But the law states witnesses are supposed to tell the truth, under oath and all. And I thought the circumstantial evidence/narrative created by Kaffee was pretty compelling. It was rather fun to watch that outburst unfolding

It was a classic movie moment that became one of the most often out-of-context quotes in popular culture.

Yeah, I was a little surprised Colonel Jessop blew it like that. It's one thing to lose your head but it's another to admit ordering the killing (the Code Red). BTW, I think Keifer Sutherland's performance in this was stellar. In fact, I feel that many of the actors were pretty close to their prime in this movie.

@Speeed said:

Yeah, I was a little surprised Colonel Jessop blew it like that. It's one thing to lose your head but it's another to admit ordering the killing (the Code Red). BTW, I think Keifer Sutherland's performance in this was stellar. In fact, I feel that many of the actors were pretty close to their prime in this movie.

To nit-pick, Jessep didn't "order the killing" - he ordered to code red, and it went bad, then he sought to cover his tracks and let the two soldiers take the fall for it, because he knows code reds had been prohibited.

Otherwise, yes, a lot of great actors were splendid in this film!

In addition to @alltimemarr rightful mention that he's under oath and all that good stuff, the key to Jessep flipping out was Caffey's realization that Jessep is burning to be respected, to assert his right to make a decision on his base and not have his decisions questioned. He wants to be the law which, for all intents and purposes on his base, he is the law. No one is going to tell him how to run his base. The challenge was, could Kaffee get it out of him; remember that conversation? If there was any doubt, don't do it, or it'd be the end of Kaffee's career. He wasn't sure he could get him to spew, and that risk created the tension that made that scene so riveting.

Yes, it is far fetched that such a slimey, careerist man as Jessup, who went to great lengths to cover his tracks and had no difficulty in lying, would have had such a poor performance on the stand. The ending was a little simplified for my tastes, but I did like the line of questioning to make Jessup have to concede that he wasn't in charge of his men. Plus such a self declared hero and egoist could scarcely refuse to answer a question posed by someone they held in such low esteem. So I give this section a pass mark as Jessup was sufficiently setup as being a swivel eyed lunatic to make such a performance just about believable.

However, for a courtroom drama I thought the courtroom sections were the weakest part of an otherwise good film.

7/10