Kevin Bacon Makes His Opening Statement | A Few Good Men (1992) | Now Playing 

agreed this movie is soo good

I remember trial lawyers being interviewed. People just don't incriminate themselves like that. But while it is fantasy, it is a great fantasy.

There's people, and then there's U.S. Marines?

bcuz at the end of the day, it's what gets the job done, not how it's done,No job in this world is done correctly, so y people focus on that is bcuz he said u not ready for the truth.

@@sibanganimatotoba5048 exactly

Have you earned your set of steak knives?😄

@@LesterMoore plot twist - every time he starts a trial, he's the defendant.

Do you also “follow the advice of the galacticly stupid”

@@AH-be6bu funny. You can look me up. I’m a lawyer in NJ. Good one though.

They should have....they just got lucky.

Sustained. Counselor's entire opening statement, with the exception of 'thank you,' will be stricken from the record.”

Damn. I said the same thing. LOL

Jerry Gallo’s Dead!!

@@MiamiAlan SEEEEE A L L O

Wrong movie 😂

Kevin Bacon’s delivery of that opening statement was on the mark; you definitely believe him as both a lawyer and a Marine. His body language and demeanor were perfect! Tom Cruise was quite good in the scene as well!

And yet he still lost the case. Just goes to show that facts trump accuracy and legality every time.

@@Mrfairchap They won principle aspects of the case. What the court didn't do is let them off with conduct that had become unacceptable. Even if it was generally known to have been going on despite new general orders.

@@MrfairchapOr… it shows how the script was written.

Seemed good on facts, but weak on motive. I don't think they ever proved intent to kill.

I disagree. Such an opening is bad in my opinion, because tries to undermine the defense strategy and shows you're worried. If the defense takes a different approach, which they did, and prove the facts, which they did, this statement bites you back. I would focus on facts only, without commenting the defense in advance.

Not really. I like his opening statement as well but it wasn't at all factual. The only "facts" stated were that Santiago was bound by Dawson and Downey and died shortly afterwords.

In your opinion...............

If the prosecution were to commence with an opening statement like that in a real-life courtroom, they could face serious challenges. They appear to have presumed certain facts are agreed upon without confirmation, which is procedurally incorrect. Both counsel must explicitly agree and sign off on any facts before they can be presented as such in an opening statement. Moreover, since the defence counsel contested these facts in their opening remarks, there's a potential risk of prejudicing the jury. This could necessitate the judge to provide specific directions to mitigate any misunderstanding or, in more severe circumstances, declare a mistrial. It's imperative not to assert that the defence will not contest certain facts unless there has been a clear agreement during the pre-trial phase. As a practising criminal lawyer, I understand the importance of maintaining procedural integrity to ensure a fair trial. You can't say these are the "Facts of the case"; you can say that the prosecution will "allege" that Dawson and Downey entered the room with a rag soaked in "certain chemicals", a potentially dangerous substance that might cause allergic reactions to some, and San Diago was pronounced dead 37 minutes after they have entered the room. Throughout this trial, we will prove that Dawson and Downey had the intent to kill San Diago beyond reasonable doubt blah blah blah, but you can't start off by saying these are the facts and they are indisputable. You don't know if there is a third person in the room, and you don't know if the rag is soaked in "poison".. it could be soaked in peanut butter and kill someone.. (And remember, the Code Red was never intended to kill, this was genuinely an accident, it couldn't have been soaked with poison) Of course, Jack can make those opening statements with agreed facts, but we were not shown any pre-trial case conference.

It is a very good opening because he made use of every classic lyrical technique for speeches.

"Thank you."

Off?

​​@@seanwebb605"of" sorry it was so difficult for you to figure out.

Kevin Bacon is a great actor and very nice man in real life😊😊😊😊

Lmao how tf is tom cruise underrated??? Hes one of the biggest Hollywood stars in the world

@@dudebro91-fn7rz In the same way McDonald's is the biggest hamburger joint in the world. Just because youre big doesnt mean youre considered quality. I hope to god you dont vote.

@@Brownskidmarksonmyunderwear Holy shit, It's insane how confidently stupid you are

@@Brownskidmarksonmyunderwear Well no not in the same way so your analogy just fell completely apart. What you consider quality for a hollywood actor must be quite mind blowing?

everything is underrated

totally agree, now prove it

These are military doctors....if they were good, they would be in private practice.

@@markseslstorytellerchannel3418 They would do their time in the military to waive their College cost and then go private. That's the usual route; very few go the other way unless they have a vengeance.

How did Santiago ever make it through boot camp? That's what I'm wondering.

Corporation and Corps are different words, they're not interchangeable..

Not only that, but COL Jessep had the Navy Cross, Silver Star, and Bronze Star. Earlier in the movie when Caffey and co. were at Guantanamo Bay, you get a clearer view of COL Jessep's rack, and he also had four Purple Hearts as well.

@@StevenEveral four purple hearts. Guess Jessup never heard of cover and movement.

Maud winchester!

Those are the zingers I like.

Aunt Ginny should have been a lawyer lol

It's funny how both Bacon and Cruise are 80s heartthrobs, but also good actors.

I think they call that bad editing

Nice catch!

@@jygb7092 are you getting paid alot of money.... I think someone's giving you a lot of money.😂

Thanks a lot. Now I'll never be able to watch this movie again. It is now silly and unbelievable.

impressive catch

Yeah some people don't know how to edit that well.

Even in the military, 90s grooming trends were wild 😅

Glorious.

It's badass

She was something back then. Father Time is undefeated sadly :-(

@@HerbChao14xs the only thing damaging her looks right now is the cosmetic surgery.

Not for nothing but Aunt Ginny wasn't hard to look at either.

​@@HerbChao14xsMost of you are never anything to look at, yet are saddened by time😂😂😂 oh please

agreed it was

That's because of Aaron Sorkin, one of the best dialogue writers of all time. That's why Social Network/ American President/ Moneyball/ West Wing are so good. That quick natural witty dialogue.

I was late to the game on this movie, but once I finally viewed it, it was a wow moment for me.

Kaffee knew that too, which is why they needed to get him to say it. Piss him off enough that he would.

You need two things: 1: Proof that the order was illegal or unethical. 2: (and this is the real hard one) Officers above the one who gave you that order that are willing to punish that officer for giving such detestable orders. And in this day and age of the O-club being one colossal self-enforcing orgy, they'd all defend each other against you come hell or high water. Then you're SOL. Regardless of the ethics of the order.

@@davecrupel2817 I’ve known of an NCO who did something like this, then threw his joes under the bus. I’ve also known of a NCO who managed to relieve his LT of platoon leadership, down range, because that officer was a POS. The CO already didn’t like the PL so that dude ended up being fired and sent back to the rear, where he was never seen or heard from again

Its in the fundamental 11 general orders of the sentry No. 3 Report all Violations of Orders I am instructed to enforce. Meaning if a service member in particular Marines and Sailors are given unlawful orders that violate Geneva convention or any other violations. If a Sailor or Marine isn't sure if the order is unethical you rely on Order No. 9 No. 9 "Call Corporal of The Guard or Officer of the Deck in any case not covered by instructions". You may ask why did they follow the orders if they had these orders drilled into them. Those 40 troops in that platoon is your family, your world, the Platoon Sergeant and the Lieutenant are the parents they convey to you to discipline one of your fellow Marines Sailors Soldiers effectively. You do it willingly and immediately. If one in your platoon is falling behind you are taught from day one to help one another even when it comes to something as simple as bathing i have been told to watch a soldier (I was Army) take a shower because he had poor hygiene. Now the kind of thing you witness happen to Santiago is a rougher kind of discipline, this usually happens when that one soldier keeps getting the whole platoon in trouble which naturally will anger your fellow brothers. Hopefully this makes things clear.

You don't have to follow any illegal military order per the UCMJ. But like police, this is close knit, gotta protect your back type environment. Not bad, not good, just is ..

Wouldn't this be man slaughter for the two dudes? They didn't intend to kill. Been years since I've seen this though.

Kaffee's knowledge comes not from practice but learning from his father, who in the movie was supposed to be a noted trial lawyer.

Why is this ?

I had instructors in the early 2000s that were still rockin the flat top 🤣At least the disgusting mustaches had faded out of style by then

They were following orders but they still killed a man

They followed illegal orders to torture a fellow soldier.

They were trying to mold Santiago to fall in line, not kill him and that was an order they had to execute.

​@@adamkuestner2961bullcrap. They murdered him

Better call Sal…

No. Easily able to find much smaller boxes. One search shows a box as small as 12, most likely size before Amazon existed.

@@gregergreg You're still talking about 144 pens.

@@Mike-hp2dd Still hyperbole.

​@@gregergreg hyperbole? - "Jo before you come over tonight pick up carton of legal pads, half a dozen boxes of red pens, half a dozen boxes of black pens. Sam get a couple of desk lamps (???) I need you to start on a preliminary medical profile and Jo I need all the proficiency and conduct reports on Dawson, Downey, and Santiago...." - it's what the character said. Screenplay filler.

@@Mike-hp2dd 720 pens is hyperbole.

Dawson got punished for disobeying that order. Kaffee brought it up to show that Dawson felt he had no choice but to follow orders next time.

@@Goodlaw86 So then which is it, was he only following orders because he must and has no understanding of right and wrong? Or did he HAVE an understanding of right and wrong but he cast it aside for the core, which in turn led to the death of an innocent man? Either way my point stands, he deserved to go to jail.

@@pitsburg91Dawson got punished for disobeying an order. He probably thought that doing a code red on Santiago was wrong. But after being punished for bringing some guy food, he felt intimidated. It’s like if someone is holding a gun to your held forcing you to commit a crime.

@@pitsburg91 there was no intent to kill and their actions would not have resulted in a fatality had it not been for the underlying, apparently very serious health issue. You cant just ignore that.

Trump worshippers hates facts

Nice fantasy.

Very true, most of the time. A criminal, they say, always leaves something at the crime scene sooner or later. But they do seem to get away with it the first couple of times. The more powerful, the tougher they are to take down.

Marching

Perry Mason and Jack McCoy (my law instructors) always worked late into the night when in a trial. One big reason I was never interested in pursuing a law degree. Thump that! I treasure my beauty sleep. 😑

spending time in the batting cages.

Playing softball

Dunno about military but I've had jobs where the day was spent on bullshit bureaucracy and the actual work got done after hours after the managers left

Aaron Sorkin fought producers on the idea of a romance between Kaffee and Galloway. And good thing that he did. They are not compatible personalities in any way. Too much of Kaffee's language to Galloway is insubordinate, which would not be a turn on. Remember, she's the superior officer here. Moreover, Sorkin wanted to keep Galloway as an independent woman and pointed out to the producers that women exist for other reasons than to sleep with Tom Cruise. It's too bad he couldn't figure out a way to write Jo except by making her look less competent than the hotheaded Kaffee. Her not asking Downey about his presence in the room is ridiculous. That's the kind of question a paralegal would know to ask, let alone an attorney. Nevertheless, the movie is stronger for not injecting an unconvincing romance into the middle of it.

what the fuck are you talking about?

Dawson and Downey are the ones under court martial. So it's the Government v the defendants Dawson and Downey.

@@crimsonninja6995 you mean "marshall" ... ?

@@MarcDufresneosorusrex I do not mean marshall: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court-martial A Marshall is a rank in the army, a court martial is a military tribunal.

@@crimsonninja6995 It's prononced Cornel; the best university in the Ivy League. Colonel is a rank in the military... I think am confused...

You have too many digits.

Although I hate scientology, he doesn't seem to be doing negative things to people. If that were the case, he would get blacklisted. They got all the blockbusters they have wanted out of him, no longer needed

Maybe you need help too..

I guess you've never seen Tropic Thunder