IR TV Review: THE CAINE MUTINY COURT MARTIAL [Showtime]
Like "A Few Good Men", perception of how certain order and ideas are handled depends on context and setting. With Showtime's "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial", it takes the original concept of the 1954 film starring Humphrey Bogart about a captain who experiences a would-be mutiny aboard his ship and places the aftermath completely in the courtroom. While the original took the context inside the ship (as this was very close to World War II), this has a different context than the "battle fatigue" that film spoke of with Captan Queeg. This time that role Bogie played is inhabited by a well encapsulated Keifer Sutherland in one of his better performances lately since some aspect of that old performance of Bogie is burned into him. Co-written and directed by William Friedkin (of "The Exorcist" fame) in the last film he did (he died in August 2023 -- this film premieres on October 6th), it brings the original Republic script into the new era but this time sets the incident in the Strait Of Halduz and takes place competely in the courtroom.
Friedkin keeps his actors on point but this telling in done purely classical form (like a stage play) but the performances are fairly riveting both from the mostly unknowns but also an actor like Jason Clarke who maybe hasn't had precise enough directors recently. This kind of story shows what can be done and you can tell everyone wanted to work with Friedkin, even in this restricted setting. Lance Reddick, who also died recently, functions as the chief judge, again showing power against much of the proceedings. Monica Raymund, known for her work on "Chicago Fire" plays the lawyer on the side of the prosecution. Every one of the actors but especially the ones mentioned do their best work in years.
But at the outset when Sutherland moves into a context of a full dialogue which is meant to be meandering on purpose, it is quite something because the writing is so precise and Sutherland elevates it. This is also makes Clarke's epilogue (which is quite similar to the original but updated to modern standing) work. The difference in something like the original versus 60-odd years later here is the concept of mental illness and how that is both registered and perceived. Friedkin pulls in certain concepts like the internet but it is not completely in his wheelhouse to make it ultra modern, That outcome would not have worked. It needed to be done this way. Something like George Clooney's "Failsafe" was a different kind of animal. But in a similar way, "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" is an ode toa bygone era by a filmmaker doing something effective in a different world where this would neither function as a theatrical movie or necessary enough for a series. But as its own encapsulated exercise, it shows what can be done with a good cast in a set space. Of course, like "Heist 88", it was also one of those projects that, because of the actors' strike, perhaps found a different outlay than it might have had before. A-
By Tim Wassberg
