otertaloment
M ral Messages
Rob Reiner says his new film and his outlook are distinctly Jewish.
PAUL FREEMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
"-A
Director Rob Reiner (right) elaborates on a scene from the new film drama "A Few Good Men" with actor Jack Nicholson.
Few Good Men is one of the
ear's few films that com-
bines honesty, intelligence,
poignancy and humor. That
should come as no surprise,
since it was directed by Rob
Reiner, whose track record
includes When Harry Met
Sally and Stand By Me.
A gripping, thought-pro-
voicing drama based on the
v. hit Broadway play, A Few
Good Men features rivet-
ing performances by Tom
Cruise, Jack Nicholson,
Demi Moore, Kevin Ba-
con, Kiefer Sutherland
and Kevin Pollak. It's
, the story of a Navy
lawyer defending two
young Marines accused of
murdering a member of their
PAUL FREEMAN writes for the
Northern California Jewish
Bulletin.
platoon during an unsanc-
tioned disciplinary action
known as a "Code Red."
The Marines insist they
were simply obeying orders.
But can that absolve them of
guilt?
"That's what happened in
Nazi Germany," says Mr.
Reiner. "What we're saying in
the film is that each of us has
to take responsibility for our
own actions. If you don't, you
should be punished for it. That
was the verdict in the Nurem-
berg trials.
"There are moral guidelines
that must be followed," the
Jewish director continues.
"Any system that tries to dic-
tate to you that you should
blindly follow orders is wrong.
Great religious leaders teach
you to do your own soul-
searching. Of all religions, Ju-
daism most stresses thinking
for yourself."
Though Mr. Reiner is even-
handed in his treatment of the
controversial theme, the Ma-
rine Corps refused to cooper-
ate in the filming.
"It wasn't meant to be a re-
cruiting commercial, but it's
not an indictment of the Ma-
The Jewish culture
that surrounded him
when growing up
had a huge impact
on Reiner.
rime Corps, either. It has a lot
to say about the military jus-
tice system and it shows that
they can police themselves,"
Mr. Reiner says.
The Corps particularly ob-
jected to the character of Col.
Jessep (Nicholson), whose pa-
triotism bulldozes his morali-
ty. "They said that nobody
with that kind of character
flaw could ever rise to the
rank of colonel," Mr. Reiner re-
calls. "I said, 'Have you seen
your Washington Post today?'
On the cover of the paper was
a photo of Oliver North.
"In any organization, pow-
er can be abused. Look at Rea-
gan, look at Bush. Yes, we
need a Jessep on the wall. We
need him to protect us. We
need the Marine Corps. We
need the police. But they have
to have guidelines. When the
power is abused, you wind up
with Nazi Germany, with Cal-
ley at My Lai, with a Rodney
King situation."
Another element of the film
appealed to the director. The
Navy lawyer (Cruise) was en-
cumbered by the fact that his
father had excelled in the
same field. Mr. Reiner, whose
father is renowned director
Carl Reiner, could certainly
relate to that.
"I knew exactly what the
character was going through,
a young guy working in the
shadow of a famous father,
trying to find his own identi-
ty and carve out his own
niche. For me, it was a terri-
ble struggle, because not only
is my father incredibly tal-
ented and acclaimed, he's also
a great guy. Growing up, all
I heard was, 'Your dad's the
nicest man in the world.' He
has big shoes to fill, personal-
ly, as well as professionally."
Rob Reiner's success has
been remarkable by any stan-
dards. He learned about di-
recting while watching his
father helm the classic Dick
Van Dyke Show. At 19, Rein-
er began directing theater and
formed his own improvisa-
tional comedy troupe. As an
actor, he won two Emmy
awards as Archie Bunker's lib-
eral son-in-law "Meathead."
Finally, his brilliance as a film
director was demonstrated
with his 1984 debut, "This Is
Spinal Tap."
The Jewish culture that sur-
MORAL page 80