A good movie

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was William Friedkin’s last directorial effort, I was quite eager to check it out. I actually saw ‘The Caine Mutiny’ (1954) but it was almost 10 years ago and I didn’t remember much about it, except that Humphrey Bogart did deliver a terrific performance. Anyway, coming back in this version, it actually focused only on the court-martial and it was pretty obvious that it was based on a play since most of the action took place in one single room. I didn’t mind since I always had a weak spot for minimalistic features but the end-result was slightly too dry though. On the other hand, this time, they didn’t focus too much on Willie Keith and even completely removed his really boring romantic sub-plot. Furthermore, it was actually more effective to not show Queeg acting weird but to actually have the guy tell it himself. Indeed, the end-result was quite fascinating to behold thanks to some strong performances from Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Clarke. Especially Sutherland, he might have given the best performance of his career, no less than that. I also appreciate the complex view they gave of the Navy. Indeed, on one hand, the Navy was displayed as a conservative institution stifled with some seemingly outdated rules and moral code. On the other hand, they also displayed that these rigid rules might be necessary to protect these officers not as some kind of privilege but because, in the heat of the battle or if the circumstances are extreme (like it was when the mutiny too place), the hierarchy needs to be protected because they have the highest responsibility and, when facing chaos and/or mayhem, their authority cannot be questioned. It’s something which worked much better with this modern version than in ‘The Caine Mutiny’ and I really enjoyed how ambiguous and bittersweet the ending was. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was probably not a masterpiece, it was still a perfectly fine swan song for William Friedkin and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

7/10