The Caine Mutiny Court Martial

A naval officer stands trial for mutiny after taking command from the ship’s captain (Kiefer Sutherland) whom he felt was acting in an unstable way, putting both the ship and its crew in danger.

William Friedkin directs this adaptation of the two-act play by Herman Wouk which was based on his 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Caine Mutiny. It stands as the final film from the revered director, who died soon after completing this film in 2023.

“Succeeds as many adroit legal thrillers have, probing the limits of the law (and its inability) for all its protocol and safeguards, to provide a full accounting of “justice”: it is always so much more complicated.” ~David Katz, The Film Stage

“Friedkin’s ending leaves you unsure of what to think or feel. It sends you out questioning your beliefs — about war, about service, about madness, even about right and wrong. In that sense, despite the lack of ornament and the reduced scale, this Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is pure Friedkin.” ~Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

“Like so many of his other movies, it’s pithy, punchy, a little shouty at times, but made with brio and swagger.” ~Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter