I’m not sure we’ve ever had a case of a great director’s final movie being their best, but a number of iconic filmmakers have capped their careers with memorable works, from Douglas Sirk’s “Imitation of Life” (1959) to Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984) to John Huston’s “The Dead” (1987) to Akira Kurosawa’s “Madadayo” (1993) and Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” (1999). When Chicago native William Friedkin died last August at 87, it was just weeks before the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival of his final film, the crisp and engrossing and bluntly effective “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.”
While Friedkin will always be heralded primarily for the towering twin achievements of “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection,” this is a more than respectable farewell.
Friedkin made his bones with cinematic versions of the plays “The Birthday Party” in 1968 and “The Boys in the Band” in 1970 and returned to his love of making movies from stage works with films based on Tracy Letts’ “Bug” (2006) and “Killer Joe” (2011). He returns to a play for his final film. Herman Wouk’s 1951 novel “The Caine Mutiny” has been adapted numerous times, from Wouk’s own 1953 play to the classic 1954 movie with Humphrey Bogart and José Ferrer to Robert Altman’s 1988 made-for-TV version. Whereas the Bogart film covered material from the entire book, Wouk’s stage edition, Altman’s movie and now Friedkin’s adaptation concentrate solely on the trial. We stay in the courtroom for nearly the entirety of the movie, and the setting has been updated from World War II to present day, allowing for more diversity in the ranks of the military.
Fresh off portraying the special counsel to the Atomic Energy Commission’s hearing on the title character in “Oppenheimer,” the invaluable Jason Clarke plays Lt. Barney Greenwald, the defense attorney who reluctantly takes the case of Stephen Maryk (Jake Lacy), the executive officer aboard the USS Caine. Maryk relieved the ship’s commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Queeg (Kiefer Sutherland in a big and broad also technically precise performance), as the Navy mine sweeper was in danger of sinking amidst a terrible storm near the Persian Gulf.
Greenwald is an old-school Navy man who doesn’t necessarily believe Maryk is innocent — he makes that clear to his client — but he’s also a man of the law who will do everything he can to win his case, up to and including destroying the career and reputation of the mercurial, fastidious and hot-tempered Queeg, who doesn’t do himself any favors on the stand, veering this way and that and sounding like a man who is not always in control.
Monica Raymund (“Chicago Fire”) is outstanding as the lead prosecutor, Cmdr. Katherine Challee, while the late Lance Reddick lends his power and grace to the role of Capt. Luther Blakely, the head judge hearing the case. At times “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” seems almost too stagey, with Aaron Sorkin-esque dialogue that spells out the situation in bold caps, e.g., when Capt. Blakely says, “From the earliest days of our service, the worst charge that can be leveled against a Naval service officer, especially the commanding officer of a vessel, is that he displays cowardice or negligence in the face of danger to his ship or crew. Counsel and the witness are herewith cautioned that they are treading on dangerous and unprecedented grounds here.”
You gotta love a good “herewith.”
It’s a brilliantly delivered monologue, but it’s also telling us things we already know. This happens time and again, as Greenwald and Challee take their turns sparring with a group of witnesses who were either crew on the USS Caine or have been called as medical experts. Greenwald constantly challenges the edges of the law and proves to be a talented and ingenious litigator, whereas Challee is less willing to bend the rules to the point of breaking and is appalled by some of Greenwald’s tactics.
By the time Maryk takes the stand and Challee carves him up, calling him out for his self-serving actions and making it clear she believes Maryk will never be half the man Queeg has proven to be in his long career, our loyalties are put to the test. To be sure, Queeg seems unsteady, but should he have been relieved of his command? As for Maryk, he’s no hero, but does he deserve a long prison sentence, or did he take the best course of action when the fate of the ship and its crew hung in the balance?
The final scene in “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” takes place outside the courtroom, with a great actor delivering a knockout monologue and a great director making one last bold and jarring and memorable choice before we cut to black.
