L'affaire de la mutinerie du Caine

As a fan of Humphrey Bogart's portrayal of Captain Queeg in the 1954 version of "The Caine Mutiny", I approached this movie with some measure of trepidation. That being said, it is an engaging portrayal of a military court-martial, that benefits from lack of flashbacks to incidents that occurred on the ship.

If you are expecting a clone of "A Few Good Men" you will be disappointed. However this is a story of the trial as a stand-alone event, that benefits from a solid ensemble cast. The late Lance Reddick in one of his last roles, was particularly memorable as the chief justice, and Kiefer Sutherland deftly navigates both Queeg's power and vulnerability on the stand.

I strongly, I strongly encourage you to mute the movie at the start of the credits to maintain the tension of the final scene, and I encourage you to see both this and the 1954 version of this story.

Final films by William Friedkin and Lance Reddick RIP.

This is a single setting courtroom court martial hearing that expands on the legal themes of the original from the fifties.

The original showed the various incidents of Queeg and then the trial. This is just the trial and aftermath.

Everything is a lot more fleshed out. Jason Clarke is great as the prosecutor and Keifer Sutherland does a passable Borgart homage.

I watched it as a companion piece to the original and would recommend doing it that way.

I always find the ending, where the solicitor speaks to the officers party a wonderful scene. Watch it for that at least.

Without revealing spoilers (the ending spoils things quite well enough all on its own), let's just say you'd be much better off reading the 1954 novel "The Caine Mutiny" instead...

This film adaptation attempts to modernize the book's story, which was originally set in WWII era, Pacific Theater, whereas the film is current time, Middle Eastern seas. The modernization itself wasn't really the problem per se, but it definitely didn't help that some of the events differed too much to properly illustrate the characters' mental states and reasonings behind their actions/behaviors.

The main problem with the adaptation arises from the fact that it only covers the court martial trial, cutting out huge chunks of the story both before and after the trial in the book...

This robs the film of the contextual explanations necessary to fully make sense of the ending; which, in the novel, are revealed by the cut story sections, as the reader is led to compare and contrast the different events that occur for the key characters (Queeg, Keefer, Maryk, etc).

Without the rest of the book's story, the conclusions drawn by and the actions of defense attorney Greenwald (in the film's ending) seem way out of line with what appears to have been the truth, as is revealed to viewers during the film version's trial-only storyline.

The result, in my opinion, is an ending that feels confused and disjointed; and ultimately stains an otherwise great courtroom procedural drama...

In well-cast Naval court-room drama "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" Executive Officer Jake Lacy is accused of a mutiny against overbearing (and unhinged?) Captain Kiefer Sutherland. Set almost entirely in the court-room Lacy is defended by Jason Clarke (terrific) & prosecuted by Monica Raymund, all before judge Lance Reddick (and his unspeaking peers) with summoned witnesses like Jay Duplass. Despite the stark unchanging setting, tv-standard production qualities, & some dodgy support performances, veteran writer / director William Freidkin summons some decent buzz & tension... though this will def'ly go down as a poor man's "A Few Good Men".

Having recently watched the original Caine Mutiny, I was excited to see how such a strong cast and director could retell the story for a modern audience.

Right out of the gate, the pace of the movie was off. Cut scene to each witness, no time spend on any transition between them.

Then there's the scene with Lt Keefer. The original movie provided a clear understanding of his motives. In this one the Keefer and Maryk dynamic during the trial is not explored. No dots connected for the viewer, just a simple glazed over opportunity to develop the story.

The final scene left me puzzled. The message it sends is diminished from the takeaway of the original. Moral courage and fortitude are nowhere to be found. Maryk is made to be a one dimensional buffoon.

9/10 for the actors, 4/10 for the message and muddled delivery.