History YMMV / AFewGoodMen

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The Drill team at the beginning of the movie. However it could be interpreted as symbolizing the Marines' mechanical obedience.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The Drill team at the beginning of the movie. However it could be interpreted as establishing how disciplined Marines are.

* MisaimedFandom: The number of viewers who admire Jessep's MotiveRant is staggering. Sure, he's meant to have depth and isn't a CardCarryingVillain, but when he implies that Marines shouldn't be accountable to the law, you're not supposed to ''agree'' with him. Part of the problem is that the film doesn't include Kaffee's rebuttal from the play where he points out exactly what he's saying. Worse, Jessep's argument is not that ''Marines'' shouldn't be held accountable. It's that ''he'' shouldn't be held accountable. He's quite willing to let two Marines under his command burn for his decision.

*** Alternatively, you can see it as a deconstruction of that attitude. Jessep sees himself as being the better man, but he was perfectly willing to let two good Marines take the fall for his screw-up. Hardly the mark of a true leader, and highlighted in Kaffee's response in the source material.

* MemeticMutation:
** "You fucking people..."
** '''YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!'''
** '''''"YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DID!"'''''
** People have made Mountain Dew jokes because of Kaffee demanding to know if Jessep "ordered" the "code red".
* MisaimedFandom: The number of viewers who admire Jessep's MotiveRant is staggering. Sure, he's meant to have depth and isn't a CardCarryingVillain, but when he implies that Marines shouldn't be accountable to the law, you're not supposed to ''agree'' with him. Part of the problem is that the film doesn't include Kaffee's rebuttal from the play where he points out exactly what he's saying.
** Worse, Jessep's argument is not that ''Marines'' shouldn't be held accountable. It's that ''he'' shouldn't be held accountable. He's quite willing to let two Marines under his command burn for his decision.
* {{Narm}}: Kaffee has a tendency to explosively swear at people out of nowhere when slighted.
-->'''Kaffee:''' Cutie-pie shit will not win you points with me. I get paid no matter how much time you spend in jail.
-->'''Dawson:''' ''(derisively)'' Yes, sir. I know you do, sir.
-->'''Kaffee:''' FUCK YOU HAROLD!!!

*** Bonus points for having no bearing on the conversation whatsoever.
*** Also, in the TV edit, it's "FORGET YOU, HAROLD!!!". It's like a preteen flipping off someone using their ring finger.
* OneSceneWonder: Colonel Jessep only appears in a few scenes, but he makes the most of each of them.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: In the following exchange:
-->'''Kaffee:''' You and Dawson, you both live in the same dream world. It doesn't matter what I believe. It only matters what I can prove! So please, don't tell me what I know or don't know. I know the LAW.\\

* CatharsisFactor: After how much of a smug; rigid jerk he's been and [[spoiler:after being coaxed into confessing that his actions caused Santiago's death too too, seeing Jessup get charged and arrested]] is rather pleasing to say the least.

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Colonel Jessep ordered the hazing that led to Santiago's death.]]

* MisaimedFandom: The number of viewers who admire Jessep's MotiveRant is staggering. Sure, he's meant to have depth and isn't a CardCarryingVillain, but when he implies that Marines shouldn't be accountable to the law, you're not supposed to ''agree'' with him. Part of the problem is that the film doesn't include Kaffee's rebuttal from the play where he points out exactly what he's saying. Others, while they recognize that in the context of the story he was wrong, think his MotiveRant has a lot of applicability in shaming the mindset of people who criticize the actions of the military or law enforcement without having the slightest concept of how difficult, dangerous and messy their jobs are.

** Worse, Jessep's argument is not that 'Marines' should not be held accountable. It's that ''he'' should not be held accountable. He's quite willing to let two Marines under his command burn for his decision.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Kaffee's drunken blow-up at Galloway over cross-examining Jessep is depicted as reflecting poorly on him. However, more than one viewer has noted that, from his perspective, Galloway has completely demolished their case through making a rookie blunder, and her bright idea to fix things involves ''Kaffee'' basically risking his future and career by goading a high-ranking star officer into admitting guilt on the stand, basically a long shot move that risks him being cited for contempt and charged with slandering the reputation of a senior officer without evidence if it falls apart. All while Galloway herself basically gets to sit back and let Kaffee take all the risk and heat of doing so. And on top of that, she gets very self-righteous and confrontational on the subject, calling him a coward when he naturally baulks at doing so. To sum up: Galloway's completely screwed up the case through her own ineptitude, put Kaffee in a position where ''he'' has to risk everything to fix it while facing no risk herself, and is doing so in a very high-and-mighty fashion. It's hard not to see where Kaffee's coming from just a little.

* ValuesDissonance: Both Kaffee and Jessep's sexual remarks to Galloway would be seen as inappropriate and borderline sexual harassment today. It's even acknowledged in some of the play performances, where Kaffee apologizes to Galloway after seeing Jessep's behavior.
** Even worse for Kaffee. He made a sexually harassing comment to an Internal Affairs officer who outranked him - to her face. Her reminding him that she's IA is what touched off the comment in the first place. In 1990 he could get away with this. Today, one phone call from her and he's out of a job.
*** According to recent studies, most women in the US armed forces have experienced sexual harassment of one kind or another and very little is done about it. And when it comes to an investigation, the careers of the women who brought the charges are usually over. This could actually count as an unintended case of TruthInTelevision.

** Some people take Jessup's courtroom rant as a TakeThat towards the kind of [[StrawCharacter limousine liberals]] (who would never dream of joining the military themselves) who sit back [[ArmchairMilitary and criticize armed might]] and the use of violence against other countries while living their lives under the guard of those same people who they disdain.
*** Alternatively, you can see it as a deconstruction of that attitude. Jessup sees himself as being the better man, but he was perfectly willing to let two good Marines take the fall for his screw-up. Hardly the mark of a true leader, and highlighted in Kaffee's response in the source material.

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Colonel Jessup ordered the hazing that led to Santiago's death.]]

** People have made Mountain Dew jokes because of Kaffee demanding to know if Jessup "ordered" the "code red".
* MisaimedFandom: The number of viewers who admire Jessup's MotiveRant is staggering. Sure, he's meant to have depth and isn't a CardCarryingVillain, but when he implies that Marines shouldn't be accountable to the law, you're not supposed to ''agree'' with him. Part of the problem is that the film doesn't include Kaffee's rebuttal from the play where he points out exactly what he's saying. Others, while they recognize that in the context of the story he was wrong, think his MotiveRant has a lot of applicability in shaming the mindset of people who criticize the actions of the military or law enforcement without having the slightest concept of how difficult, dangerous and messy their jobs are.
** Worse, Jessup's argument is not that 'Marines' should not be held accountable. It's that ''he'' should not be held accountable. He's quite willing to let two Marines under his command burn for his decision.

* OneSceneWonder: Colonel Jessup only appears in a few scenes, but he makes the most of each of them.

* SignatureScene: The climactic interrogation of Colonel Jessup and his VillainousBreakdown on the stand, including his often ([[BeamMeUpScotty mis-]])quoted "[[YouCantHandleTheParody you can't handle the truth]]" MotiveRant.
* SpiritualAntithesis: To ''Film/ScentOfAWoman'' which came out the same year. Here, we also have a young man who's naïve and inexperienced and deals with a tough ColonelBadass (played by a major LargeHam of an actor) regarding the unjust punishment of a boy for ratting out his peers. It also culminates in a trial where the colonel delivers a moving speech about honor and courage. Except, instead of inspiring the young man to not give his peers up no matter what and shaming the court for punishing him for his integrity, here the colonel is ultimately a cowardly individual who was ready to let his underlings take the blame for what they did on his orders, and his speech is self-aggrandizing and hollow. The younger man uses the colonel's emotional outburst to get him to confess his crime and he ends up getting convicted. The colonel is also a womanizer, bur whereas Lt. Col. Slade had respect for the women he courted, Col. Jessup is crass and misogynistic.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Kaffee's drunken blow-up at Galloway over cross-examining Jessup is depicted as reflecting poorly on him. However, more than one viewer has noted that, from his perspective, Galloway has completely demolished their case through making a rookie blunder, and her bright idea to fix things involves ''Kaffee'' basically risking his future and career by goading a high-ranking star officer into admitting guilt on the stand, basically a long shot move that risks him being cited for contempt and charged with slandering the reputation of a senior officer without evidence if it falls apart. All while Galloway herself basically gets to sit back and let Kaffee take all the risk and heat of doing so. And on top of that, she gets very self-righteous and confrontational on the subject, calling him a coward when he naturally baulks at doing so. To sum up: Galloway's completely screwed up the case through her own ineptitude, put Kaffee in a position where ''he'' has to risk everything to fix it while facing no risk herself, and is doing so in a very high-and-mighty fashion. It's hard not to see where Kaffee's coming from just a little.
* ValuesDissonance: Both Kaffee and Jessup's sexual remarks to Galloway would be seen as inappropriate and borderline sexual harassment today. It's even acknowledged in some of the play performances, where Kaffee apologizes to Galloway after seeing Jessup's behavior.

** The movie wants us to side with Galloway here when she insinuates that Kaffee is just being a lazy coward, but the thing is, Kaffee is ''right.'' There's a saying in the legal community, "A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client," because it's impossible to be objective if you have a personal stake in the outcome. It doesn't matter what Kaffee's personal beliefs are, his job is to represent his clients to the best of his ability. Dawson has refused a generous plea bargain against his attorney's advice, in favor of a courtroom trial that could land him in prison for life, despite being guilty of the crime he's accused of, and Kaffee is rightly frustrated at that.

** The movie wants us to side with Galloway here when she insinuates that Kaffee is just being a lazy coward, but the thing is, Kaffee is ''right.'' It really There's a saying in the legal community, "A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client," because it's impossible to be objective if you have a personal stake in the outcome. It doesn't matter what Kaffee's personal beliefs are, his job is to represent his clients to the best of his ability. Dawson has refused a generous plea bargain against his attorney's advice, in favor of a courtroom trial that could land him in prison for life, despite being guilty of the crime he's accused of, and Kaffee is rightly frustrated at that.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Kaffee's drunken blow-up at Galloway over cross-examining Jessup is depicted as reflecting poorly on him. However, more than one viewer has noted that, from his perspective, Galloway has completely demolished their case through making a rookie blunder, and her bright idea to fix things involves ''Kaffee'' basically risking his future and career to goading a high-ranking star officer into admitting guilt on the stand, basically a long shot move that risks him being cited for contempt and charged with slandering the reputation of a senior officer without evidence if it falls apart. All while Galloway herself basically gets to sit back and let Kaffee take all the risk and heat of doing so. And on top of that, she gets very self-righteous and confrontational on the subject, calling him a coward when he naturally baulks at doing so. To sum up: Galloway's completely screwed up the case through her own ineptitude, put Kaffee in a position where ''he'' has to risk everything to fix it, and is doing so in a very high-and-mighty fashion. It's hard not to see where Kaffee's coming from just a little.

* SignatureScene: "You can't ''handle'' the truth!"

* CriticalResearchFailure: Galloway's "strenuously object" scene, so it would be "on the record." '''Everything''' goes on the record, unless the judge orders it stricken for whatever reason (which is not the case here).

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Kaffee's drunken blow-up at Galloway over cross-examining Jessup is depicted as reflecting poorly on him. However, more than one viewer has noted that, from his perspective, Galloway has completely demolished their case through making a rookie blunder, and her bright idea to fix things involves ''Kaffee'' basically risking his future and career to goading a high-ranking star officer into admitting guilt on the stand, basically a long shot move that risks him being cited for contempt and charged with slandering the reputation of a senior officer without evidence if it falls apart. All while Galloway herself basically gets to sit back and let Kaffee take all the risk and heat of doing so. And on top of that, she gets very self-righteous and confrontational on the subject, calling him a coward when he naturally baulks at doing so. It's hard not to see where Kaffee's coming from just a little.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Many viewers see Jessup's "you need me on that wall" argument as true.

*** Alternatively, you can see it as a deconstruction of that attitude. Jessup sees himself as being the better man, but he was perfectly willing to let two good Marines take the fall for his screw-up. Hardly the mark of a true leader.

* MemeticMutation: "You fucking people..."