The reviews are in for A Few Good Men, Lincoln Center Theater's revival of the 1989 courtroom drama that launched Aaron Sorkin, and the first time the play has been back on Broadway since its original run. Michael Arden directs Tom Blyth as the Navy lawyer Daniel Kaffee, Bradley Whitford as Col. Nathan Jessep and Krysta Rodriguez as Joanne Galloway; it opened on October 29 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The critics part company most sharply over Blyth, whom USA Today and Entertainment Weekly hail as a leading man and TheaterMania and TheWrap find underpowered, and over Whitford's Jessep, a worthy villain for Deadline but short of real menace for Time Out New York and New York Stage Review. Several of them single out John Zdrojeski as the zealous Lt. Kendrick.
The verdict: twelve reviews in so far, and they pull hard in both directions. Four outlets publish a score: Culture Sauce gives four stars out of five, Time Out New York and New York Stage Review three each, and Entertainment Weekly a B. USA Today calls Tom Blyth the reason to go, while The New York Times, Vulture, TheWrap and New York Theatre Guide all question why this play needed reviving at all. The nearest thing to common ground is the sheer size of Dane Laffrey's hangar of a set, and even that is praise for some and a liability for others.
What are critics saying about A Few Good Men?
The New York Times
"‘A Few Good Men’ Gives Up the Fight"
Reviewer: Alexis Soloski
Soloski starts from the kinship between military ceremony and theater, which she thinks is what gives Sorkin's 1989 play its stage presence, and notes that Arden opens on a line of Marines drilling in dress uniform.
"Despite this elaborate choreography, Arden’s production works as theater only intermittently. It is, in military terms, an indecisive engagement."
Her summary judgment is that the revival lacks tactical cohesion. She introduces Tom Blyth's Kaffee as a plea-bargaining specialist who treats the case as a nuisance until a colleague pushes him into it.
Vulture
"A Few Good Men Invokes an Honor Code That No Longer Exists"
Reviewer: Sara Holdren
Holdren notes that Michael Arden and designer Dane Laffrey have chosen to show off every foot of the Beaumont with an aircraft-hangar set, and she grants the evening a good deal of competence.
"…the stalwart traditionalism at its core makes it a strange and unsettling choice for revivification."
She finds Blyth solid but a little cautious, and is not persuaded that the production means the larger statement its staging seems to be reaching for.
USA Today
"‘A Few Good Men’ starring Tom Blyth breathes new life into a Tom Cruise classic"
Reviewer: Patrick Ryan
Ryan writes the warmest notice of the twelve. He allows that the first stretch is weighed down by setup, and that John Zdrojeski's Lt. Kendrick is pitched far too loud, but says the evening shifts into high gear once Krysta Rodriguez's Galloway joins the case.
"But the primary reason to see this show is for Blyth, who is blow-your-hair-back brilliant in his unmissable Broadway debut."
He also picks out Stephanie Berry as the judge and Thom Sesma as an officer with a conscience, and credits Laffrey's design with putting the cavernous space to real use.
Entertainment Weekly
"Tom Blyth turns up the charisma in Tom Cruise’s famous role during Broadway debut"
Reviewer: Shelby Stivale · Grade: B
Stivale thinks Bradley Whitford is no Nicholson but still a believable villain, and enjoys the laughs Rodriguez brings to the defense team. Her main objection is to the staging, with its unbroken gloom and actors too often turned away from the house.
"The British star proves he has the chops to be a real leading man…"
Among the other Broadway debuts she singles out Lavel Schley's Lance Cpl. Dawson.
Deadline
"Bradley Whitford And Tom Blyth Manhandle The Truth"
Reviewer: Greg Evans
Evans admires Arden's handsome staging and Laffrey's airy, expansive set, and thinks Blyth makes Kaffee's journey from frat-boy arrogance to righteous advocate a credible payoff.
"Whitford’s barreling performance gives A Few Good Men a worthy villain…"
His reservation is with the play itself: a bullying commander who blames his subordinates now sounds like the daily news, so the big reveal feels quaint rather than shocking, and Rodriguez is left with too little to play.
TheWrap
"Aaron Sorkin Drama Is Guilty of Being a Creaky Old Play"
Reviewer: Robert Hofler
Hofler is the bluntest of the trade critics. He argues that the 1989 Tony voters were right to pass the play over, finds its plotting far too convenient, and calls Blyth's takedown of Whitford weak.
"…the mammoth set, by Dane Laffrey, only highlights the play’s weaknesses."
He also feels that Arden, best known for his musicals, has replaced the singing with a great deal of shouting.
TheaterMania
"A Few Good Men Introduces Us to Aaron Sorkin Before He was a Brand"
Reviewer: David Gordon
Gordon calls the revival perfectly honorable but says Arden's luxurious staging is not commanding enough to hide plot turns the audience sees coming. He finds Blyth monochromatic and Whitford short of Jessep's bite, and is far happier with the supporting company, Zdrojeski above all.
"It’s an artifact rather than a masterwork, an impressive piece of juvenilia…"
Laffrey's hangar and Japhy Weideman's noir lighting draw some of his warmest words.
Time Out New York
"Tom Blyth and Bradley Whitford face off in a revival of Aaron Sorkin's courtroom drama"
Reviewer: Adam Feldman · 3 out of 5
Feldman files it as mildly recommended. He finds the early Sorkin script basic and the outcome too well known to build suspense, and says Whitford catches Jessep's arrogance but not his fearsome conviction, while Blyth shares Cruise's charismatic likability.
"The production may not generate much excitement, but it earns a respectful salute"
He credits Arden, Laffrey and Weideman with making strong use of the Beaumont's deep stage, and calls the large cast uniformly good.
Culture Sauce
"‘A Few Good Men’ remains a crackerjack courtroom drama"
Reviewer: Thom Geier · 4 out of 5
Geier gives the highest score in the field. He accepts that the 1992 film still looms over the play, places the production in Arden's maximalist line, and enjoys Blyth's easygoing swagger as Kaffee.
"But his breakout play remains a crackerjack entertainment, which unfolds with brisk efficiency under Arden’s coolly professional direction."
For him the play's familiarity is no bar to the evening working as entertainment.
New York Stage Review
"A Few Good Men: Built to Last"
Reviewer: Melissa Rose Bernardo · 3 out of 5
Bernardo warns anyone expecting the film's high-octane thrills that this is a plainer, engrossing courtroom drama, and she praises Schley, Collin Kelly-Sordelet and Zdrojeski. Where she parts company with the warmer notices is Whitford, who she feels never inspires real fear as Jessep.
"Regarding Blyth, his Kaffee is fresh-faced, more naive than he’ll admit, and cocky but not off-putting—precisely what the role requires."
The site's second critic, Frank Scheck, also gave the production three stars.
Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s full review at New York Stage Review
New York Theatre Guide
"Aaron Sorkin's military drama returns to the stand"
Reviewer: Amelia Merrill
Merrill finds Blyth a convincing hero and Rodriguez lively, but calls Arden's direction lackadaisical and the dialogue dated, and keeps returning to the question of why this play, now.
"…it is distinctly Hollywood in a way that no longer translates to the stage."
She does join the critics who single out Zdrojeski, whose lieutenant she finds genuinely frightening.
1 Minute Critic
"Bradley Whitford unleashes the line you came to hear"
Reviewer: Matthew Wexler
Wexler expects Sorkin fans to lap the evening up, though he finds the plot loaded with exposition. Rodriguez is his standout, and he finds Blyth charming rather than commanding.
"Director Michael Arden (The Lost Boys) handles Sorkin’s dense script with a deft hand…"
He closes by wishing the play had fewer men in it and a few more good women.
Production photographs by Emilio Madrid.
On opening day we published the first production photos from A Few Good Men, and before that a first look at the revival in previews. For another Broadway revival the critics have weighed in on this season, read our roundup for The Imaginary Invalid at the Todd Haimes Theatre.
A Few Good Men runs at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, through Sunday, January 10, 2027.
