I'd forgotten how good this movie is and how it's possibly more relevant today than it was back then....For me Patrick represents society in general ... He wants to use the right skincare products to look his best, eat healthily, go to the gym, have a good job, the perfect apartment, be seen to be going to all the right places, be admired by his peers, be seen to have all the politically correct views (i.e Supports female equality, against racism, abolish homeless ness, against aparthied/ voilence, terrorism, human rights and materialism etc)
Whilst on the inside he is actively being misogynistic, violent, taking drugs, abusing the homeless, being racist, completely materialistic, and self absorbed etc..
A generalisation maybe but as a modern comparison when you think of things like instagram where everybody is competing to show how perfect their lives are and then you look at the trolls on any websites who are just tearing people to shreds...that's what I took away from it anyhow...

...that’s really interesting, Bollo...because I did see that, how his world was so ‘surface’ but I hadn’t made that association with social media in today’s world...maybe because I don’t actually do social media so it wasn’t an instinctive attachment...although I couldn’t personally connect with any of it, your thoughts are really interesting in that comparison....especially with hateful internet trolls and how they vent their ‘inner selves’....

.....hmmmmm, it’s a confusing movie because I’m still left with...did he kill them all/some/any etc....that was the first watch for me and maybe a pandemic/generally anxious time is not the best to watch it either...

I love this film, I have seen it a far few times and I enjoy it every time I watch it (even though i find Tom Cruise very smarmy and annoying but maybe that helps understanding how he got under Jessups skin so much too haha) I'm a big fan of court based/justice type films anyway but this one has a very original idea for a story I think. It's a good question to pose, who is really responsible when it comes to crimes committed by soldiers but on the orders of a superior. It's a bit of a moral Dilemma really and I'm still not too sure where I stand on that tbh although I could definitely see the Soldiers train of thought on it too. That follow orders without question or people die kind of mentality

Oh yes and Jack Nicholson definitely steals the show in this film

...the absorbing watch for me was definitely Jack Nicholson mostly, although watching the three put the case together was obviously satisfying as well...Jack Nicholson’s character so depicted that ultimate abuse of power thing and that he felt he could basically give orders for anything and not be answerable for anything because others ‘didn’t understand the job he did..’...horrendous individual who underestimated a ‘kid’ and the excellence that he was in his job...:laugh:...and it is a strange one in that obeying a direct order is something that has to be done without question but what about when that order directly conflicts with protection of your fellow soldier/marine...what if that order is to directly harm them/take their life...

...I read that it was based on some actual events, not a true story as such...I found a site which described the original story as a ‘cold case’, so maybe some interest there...but it was a dead site, I couldn’t get onto it...but I would be interested to know the inspiration for the movie...and a little bit more about it if I can find anything more detailed...

...Jack Nicholson’s character’s sexist remarks to/about Demi Moore’s character as well..?...interesting also that I read some movie critics of the time had said...well, if hers and Tom’s character weren’t going to have a romantic thing, why have a woman in that part...:laugh:..I mean because obviously that would be the main purpose of a female...

...anyways, another good watch...it really is nice to watch these movies with fresh eyes... :love:...