A Soldier's Story

A SOLDIER'S STORY (15)
D: Norman Jewison 
Columbia/Delphi (Norman Jewison & Patrick Palmer)
US 1984
101 mins

Mystery/Drama

W: Charles Fuller [based on his play]
DP: Russell Boyd
Ed: Caroline Biggerstaff & Mark Warner
Mus: Herbie Hancock

Howard E. Rollins, Jr.(Davenport), Adolph Caesar (Waters), Art Evans (Wilkie), David Alan Grier (Cobb), David Harris (Smalls), Denzel Washington (Peterson)

A military lawyer investigates the death of a strict drill sergeant at a Louisiana army camp, where the murder may or may not be racially motivated.
A well-written and very well acted, but rather old-fashioned mystery melodrama from director Norman Jewison, with standout performances particularly from Howard E. Rollins, Jr. & Adolph Caesar, with a notable early role from Denzel Washington.
Unfair comparisons will be made with A Few Good Men (qv).
8/10
 
Howard E. Rollins, Jr. in A Soldier's Story
Howard E. Rollins, Jr. in A Soldier's Story