The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

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It's not a good movie. It's not really that bad a movie either, but only for the performance of Keifer Sutherland. For that alone it is worth a watch. The concept is ok, update a WWII classic to modern times. But it can't be done, times have changed too much, what was plausible in the 1940's just won't carry water anymore. Suspend disbelief, you say? Sure, for just about anything other than a historical war drama, where the plot must marry the history or it just doesn't come off. It doesn't. Even then, it could have used some better writing. In the original, Barney really does torpedo the old man. Here, the lawyers have a lot of strong words, but are just bystanders watching Queeq destroy himself. That's what really left me flat, all the hot air around Sutherland's outstanding performance. Not as good as Bogart, of course, but no one should be held to that standard. For the times, it could not have been better. So why was it made? I read all the great things about the director's final film, and sure, he made some good ones, but this frankly is sub-par for greatness. Left scratching my head.

Without revealing spoilers (the ending spoils things quite well enough all on its own), let's just say you'd be much better off reading the 1954 novel "The Caine Mutiny" instead... This film adaptation attempts to modernize the book's story, which was originally set in WWII era, Pacific Theater, whereas the film is current time, Middle Eastern seas. The modernization itself wasn't really the problem per se, but it definitely didn't help that some of the events differed too much to properly illustrate the characters' mental states and reasonings behind their actions/behaviors. The main problem with the adaptation arises from the fact that it only covers the court martial trial, cutting out huge chunks of the story both before and after the trial in the book... This robs the film of the contextual explanations necessary to fully make sense of the ending; which, in the novel, are revealed by the cut story sections, as the reader is led to compare and contrast the different events that occur for the key characters (Queeg, Keefer, Maryk, etc). Without the rest of the book's story, the conclusions drawn by and the actions of defense attorney Greenwald (in the film's ending) seem way out of line with what appears to have been the truth, as is revealed to viewers during the film version's trial-only storyline. The result, in my opinion, is an ending that feels confused and disjointed; and ultimately stains an otherwise great courtroom procedural drama...

This comes across more as a high school play than a remake of a classic. Lacking any flash back scenes on board. Those were the scenes that made the movie. Grit realization that in the midst of mounting waves the captain descends into indecision. Missing the pitch and roll of fear in the middle of the tempest left this a cheap deflated remake. I actually found myself jumping through the movie looking for those scenes that would make this a remake worth watching and I just didn't find it. As a high school play turned into a movie I've seen better. Even the good actors couldn't pull this out of the drain.

The weirdest part about this movie is that Kiefer Sutherland gives by far the best performance. Delivering pretty much every minute of it from a chair, he manages to convey the tension of restrained/unhinged quite effectively. The other actors are less impressive, particularly Lance Reddick and Monica Raymund. And the ending is incredibly lame. They do a good job of moving it to the modern day, while still following the book quite well (as far as I recall, anyway-it's been a few decades since I read it). And the decision to focus entirely on the court martial is a good one, turning what could have been an expansive, huge-budget fiasco into a taut <2hr suspense flick. Nicely done.

William Friedkin's final film is an updated to the present adaptation of Herman Wouk's famous tale. It's based more on the Stage play version rather than the novel and Friedkin (who did the adaptation) doesn't 'open it up' for the screen; Rather, he keeps the focus on the text and the performers. It's a strong cast with Jake Lacy as the accused, Maryk, Monica Raymund as the Prosecutor and Kiefer Sutherland as Commander Queeg. Sutherland occasionally overplays the neurosis, but it's a good performance. Jason Clarke as the Defense counsel, Greenwald, is superb. The late Lance Reddick plays Blakely the head Judge. It was nice to see Reddick get a full card dedication at the end of the picture*. A double dedication in this case, along with Friedkin, certainly. It's appropriate in a way that Friedkin would finish with a legal thriller, as his breakthrough was a hard-hitting 1962 crime Documentary The People Vs. Paul Crump. I feel privileged to have met both men. A hearty RIP to each of them. * Apparently, there are a couple of more performances by Reddick still to be released.

If you have seen the original Caine Mutiny you can safely bypass this ragged attempt at a remake. The idea that a Captain in a modern navy could conduct a 36hr search for a refrigerator key to find who ate the last of the strawberries in the mess was a stretch in the original version much less in the present. Keifer Sutherland's performance as Queeg was a pale imitation of that of Humphrey Bogart and the ending was rather forced. Also, the original film scored best, because it actually showed the events that necessitated the trial in the first place. To confine the action to one set, the courtroom, was, in my opinion a mistake because it relied too much on the viewer's imagination of technical situations. If you haven't seen the original, this will probably entertain you, but not if you have.