From the late director of The French Connection and The Exorcist comes The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023). This epic movie starring esteemed character actors such as 24’s Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Clarke, Jake Lacy, and the late Lance Reddick, is one of the finest films of 2023.
95% of the running time is spent in a single courtroom. One officer is accused of mutinying against the captain of the ship Caine. The whole flick is about this case. Now, the plot doesn’t seem as interesting on paper and works better as a play which ironically it is based upon, but the execution by Friedkin is so well-done that everything is perfectly transitioned on to screen.
The only flaw with this movie is that it’s not universal; not everyone will prefer it. Overall, it’s extremely well-written and well-directed and it’s depressing that this is the final film for both William Friedkin and Lance Reddick, but they went out with style.
The dialogues are mostly monologues and the best of them is delivered by Kiefer Sutherland. The ending of these types of movies is mostly foreseeable yet here there was an unforeseen conclusion.
