What’s Aged the Best?
Cruise's 'why the two orders' brainstorm; the mess hall cross-examination; Harold and Caffey at the end
In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:05Read transcript
- Nominees: the ending, the 'galactically stupid' tirade when a drunk Cruise loses it on Demi Moore, the mess hall cross-examination that Bacon later praises as a great redirect, Cruise's Nicholson impersonation, Harold's 'ten hut' with Cruise, the 'why the two orders' brainstorm in the Jessup cross, and Jack Ross's face at Jessup's code red admission.
- Like a decanted wine, the subtler moments should age best, which rules out Cruise doing Nicholson, since people their age have spent their lives watching others imitate Nicholson.
- 'Why the two orders' always gets one panelist, and another answers 'me too'.
- Picks the mess hall cross-examination: rewatched it last night, it is subtle and lands every time, and the way Cruise grabs the notebook back from Kevin Bacon is peak Cruise swagger. — Amanda Dobbins
- The scene has an early Noah Wiley (as transcribed), later important on ER, and shows the cleverness of the script solving problems without being showy or straining plausibility.
- Another pick is Harold and Cruise's character finding common ground at the end, which still gives chills on the 557th viewing: 'Harold, you don't have to have a badge to have honor' and the 'Ten Hut'; Harold is never seen again.
- The actor playing Harold appeared in a couple of nineties action movies and is believed to have been Rob Reiner's assistant before being thrown into the film.
- The ending leaves the film dying for a coda: it is unclear how much trouble Jessup is in, unlike the court-martial that follows the submarine battle in Crimson Tide, and the two Marines are still dishonorably discharged.
- A small flaw: after the code red admission Bacon's character later says he has to go arrest Kendrick, prompting the question of why he waited a week.