William Friedkin's (The Exorcist/The Hunted) last film (which he adapted as well) currently airing on Showtime. In essence, this is the trial section of the Caine Mutiny where we now have Kiefer Sutherland stepping into Humphrey Bogart's shoes to play Captain Queeg as his leadership is brought into question when during a tumultuous sea storm, he was relieved of command by his subordinate, Jake Lacy. Lacy engages a defense attorney, Jason Clarke, to help him in his court proceedings as the prosecutor, Monica Raymund, lays out the case to bolster Sutherland's claims of systemic sabotage & undermining by his staff (yes we get the stolen strawberries rant!) while the tribunal judges (which include the late, great Lance Reddick & perennial combat advisor for film Dale Dye) hear the case. If you know the Herman Wouk story enough (I remember seeing it in film school for a courtroom on film course), the case itself feels chapter & verse of the original tome w/some changes to reflect current times but being the original film had cutaways to the actual incident at sea, Friedkin's approach feels more like a precursor to A Few Good Men (Aaron Sorkin would probably agree his signature creation owes a lot to Wouk's work) which is admirable for those seeking out a bare bones court drama full stop. Considering this is a more measured Friedkin outing (his Rampage feature from the late 80's also had a court case in the center of a serial killer yarn), you couldn't do any worse w/a celebrated auteur's final work.
Review of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
