Theater: Marine Life

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A FEW GOOD MEN

by Aaron Sorkin

Long before the first rehearsal of this Marine Corps thriller set at Guantanamo Bay, its author had exceeded the daydreams of almost any debut playwright. Not only was the show on its way to Broadway with a 20-member cast headed by erstwhile Oscar nominee Tom Hulce (Amadeus), but it had been bought for the movies by producer David Brown, whose credits include Jaws, The Sting and The Verdict. He made a deal that could bring creator Aaron Sorkin, 28, a sum well into six figures. By the time the show opened last week, however, the publicity about a wunderkind proved a disadvantage: it imposed unreasonable expectations and, for some spectators, turned what would have been a pleasant surprise into mild disappointment that its author is merely a deft % entertainer, not another Tennessee Williams.

A Few Good Men is at least as good a play as The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, which it resembles. The production is adroit, and its subject -- the degree to which the military is properly subordinate to civilian values -- has never ceased to be topical. But it suffers from bad timing. Plays that are in essence debates need each side to be able to make a reasonable case. In this conflict between career military "defenders" and soon-to-be-civilian attorneys over the rights of the accused, the imbalance is not in the play but in the minds of audiences. The flood tide of change in the Communist world makes the military appear less vital and its resistance to civilian due process repugnant, not a regrettable necessity.

Still, there is plenty of wisecracking humor and suspense in this tale of two hapless Marines (ably played by Victor Love and Michael Dolan) who accidentally kill a squad mate while disciplining him, then find that the officers who ordered the discipline are lying to protect their own careers. Sorkin's weakest point is character, and the defending attorneys are pure stereotype: a brittle bundle of nerves who pines to be with his family (Mark Nelson), a gifted but ineffectual idealist (Megan Gallagher, in the only unconvincing performance) and the outwardly casual, inwardly intimidated son of a famous father (Hulce). Much the juiciest role, however, is the Ollie North-style commander, played with an infectious grin and a jaguar stalk by Stephen Lang. Even in these optimistic times, he makes the dark dangers facing any "defender" scarily real. W.A.H. III