A few good men

Film: A Few Good Men

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Acting and Acting Styles

Major Actors: Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, and Tom Cruise

Director: Rob Reiner

Writer: Aaron Sorkin

Producer: David Brown, Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman

Executive producer: William S. Gilmore and Rachel Pfeffer

Co-producer: Steve Nicolaides and Jeffrey Stott

Release Date: December 11, 1992 (USA)

Identify three actors from your film and classify each according to the types of actors listed in your text.

In the movie A Few Good Men, which is one of my favorite movies of all time loaded with a cast of great actors starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and the great one Jack Nicholson. The brilliants of all three actor combine with their performance created one the best movies of all time with memorable quotes and speeches the audience will never forget. When classifying an actor’s type there are many things to consider with the actor’s ability and performance in the film. The category types based on various roles and personality are as follows; impersonator, interpreter, personality, wild card, and character (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). There are very talented actors in the movie business today; they all have many different acting styles. These actors have different categories for which they fall in, some actors have a particular acting style and some acting style differs depending on what kind of movie they decide to act in. One movie stands out with a showcase of talent, passion for excellent, great performance and greatness.

Explain your reasons for classifying the actors as you do. Use specific references to the film and pay special attention to how these decisions impacted characterization. Also, consider the impact of any realistic or stylized portrayals within the film.

In the movie A Few Good Men starring actor Tom Cruise as Navy Lawyer Lt Daniel Kaffee a very cocky and lazy lawyer famous for making a name in plea bargaining. In this role Tom Cruise goes up against a high ranking officer in the Marine Corps while dealing with his own commanding officer while trying to solve the murder of a marine private. Unlike most of his action film roles where he is jumping off building or chasing down cars or caught in a shootout with the bad guys. Tom Cruise in this role, he showed passion, dedication and the respect he has for military service members (Ebert, 1992). Tom Cruise has made name for himself in action films such as Mission Impossible, Top Gun, Knight and Day, and Oblivion (IMDb, 1990-2015). Even though Tom Cruise has never received an Academy Award for his films he continues to challenge himself in other roles outside of action films that gives the audience a more personal view of Tom Cruise talents. Films like Far and Away starring Nicole Kidman demonstrate (Character) his ability to accept roles that shows his audience he can be universal.

Demi Moore (Personality) in my mind is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood her hard work and dedication seem to be missed due to the success of past films that didn’t do so well in the box office. Demi Moore playing role in G.I. Jane is the perfect example of selfless service to building her craft in order to satisfy her audience. The fact she worked so hard on her body to be in shape with so much muscle tone and definition, not to mention the fact she cut off all her hair during filming. The one thing I can say where there is room for improvement is picking the right role to showcase her talents; I believe Demi Moore has chosen roles that were not good for her. She is not Angelia Jolie or Angela Bassett that can take on almost any role and pull it off. In the movie A Few Good men, her physical appearance was not the focus of her performance but instead her ability to be right in front of the camera with close ups of intensity, passion, and delivery.

Focus on one of the actors you’ve discussed. Based on other films the actor has been in, would this actor always be placed in the same category? If so, what does this say about the category or actor? If not, what can you infer about the flexibility of these categories? Provide evidence (references from other films, including film clips and stills) to support your argument.

The actor I would like to focus on is Academy Award Winner Jack Nicholson. When it comes to making great movies Jack Nicholson name will always be part of the top five great actors on all time. Based on his background, Jack is one of the most well rounded actors today starring films of drama, comedy, horror, romance and history. Jack Nicholson is not known for action movies like Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis however if Stallone can still make action movies in his late 60s when anything is possible. He is one of the best actors today and is very versatile and adaptable to any movie role given to him. Jack Nicholson category is versatile and ranks him among the best with Denzel Washington, Al Pacino, Robert Denio, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson. Movies like Anger Management (2003), As Good as it Gets (1997), The Shining (1980), and A Few Good Men (1992) are only a few to show how good of an actor Jack Nicholson is (IMDb, 1990-2015). Because of Jack Nicholson talents he will never be placed in the same category.

References:

Ebert, R. (1992). A few good men. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved from website http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-few-good-men-1992.

Ebert, R. (1992). A few good men (image). Retrieved from website https://www.google.com/search?q=a+few+good+men&biw=721&bih=702&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMIk7Sn5rCJxgIVA2CtCh3rIQBK#imgrc=IFMm2Hr75XaYBM%253A%3B5-HURQp2gMO4EM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstatic.rogerebert.com%252Fuploads%252Fmovie%252Fmovie_poster%252Fa-few-good-men-1992%252Flarge_WgWLwk55YaXFZdlMnPJTKlxGcz.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.rogerebert.com%252Freviews%252Fa-few-good-men-1992%3B400%3B60

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C.P. (2014) Film: From watching to seeing (2nd Ed.) San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

IMDb(1990-2015). A Few Good Men. . IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved from website http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm.

IMDb (1990-2015). Jack Nicholson. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved from website http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000197/

IMDb (1990-2015). Tom Cruise. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved from website http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000129/.