MovieChat Forums > A Few Good Men (1992) Discussion > Did Jessop finally have some grudging re...

Did Jessop finally have some grudging respect for Kaffee after their final exchange?

posted 2 years ago by MrAnonymous (145)
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While I'm sure Jessop hated Kafee to death, I can't help but wonder if there was a brief second where he seemed to have felt the slightest bit of respect. Earlier in the movie he had bullied Kaffey, and probably saw him as a weakling he had nothing but contempt for.

But after Kaffey outmaneuvers him in court and gets him arrested he lunges furiously at Kaffey yet Kaffey does not even flinch. Furthermore he looks him square in the eye after being called "son" and says "Don't call me son. I'm a lawyer, and an officer in the United States Navy, and you're under arrest you son of a b.......". After that retort Jessop seems to give him a look of mostly hate but a slight hint of respect for how gutsy he was.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but upon viewing that scene again, there just seems to be the slightest hint of him having a look that acknowledges he bested him and showed guts.

[–] tph890 (484) 2 years ago

I would go with contempt rather than respect.
However, I think your interpretation is certainly valid.
Perhaps a begrudging respect formed later, but I don’t think it was there in that moment.

[–] proneblocked (9) 2 years ago

What you have to understand is -- Jessop is old. Not only that, he's a marine, he states it, heartily.

In his mind, he did not do a single thing wrong. Whatever the price, and that price was 1 life, he thinks he's saved the morale. You can add 50 more arguments of synonymous nature, and they will all point to - honor. However bad and vile that crime may be, it's sort of a makavelian idea - 1 life for the core/platoon/unit. It's a win in his eyes.

So when a pipsqueek lawyer, who has not gone through the gruesome life the colonel has...
Dares to shout at him.
Dares to ask about underware.
Dares to proposterously question him.

And then ... USES CHEAP TRICKS TO GET HIM TO SAY IT ?

Do you really think that after trying to attack the lawyer, he felt respect ?
No. That was not respect. That was deep deep hatred after being tricked.
The reason the colonel restrained himself, was because his "honor" kicked in, and he did not want to sink down to the lowest level, and to be dragged out of the court without dignity. Him picking up his headware from the ground signifies that.
Even though he's wrong, and got out of line, he's still a military man at heart, and he will hold his beliefs till the end.
After all, you cannot fake honor and military discipline up to the rank of a colonel. It becomes you, you become it, even though your rank allows you spontaneous freedoms and certain moments of weakness.

That is why colonel's characeter is SO believable in this movie. If you understand and can feel true honor, you still hold a slice of respect for the colonel. The colonel is in the same boat those 2 marines are -- they tried to follow orders "for the best" of their company and themselves. The colonel ordered the "red code" for "the best" of his whole base near cuba, and also for himself.

In movies, where you see colonels, generals...Who are beyond greed and look like pimps/drug_lords...It's less believable (with a *).