NEW YORK – How do you escape the shadow of “A Few Good Men?” Just ask Michael Arden.
Thirty-four years ago, Aaron Sorkin tautly adapted his 1989 play into an Oscar-nominated film with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson. Since then, Rob Reiner’s old-fashioned legal drama has arguably become of the most-quoted movies of all time, thanks almost entirely to Nicholson’s blistering delivery of “You can’t handle the truth!
”It’s a tough act to follow, but under Arden’s crackling direction, “A Few Good Men” is as explosively compelling as ever in a bang-up revival that opened Oct. 29 at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater.
Set in 1989, the play follows a Marine private named William Santiago (Daniel Velez) who dies after a hazing incident
at the Guantanamo Bay naval base. When his fellow Marines Harold Dawson (Lavel Schley) and Louden Downey (Collin Kelly-Sordelet) are accused of murder, the cocksure Daniel Kaffee (Tom Blyth) is brought on to defend them.
What unspools is a cat’s cradle of ethical conundrums, as Sorkin incisively reckons with honor, duty and blind obedience. Santiago complained of mistreatment for months before his death. Wishing to sweep any potential scandal under the rug, the Marines push Kaffee to expedite a plea bargain for his assailants. But Downey and Dawson claim that they didn’t intend to kill Santiago, and were in fact given a covert “code red” order to brutally discipline their comrade.
The play’s first stretch gets bogged down by incessant table-setting, both narratively and literally. (The show’s teeming cast lugs enough furniture to rival U-Haul.) Some performances, too, are out of step with the uniformly excellent ensemble: John Zdrojeski‘s bellowing Lt. Kendrick, in particular, is dialed up way past 11 and finds little space for nuance in Sorkin’s flowery prose, which already has the subtlety of a Goodyear Blimp.
But the production soon shifts into high gear as Kaffee trades barbs with the whip-smart Joanne Galloway (Krysta Rodriguez), who has been reluctantly assigned to work alongside him. Together with congenial co-counsel Sam Weinberg (Nick Blaemire), the delightfully ragtag trio rips past the red tape to uncover nefarious military dealings, all while batting Sorkinisms with the dazzling might of major-league sluggers.
Unlike many recent Lincoln Center Theater productions, Dane Laffrey’s handsome scenic design makes ample use of the cavernous space. In Arden’s reliable hands, the production is exceptionally crafted and meticulously considered, from Alejo Vietti’s smartly tailored costumes to Ricky Ubeda’s striking use of movement, which jolts the rigid legal proceedings with thrumming electricity and woozy surreality.
Stephanie Berry is a dynamic scene-stealer as the wry Judge Randolph, while Thom Sesma is quietly shattering as a high-ranking officer with a conscience. Bradley Whitford ‒ stepping into Nicholson’s boots ‒ intriguingly underplays the menace of Col. Jessep, even if at times, his seething yet stolid approach dulls the character’s power.
But the primary reason to see this show is for Blyth, who is blow-your-hair-back brilliant in his unmissable Broadway debut. The Juilliard-trained British actor has done similarly riveting work in both “Plainclothes” and the “Hunger Games” franchise, and here, he rivals Cruise with his sheer magnetism and dexterous mastery of Sorkin’s language.
At a time when celebrity casting (rightfully) elicits groans, it’s legitimately thrilling to see a young Hollywood star so effortlessly command a Broadway stage, finding the humor and pathos in a character who might easily come across as a smarmy know-it-all. It's a mountain of a role, but Blyth scales it with rousing aplomb.
"A Few Good Men" is hardly the most provocative or audacious play running in New York, nor does this clear-cut revival blow the dust off to reveal an urgently timely artifact. But if you're hankering for a smart piece of entertainment that also goes down easy, you'd be foolish not to grab a ticket ‒ and that's an order.
"A Few Good Men" is now playing at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 W. 65th Street) through Jan. 10, 2027.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘A Few Good Men’ starring Tom Blyth breathes new life into a Tom Cruise classic ‒ Review
