Script To Screen: “A Few Good Men”

A scene from the 1992 movie A Few Good Men, screenplay by Aaron Sorkin based on his play.

IMDb plot summary: Neo military lawyer Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder; they contend they were acting under orders.

This is directly after the famous “You can’t handle the truth” outburst.

               ROSS looks at KAFFEE, then JESSEP, then nods his head
               "yes" to RANDOLPH.

                                     RANDOLPH
                         The Sergeant at Arms will take the 
                         jury to an ante-room where you'll 
                         wait until further instruction.

               The SERGEANT AT ARMS begins leading the JURORS out of
               the room.

                                     JESSEP
                         What the hell's going on?

               No one will say anything until the jurors are out of
               the room.

                                     JESSEP
                              (continuing; to captain)
                         Captain, what the hell's going on? I 
                         did my job. I'd do it again. Now I'm 
                         getting on a plane and going back to 
                         my base.

                                     RANDOLPH
                         M.P.'s, guard the prisoner.

               The M.P.'s are tentative. They've never heard a
               marine colonel referred to as "the prisoner" before.
               They sure as hell have never been asked to guard one.

                                     ROSS
                         Guard the prisoner.

                                     JESSEP
                         What the hell --

                                     ROSS
                         Colonel Jessep, you have the right 
                         to remain silent. Any statement you 
                         do make can be used against you in a 
                         trial by court-martial or other 
                         judicial or administrative proceeding.  
                         You have the right...

               ROSS continues reading JESSEP his rights, over --

                                     JESSEP
                         I'm being charged with a crime? I'm -- 
                         that's what this is --
                              (to Ross)
                         Marine!
                              (Ross keeps going)
                         Marine!!
                              (Ross is doing his 
                              job.)
                         I'm being charged with a crime? I'm -- 
                         that's what's happening? This -- I'm --
                         this is funny, you know that, this 
                         is --

               And JESSEP lunges at KAFFEE, and KAFFEE would be dead
               but for the three M.P.'s who've leapt in to restrain
               JESSEP. SAM and JO have come to their feet and stand
               behind KAFFEE.

                                     JESSEP
                              (continuing; to Kaffee)
                         I'm gonna tear your eyes right outta 
                         your head and piss in your dead skull.  
                         You fucked with the wrong marine.

               ROSS is done reading JESSEP his rights.

                                     ROSS
                         Colonel Jessep, do you understand 
                         those rights as I have just read 
                         then to you?

                                     JESSEP
                         I saved lives. That boy was -- there 
                         was a weak link. I saved lives, you 
                         hear me?

               The courtroom is silent from Jessep's outburst.
               Jessep shakes his head.

                                     JESSEP
                              (continuing)
                         You fuckin' people.
                              (beat)
                         You have no idea how to defend a 
                         nation.
                              (continuing; to KAFFEE)
                         All you did was weaken a country 
                         today, Kaffee. That's all you did. 
                         You put people in danger. Sweet 
                         dreams, son.

                                     KAFFEE
                         Don't call me son.
                              (beat)
                         I'm a lawyer, and an officer of the 
                         United States Navy. And you're under 
                         arrest you sonofabitch.

               KAFFEE stays on JESSEP a moment longer, then
               remembers --

                                     KAFFEE
                              (continuing)
                         The witness is excused.

               The M.P.'s start leading JESSEP out, and KAFFEE
               notices DAWSON. And DOWNEY. And ROSS. who are
               watching a man in a marine colonels uniform be led
               away in handcuffs... KAFFEE takes a handkerchief from
               his pocket and wipes some sweat from his hands.

Here is the movie version of the scene:

There’s one cut of significance, this side of dialogue by Jessep: “I saved lives. That boy was — there was a weak link. I saved lives, you hear me?” Probably because it is repetitive of content that has come before. And it gets right to Jessep’s line: “You fuckin’ people,” which is a better direct response to Ross’s question.

There is a beat described in scene description that is missing from the movie:

The M.P.Is are tentative.  They've never heard a marine
colonel referred to as "the prisoner" before.  They sure as
hell have never been asked to guard one.

I note this to make a point. Sorkin is known for his dialogue, but if you read his scripts, he also uses lots of commentary in scene description to convey the inner thoughts and feelings of characters. Yes, another example of a professional writer breaking the so-called rule against writing unfilmables.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

For more articles in the Script To Screen series, go here.