A Few Good Men

Revealing mistake: In the scene where Tom Cruise is yelling at/questioning Dawson at the jail in the witness room, immediately after Cruise gets up in Dawson's face and says, "I'm the only friend you've got," Cruise is supposed to simply turn and walk away. But you can see from the angle behind Dawson that Cruise' first step is a step down, indicating that he was on a pedestal of some sort to bring their heights closer together.

Revealing mistake: In one scene, Tom Cruise is walking along the sidewalk with Kevin Pollak (who is pushing a pram). The camera, which obviously is moving backwards on a dolly, is in front of them. As the men walk past some bushes, watch the branch on the right-hand side. As it comes into view, we see it spring back and shake for a bit. Evidently, the camera dolly snagged it on the way past.

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Mistakes

Character mistake: Lt. Caffey (Tom Cruise) wants the two marines to plead guilty and take a deal because he doesn't want the to "spend the rest of their lives in Leavenworth (prison)." The United States Disciplinary Barracks is indeed located in Leavenworth, Kansas. And the US Army and US Air Force send convicted felons there to do their time. However, Marines and members of the United States Navy are sent to Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire. It is run by the Marines.

Nimzoman

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It's perfectly within character that Caffey wouldn't know this. He's been in the navy a short time, never tried a case in a courtroom, and is generally uninterested in military protocol.

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Quotes

Lt. Daniel Kaffee: My client is a moron. That's not against the law.

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Trivia

Trivia: Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has a cameo as a lawyer in a bar talking to a woman about one of his cases.

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Questions

Question: What's the significance of PFC Louden Downey not being in his room when the "Code Red" was given?

Answer: It'll be considered hearsay.

Answer: The point is that he wasn't there when the lieutenant ordered the code red. The lance corporal told him LT Kendrick had ordered the code red, but since he didn't hear it himself he couldn't testify to that fact.

Mobrien316

Answer: In addition to the previous answers, it was also particularly devastating to the defense because Kaffee and his team had believed that both Downey and Dawson were present when the order was given; this was what Dawson had led them to believe, since, in his mind, an order from Kendrick via Dawson was the same as an order directly from Kendrick. Therefore, Kaffee et al. were blindsided in open court by the revelation that Downey wasn't there.

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