: Jessup is remarkably childish for a full bird colonel in the United States Marine Corps. Not only is he a HeManWomanHater, a {{Narcissist}}, and an imperious, contemptuous asshole in just casual conversation, he also seems to actively undermine his superior officers out of sheer egotism and acts more like an arrogant, callous, power-mad, self-absorbed, self-important school-yard bully than an actual commanding officer. Becomes most painfully obvious during [[spoiler: his VillainousBreakdown at the end of the film, where he actually to tries to ''physically assault'' Kaffee in a courtroom filled with people the moment it sinks in that for once things aren't going to go his way.]]
** PsychopathicManchild: This is ultimately what Jessup is, an immature man who believes he has the right to act however he wants and shows no respect for anyone else.
* MassOhCrap: When [[spoiler: Jessup confesses]], the whole courtroom goes ''dead silent''. Galloway looks like she's seen a ghost, Jack Ross looks like he's about to cry, and Kaffee's expression is a mixture of "I cannot believe that actually worked" and "you guys all saw that too, right?"
* MeaningfulEcho: Jo twice emphasised her superior position of Special Counsel for Internal Affairs. The first time she pushed her way into the Dawson/Downey case even though Kaffee was assigned as lead counsel. The second time, she warned Kaffee that his last ditch attempt to coax the truth out of Jessup could end badly, this time out of genuine concern.

** The chain of command for the Gitmo Marines is incredibly strange. For a situation involving a Private’s death, the Company Commander (the officer that should theoretically exist between Col. Jessup and Lt. Kendrick) is nowhere to be found. The idea that a full bird Colonel would be communicating directly to a Platoon Leader about an enlisted is laughable.
* MirandaRights: Ross recites these after [[spoiler:Jessup confesses on the stand]].

* MotiveRant: Jessup's rant is all about why he feels his actions were necessary.

* MyMasterRightOrWrong: This is the Marine's code ("[[SemperFi Semper Fidelis]]" - Always Faithful/Loyal) and is integral to the chain of command as highlighted in the film; you obey your superior officers no matter ''what'' or people die. Colonel Jessup hides behind this code as justification for his actions and uses it to command absolute obedience from all his men. It ultimately comes back to bite him when he can't explain the actions of Lance Corporal Dawson and PFC Downey who gave Private Santiago an illegal "Code Red" disciplinary punishment which killed him. On the one hand, he insists that he gave orders that Santiago was not to be harmed, and on the other hand, he was arranging for Santiago to be transferred to another base to prevent him from being harmed[[note]]Or so he claims[[/note]]: if his orders are always followed, why did he have to protect Santiago by transferring him to another base? It is this key point that Lieutenant Kaffee uses to put Jessup in a bind and force him to admit the truth via the ArmorPiercingQuestion.
* {{Narcissist}}: Jessup goes ''beyond'' even having a massive god complex. He disobeys his superior officers because he thinks he knows better than them, loves to hear himself talk, rather flippantly exploits others for his own gain, has a '''colossally''' overblown sense of self-importance, seems to think he and he alone is somehow 'special,' ("I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom.") demands excessive admiration and unquestioned obedience he clearly doesn't deserve, displays arrogance and haughtiness to his peers as well as his underlings, is an EntitledBastard, displays a clear LackOfEmpathy, and is seemingly incapable of even ''considering the mere possibility'' that he is ever wrong about ''anything.'' Even when confronted with irrefutable evidence that he is, he simply blames everyone else.
** Kaffee lampshades this the morning that followed his decision to call Jessup in court: he knows, after having met Jessup only ''once'', that the guy qualifies, mentioning Jessup's speech about the fact that he doesn't need medals (something he seems to take an even greater pride in than actual medals) and his BadassBoast; that's also how he knows Jessup will come in court, he just love to tell others how important he and his duty are.
** "You have to ask me nicely. See, I can deal with the bullets, the bombs and the blood. I don't want money and I don't want medals. What I do want is for you to stand there, in that faggoty white uniform, and with your Harvard mouth, extend me some fucking courtesy". Self-obsession and pride seems to be the only things that keep Jessup going.
* TheNeidermeyer: Colonel Jessup and Lieutenant Kendrick. Neither show the honor and loyalty to their troops which they espouse and would sooner have one physically punished illegally and so dangerously that he dies from the encounter which they then cover up, rather than send him away on point of principle.
* NeverMyFault: Many of the Marines suffer from this, believing that they are above reproach because of the nature of their work and their ultimately good intentions. Jessup is the worst for it. Even after admitting to being behind Santiago's death, he's still incensed at being held responsible for it, blaming Kaffee, whom he accuses of endangering the country by having him arrested. Dawson and Downey have an extreme case of this as well, but grow out of it by the end.
* NiceGuy: Captain Ross, who completely lacks any dark or unlikable traits, especially when compared to [[NeverMyFault many of his fellow marines.]] Jessup and Kendrick disgust him and he takes exception to Kaffee comparing him to them simply because they 'wear the same uniform.' He is on good terms with Kaffee and gives him solid advice throughout the film. It's hard to even consider him a PunchClockVillain since Downey and Dawson, the two marines he is prosecuting, while sympathetic, ''did'' through their own actions cause the death of a fellow marine by pulling an unofficial hazing drill on him that proved fatal. Hell, amongst the major supporting marine characters, he could probably be considered the TokenGoodTeammate for the Corps. When tasked to [[spoiler: apprehend Lt. Kendrick]], he’s practically beaming.

* NotHisSled: In the play, [[spoiler: Kaffee exposes Jessup because Markinson sent him the flight log book from Andrews Air Force Base, which Jessup forgot to change to match the GITMO book, indicating that the earlier flight Santiago could have been on did in fact exist.]] In the film, [[spoiler: Jessup remembered to do this, so instead Kaffee exposes him by pointing out a flaw in Jessup's testimony: If Jessup ordered that Santiago was not to be harassed by his squad and Jessup's orders are always followed without question, then why would Santiago be in danger of being harmed and have to be transferred?]]
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Jessup sees the Code Red as an invaluable tool in keeping discipline at Guantanamo Bay, which, in turn, will keep his troops alive and America safe. He even claims that Santiago's death potentially saved many lives though given the US isn’t at war with Cuba, ''whose'' lives are being saved isn’t exactly clear. In reality, he is just a colossal {{Jerkass}} with an ego who is mad that anyone questions his ability to do whatever the hell he wants, up to and including brutalising his own men and accidentally killing them.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Kaffee does this quite a bit while at Gitmo to keep Kendrick and Jessup from suspecting that he's legitimately considering them as culprits in Santiago's death. Galloway's earnest grilling kind of ruins it though to Kaffee's annoyance.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Jessup dabbles in this. Aside from refusing to transfer Santiago off base, he has the Tower Chief's logs doctored to conceal a flight.
* OhCrap: Played with: after [[spoiler: Jessup confesses]], the look on ''Kaffee's'' face is a mixture of righteous indignation and this. It takes him a moment to recover. Understandable, considering what he just pulled off.
** Jessup has a few when Kaffee begins to PullTheThread during his examination and reveal the flaws/lies in his story.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Kaffee grills Jessup in court over the Code Red, Ross breaks his PunchClockVillain persona shouting "DAMMIT KAFFEE!!!", in a tone that shows more worry than anger. He broke character because he was afraid Kaffee was going too far and was trying to snap him out of it.

* PatrioticFervor: Jessup's justification for his actions.

* PetTheDog: During questioning, Colonel Jessup answers questions about [[RuleOfThree three phone calls]]. The first two calls are about the military. The third one turns out to be a call to his sister asking her if she wanted to have dinner. For all his flaws as a soldier, he seems to be a decent enough brother. Additionally, when the defence team are down in Cuba Jessup presents himself as an admirer of Kaffee's late father for his work defending civil rights. He's also NiceToTheWaiter.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Col. Jessup's speech about superior officers is shockingly misogynist. Interestingly, Jessup was also wrong. Dr. Antonia Novello was the US Surgeon General when ''A Few Good Men'' was released. As the head of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Surgeons General always hold the rank of vice admiral. Jessup would have been required by law to salute her. Grace Hopper, still living at the time of the film's release, was promoted to Commodore on 15 Dec 1983 and her rank converted to Rear Admiral (Lower Half) when the rank of Commodore went away in 1985. Jessup would also have been required to salute her. Jessup also calling Kaffee's uniform "faggoty" won't win him the audience's sympathy either. Though his respect for Lionel Kaffee's civil rights work implies that, horrible as he is, [[EvenEvilHasStandards at least he's not a racist]].

** Ross even reveals he doesn't think Downey and Dawson should go to jail but he still has a job to do. He also seems to really dislike Kendrick and Jessup as much as Kaffee does, as at one point he tells Kaffee, "Don't you dare lump me in with them just because we wear the same uniform." He even seems happy to be [[spoiler: heading off to arrest Kendrick at the end.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The original stage production had Kaffee respond to Jessup's MotiveRant as follows:

** Thanks to the film's omission of the above response to Jessup's MotiveRant, many people miss the point of the film's most famous scene: Yes, Jessup thinks he’s justified in doing what he does-- but '''he isn't'''. Not by the honour-code of his organisation, nor the legal system of his country, let alone most personal moral codes.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Markinson quietly objects to Colonel Jessup's hardline attitude and actions towards his men, but is too spineless to stand up to him or call him out when he causes the death of Private Santiago.
** Meanwhile, Judge Randolph is, well, a judge and so stays neutral, never showing preference for either side and giving everyone a fair chance and as much leeway as he can. What makes him this instead of a prop with dialog is the fact that he makes clear he will ''not'' tolerate disrespect and in his courtroom, ''he'' is the one who calls the shots, not Jessup:
--->'''Jessup:''' ''Colonel''.\\

'''Jessup:''' I would appreciate it if he would address me as 'colonel' or 'sir'. I believe I've earned it.\\

'''Jessup:''' I don't know what the hell kind of unit you're running here...\\
'''Randolph:''' And the witness will address this court as 'judge' or 'your honor'. *gives Jessup a look* I'm quite certain ''I've'' earned it. Take your seat, Colonel.

* SarcasticWellWishing: Col. Jessup does this as part of his VillainousBreakdown: after trying to outright attack Kaffee, he then sarcastically compliments him for his getting him arrested with as much restraint as he can muster.

* SanitySlippage: From the moment Jessup enters the courtroom onward all the little psychological cracks he works so hard to hide start unraveling, culminating in his frothing MotiveRant and subsequent VillainousBreakdown.

* ShutUpHannibal: After Jessup was [[spoiler: placed under arrest]], Kaffee delivers this line:

* SmallNameBigEgo: Colonel Jessup, relatively speaking. Jessup is the base commander at Guantanamo Bay, a fairly important posting (note that the movie predates UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror) which at least de facto borders enemy territory, and has a large contingent of Marines under his command. However, this isn't nearly enough for a man of Jessup's inflated sense of importance: he constantly plays up how he's supposedly "on the wall" defending civilization from such terrifying enemies as [[SarcasmMode the Cubans]] and how he, a mere colonel, understands how to defend the nation (in peacetime!) better than anyone alive.
* SmugSnake: Jessup and Kendrick
* SociopathicSoldier: Like Colonel Jessup, Lieutenant Kendrick is callous, cruel, and entirely without scruples. He lacks Jessup's outward charm though, so his nastiness is far more obvious.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Both Galloway and Dawson are this to Jessup's friends in the Pentagon's attempts to handle Santiago's death quietly. Galloway for insisting that Kaffee actually give his clients' due diligence for once instead of rushing straight to the plea bargin, Dawson for telling Kaffee to take his plea bargain and shove it.
** Galloway also serves as this for Kaffee during their trip to Cuba. While Kaffee is trying to play dumb to keep Jessup and Kendrick off the scent that he’s looking into then as guilty parties, Galloway’s sincere grilling of them puts them on alert anyway, much to Kaffee’s frustrations.

** A straighter example emerges during Jessup's initial questioning, in which Kaffee points out that Jessup had packed quite a few items for a one-day trip - while Santiago hadn't done any packing whatsoever, despite his reported imminent transfer out of Guantanamo.
* StrawMisogynist: Jessup makes [[StayInTheKitchen chauvinistic]] comments about Galloway and military women in general ''right to her face.'' To say nothing of his disparaging remarks about Kaffee's "faggoty white uniform." It's pretty clear that Nathan Jessup thinks anyone who isn't Nathan Jessup is beneath him.

* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: When disrespect is shown between Kaffee and Jessup, Judge Randolph immediately sets everyone straight. After Kaffee is corrected and Jessup is seen smirking, Randolph immediately and tersely reminds him that he is in charge, sternly telling him, "(T)he witness will address this court as 'judge' or 'your honor'. *gives Jessup a look* I'm quite certain ''I've'' earned it. Take your seat, Colonel." Not entirely incidentally, things begin to go downhill for Jessup right after.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The MotiveRant that undoes Col. Jessup was the best-known moment of the movie before it came out, due to "You can't handle the truth!" being such a catchy line.

** Colonel Jessup ordered the Code Red on the victim, Willy Santiago, because he tried to exchange incriminating information against a transfer, but then automatically sacrifice those who loyally apply that order.

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Averted, where the night before Jessup is put on the stand, the lawyers have an onscreen meeting about their plan to make him confess, and the next day it's executed perfectly. Roger Ebert cited this as a flaw in the film, saying it's no fun if nothing goes wrong after you've already heard what's going to happen.
** There is a tiny bit of a speed bump, in that before they go into court that day, Galloway takes Kaffee aside and tells him he should back off of Jessup if he feels like he's not going to crack, and then during the questioning, Jessup's being really intimidating, Kaffee momentarily loses his nerve, Weinberg gives him a little shake of the head, Jessup gets up and starts to leave... and ''then'' Kaffee pulls it together and takes us home.
*** Although, before resuming the questioning, as Jessup is walking to sit back down, Kaffee pours himself a glass of water and drinks it, barely capable of holding his hand from shaking as he does. There was no guarantee it was going to succeed; the only guarantee was that, if it didn't, Kaffee was in for ''severe'' consequences.
** Besides, the look on Kaffee's face when [[spoiler: Jessup confesses]], and that speed bump, shows it wasn't executed perfectly, it just turned out how Kaffee hoped.

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: To Colonel Jessup, the only safe America is one that allows him to do whatever he thinks is necessary to protect it, with nobody allowed to question his methods or judgement, and if a Willie Santiago dies because of it, that’s fine.

* TheVietnamVet: Jessup and Markinson are managed as having served in Vietnam together.
* VillainousBreakdown: Jessup has [[MotiveRant his famous rant]], but the real breakdown comes right after when the unflappable Colonel [[spoiler: finds he is being charged with Santiago's death and then lunges screaming at Kaffee, who doesn't even bat an eyelash.]]
-->Col. Jessup: I'M GOING TO RIP THE EYES OUT OF YOUR HEAD ''AND PISS INTO YOUR DEAD SKULL!'' YOU ''FUCKED'' WITH THE '''WRONG''' MARINE!

* VillainousValor: Jessup is a ''complete'' piece of shit, but one of the ribbons on his uniform is that of the Navy Cross, awarded only for extraordinary heroism in combat. It does absolutely nothing to justify his utterly craven moral cowardice, however.

* WhamLine: "He was never going to be transferred off that base" from Markinson changes everything for the defence, giving them a real weapon with which to fight back. InUniverse only, however, since the audience already knows Jessup had no intention of transferring Santiago.
** Jessup’s confession on the stand shocks the whole courtroom, including Kaffee, despite employing ThePerryMasonMethod. Kaffee is so visibly shocked that it worked, that it takes him a few moments to recover and seek a recess so Jessup can be formally arrested.
* WorthyOpponent: Subtle, but the look that Jessup gives Kaffee in the end once he realizes Jessup played him is a mix of anger, hatred, and...admiration. Make no mistake, if there was no one between him and Kaffee, Jessup would have throttled him on the spot, but, perhaps for the first and last time in the film, he sees the lawyer as the cunning, and equal, adversary that Kaffee really was.

''A Few Good Men'' is a 1989 play written by Creator/AaronSorkin, which was later made into a 1992 film directed by Creator/RobReiner and starring Creator/TomCruise, Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/DemiMoore. It is a military-themed courtroom drama in which young navy lawyer Daniel Kaffee (Cruise) defends Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) and Louden Downey (James Marshall), two Marines accused of murdering fellow Marine William Santiago at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. The accused, however, say they were acting under orders from Col. Nathan Jessup (Nicholson).

** Kaffee wouldn't be court-martialed for asking officers on the witness stand, no matter how highly-ranked, whether they committed a crime. If he gets out of line, the prosecution will object and the judge will decide if the court allows such questioning. However, defense lawyers are allowed to make such questions and not face any kind of court-martial. On the other hand, Kaffee was drunk at the time and in a catastrophic mood due to Markinson's suicide.

* ImproperlyPlacedFirearms: Lt. Colonel Markinson commits suicide with a nickel-plated Beretta [=92SB=]. While this is a fairly common stand-in for the [=M9=] variant of the Beretta 92 and is only really visually distinguishable by the rounder trigger guard, later on in court, it's mentioned that Markinson used a .45. This is probably due to the original play being written in the late eighties, only a few years after the [=M1911A1=] was replaced. It was probably originally supposed to be this, but the script was probably never updated.

** Meanwhile, Judge Randolph is, well, a judge and so stays neutral, never showing preference for either side. What makes him this instead of a prop with dialog is the fact that he makes clear he will ''not'' tolerate disrespect and in his courtroom, ''he'' is the one who calls the shots, not Jessup:

* HesBack: Downey's terrible examination for the defence causes Kaffee to get drunk and blame their seemingly inevitable defeat on Galloway. Weinberg's reminiscing about Kaffee's father and encouragement that only Kaffee could put Jessup on the stand ''and win'' enables him to mend fences and build towards winning the case.

* NeverMyFault: Many of the Marines suffer from this, believing that they are above reproach because of the nature of their work and their ultimately good intentions. Jessup is the worst for it. Even after admitting to being behind Santiago's death, he's still incensed at being held responsible for it, blaming Kaffee. Dawson and Downey have an extreme case of this as well, but grow out of it by the end.