A Few Good Men Page #29

Synopsis: Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is a military lawyer defending two U.S. Marines charged with killing a fellow Marine at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Although Kaffee is known for seeking plea bargains, a fellow lawyer, Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore), convinces him that the accused marines were most likely carrying out an order from a commanding officer. Kaffee takes a risk by calling Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) to the stand in an effort to uncover the conspiracy.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Production: Columbia Pictures
  Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 26 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.7
Metacritic:
62
Rotten Tomatoes:
81%
R
Year:
1992
138 min
3,779 Views


JO:

My third case was a Drunk and

Disorderly. The trial lasted nine

weeks. I rounded up 31 people who

were in the bar that night.

KAFFEE:

Nine weeks on a D and D? What was

the prosecutor offering?

JO:

15 days.

KAFFEE:

(pause)

Well, you sure hustled the sh*t outta

him.

JO:

After that, they moved me to internal

affairs.

KAFFEE:

Tough to blame them.

JO:

Where I've earned two distinguished

service medals and two letters of

commendation.

KAFFEE:

Why are you always giving me your

resume?

JO:

Because I want you to think I'm good

lawyer.

KAFFEE:

I do.

JO:

No you don't.

(beat)

I think you're an exceptional lawyer.

I watch the jurors, they respond to

you, they like you. I see you

convincing them. I think Dawson and

Downey are gonna end up owing their

lives to you.

KAFFEE:

(pause)

Jo... I think you have to prepare

yourself for the fact that we're

gonna lose.

(beat)

Ross's opening speech, it was all

true.

(beat)

I mean, let's pretend for a minute

that it would actually matter to

this jury that the guys were given

an order. We can't prove it ever

happened.

(beat)

We'll keep doing what we're doing,

and we'll put on a show, but at the

end of the day, all we have is the

testimony of two people accused of

murder.

JO:

We'll find Markinson.

KAFFEE:

Jo, we're gonna lose. And we're gonna

lose huge.

We HOLD on then for a moment, and in VOICE OVER hear

HOWARD (V.O.)

Corporal Jeffrey Owen Howard, Marine

Barracks Windward, Guantanamo Bay,

Cuba.

CUT TO:

CORPORAL HOWARD, the young marine who drove the lawyers around

Cuba, is on the stand.

KAFFEE:

Corporal Howard, name some reasons

why a marine would get a code red?

HOWARD:

Being late for platoon or company

meetings, keeping his barracks in

disorder, falling back on a run...

KAFFEE:

Have you ever received a code red?

HOWARD:

Yes sir. We were doing seven man

assault drills, and my weapon slipped.

It's just cause it was over a hundred

degrees and my palms were sweaty and

I'd forgot to use the resin like we

were taught.

KAFFEE:

And what happened?

HOWARD:

That night the guys in my squad threw

a blanket over me and took turns

punching me in the arm for five

minutes. Then they poured glue on my

hands. And it worked, too, 'cause I

ain't never dropped my weapon since.

KAFFEE:

Was Private Santiago ever late for

platoon meetings?

HOWARD:

Yes sir.

KAFFEE:

Was his barracks ever in disorder?

HOWARD:

Yes sir.

KAFFEE:

Did he ever fall back on a run?

HOWARD:

All the time, sir.

KAFFEE:

Did he ever, prior to the night of

August 6th, receive a code red?

HOWARD:

No sir.

KAFFEE:

(beat)

Never?

HOWARD:

No, sir.

KAFFEE:

You got a code red 'cause your palms

were sweaty. Why didn't Santiago,

this burden to his unit, ever get

one?

HOWARD:

Dawson wouldn't allow it, sir.

KAFFEE:

Dawson wouldn't allow it.

HOWARD:

The guys talked tough about Santiago,

but they wouldn't go near him. They

were too afraid of Dawson, sir.

ROSS:

Object. The witness is characterizing.

KAFFEE:

I'll rephrase. Jeffrey, did you ever

want to give Santiago a code red?

Rate this script:4.0 / 7 votes

Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter, producer, and playwright. His works include the Broadway plays A Few Good Men and The Farnsworth Invention; the television series Sports Night, The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and The Newsroom; and the films A Few Good Men, The American President, Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, Moneyball, and Steve Jobs. more…

All Aaron Sorkin scripts | Aaron Sorkin Scripts

1 fan

Submitted by acronimous on May 18, 2016

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "A Few Good Men" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 30 Jan. 2025. <https://www.scripts.com/script/a_few_good_men_160>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    A Few Good Men

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    In screenwriting, what does "FADE IN:" signify?
    A A transition between scenes
    B The end of the screenplay
    C The beginning of the screenplay
    D A camera movement