Previewing The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

 

At the bottom of the press release for The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, they made sure to let us know that, “The film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, was completed prior to William Friedkin’s passing on August 7, 2023.”  Friedkin was the director of such fabled seventies movies such as The French Connection and The Exorcist, though people of my generation will most likely remember him more for directing Blue Chips.  Friedkin was not the only person associated with the film that passed since the competition of the film, Lance Reddick, who plays the head judge in the film, left us back in March.

 

People of my generation will also likely watch the military courtroom drama and have a hard time not thinking of A Few Good Men.  Though to be fair, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is based on a book released three and a half decades before Aaron Sorkin wrote the play that was later turned into the acclaimed movie.  Since that play was written for a visual and audio medium, it has the advantage as books are written difference and there are no “You can’t handle the truth” moments in the new film no matter how the defense attorney tries to get a witness to break to help his client.

 

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is about Executive Officer (Jack Lacy) who removes the commanding (Kiefer Sutherland) during a cyclone claiming he was not mentally stable and was charged with mutiny and now stands trial.  Monica Raymund plays the lead prosecutor while Jason Clarke tries to paint the mutiny as a courageous act as the defense.  The film moves the time and location of The Caine from the Pacific during World War II to modern day in the Persian Gulf where the ship is sweeping for mines.

 

The film takes place almost entirely in the courtroom with only a couple hallway scenes and a quick epilogue.  It is pretty bold to not show any scenes on the boat, even retroactively.  Instead we get a very clinical look at the trail which sometimes comes across as an old Court TV case with very few cinematic flourishes.  Instead we have to rely on the testimony of the people on board The Caine to paint the picture.

 

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial airs Sunday at 9:00 on Showtime.  The film will be available to stream Friday on Paramount+ with Showtime.