The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023 film)

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Release poster
Directed by	William Friedkin
Screenplay by	William Friedkin
Based on	The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial by Herman Wouk
Produced by	Annabelle Dunne Matthew Parker
Starring	Kiefer Sutherland Jason Clarke Jake Lacy Monica Raymund Lance Reddick
Cinematography	Michael Grady
Edited by	Darrin Navarro
Production companies	Showtime Networks Selsed House Loveless Media
Distributed by	Republic Pictures (through Paramount+ with Showtime)
Release dates	September 3, 2023 (2023-09-03) (Venice) October 6, 2023 (2023-10-06) (United States)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is a 2023 American legal drama film adapted and directed by William Friedkin from Herman Wouk's 1953 play of the same name, itself based on Wouk's 1952 novel The Caine Mutiny. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Clarke, Jake Lacy, Monica Raymund and Lance Reddick. It is the eight overall filmed adaptation of Wouk's work, following a 1954 theatrical film, and several made-for-television films. In a departure from the source material, the prosecutor and one of the psychiatrists had their last names preserved but sex changed from male to female (and first names changed accordingly).

The film premiered on September 3, 2023 at the 80th Venice International Film Festival and was released in the United States on October 6, 2023 on Paramount+ with Showtime by Republic Pictures. The film marks a posthumous release for Reddick and Friedkin, who both died in 2023 on March 17 and August 7, respectively.

Plot

Prologue

At the United States Naval Headquarters in San Francisco on an unspecified day in January 2023, a court-martial is about to take place to determine whether an officer of the U.S. Navy committed a mutinous act. Shortly before the court-martial is set to begin, Lieutenant Barney Greenwald, who is to act as defense counsel for Lieutenant Steve Maryk, the defendant, confesses to believing that he is guilty. When Maryk references a wisecrack made by his novelist friend Lieutenant Thomas Keefer and claims that he knows everything Lieutenant Philip Francis Queeg did, to which Greenwald agrees.

The Court-Martial

The Prosecution’s Case

The court-martial begins with Commander Katherine Challee, the prosecutor, charging that Maryk, while serving as the executive officer of the USS Caine, committed an act of mutiny on December 18, 2022 by willfully and without justifiable cause or authority, relieve Queeg, then serving as the duly appointed commanding officer of the Caine and lawfully exercising his command, of duty, to which the defense pleads not guilty.

The prosecution’s first witness is Queeg, who clarifies that the Caine is a mine countermeasures vessel (MCM) designed to detect and neutralize sea-based mines by conducting minesweeping operations as directed in the Persian Gulf, emphasizing on the Straits of Hormuz. Queeg states that on December 16, 2022, the Caine left on a minesweeping operation from the Persian Gulf to the Straits of Hormuz. During this mission, a cyclone developed in the region and began traveling due west, leading to the operation’s cancellation and the ship to attempt to begin evading the storm on the morning of December 18. Despite visibility issues, Queeg maintains that the ship had no trouble maintaining the ordered evasion route - traveling south to escape the storm’s winds, - but claims that Maryk appeared nervous, expressing less than half an hour into the ship’s southward evasion that the ship was foundering and needed to operate independently of the commodore’s orders and turn north - into the winds. After Maryk continued insisting and Queeg continued refusing, Maryk placed Queeg on the sick list and relieved him, citing an article in Navy regulations that allows an executive officer to relieve the commanding officer if the latter appears to be mentally unstable during an emergency. Queeg expresses to not having a history of mental illness or being mentally ill on the morning of the 18th when Maryk relieved him. He claims that Lieutenant (junior grade) Willis Keith, the officer of the deck and helmsman Stilwell were both emotionally unbalanced and supported Maryk. Then, in response to the court’s questions, Queeg states that he has taken and passed all physical and mental examinations during his 21-year-long military career and that Maryk’s accusation of Queeg being mentally ill likely originated from Maryk’s dislike of Queeg due to the latter’s beliefs about the enforcement of military discipline on the Caine. Greenwald then asks Queeg whether he has ever heard of the nickname “Old Yellowstain”, the nickname the officers of the Caine gave Queeg after an incident, to which Queeg replies that he is unaware of. Greenwald concludes his questioning and surprises the court when he states that Queeg will be called as a witness for the defense.

The next witness is Keefer, the communications officer of the Caine and a novelist who has completed half of a war novel, titled Multitudes, Multitudes, which has been accepted by a publisher. He describes that on the 18th, Maryk called everyone into the wheelhouse and announced that Queeg was sick and he had assumed command. Keefer did not notice any signs of abnormalities in Queeg’s behavior or physical state but did not attempt to restore Queeg to command because he believed it would be in everyone’s best interest if he followed Maryk’s orders. He then recalls being shown, 2 weeks prior to the cyclone, a medical log Maryk had kept on Queeg’s behavior and Maryk asking to be accompanied by him as he reports the situation to their superior, a request Keefer initially agreed to because of his friendship with Maryk and Maryk being his superior. However, Keefer ultimately refused the request and their superior was never shown the log. When Maryk relieved Queeg of his duty, he was seriously disturbed and thought it a grave error on the former’s part. In a move that surprised the court, Greenwald chooses to not cross-examine Keefer at this point or to recall him to the witness stand at a later time. The court proceeds to question Keefer regarding the contents of the log, to which Keefer explains that while Queeg hounded his subordinates over the smallest details, the incidents in the log did not justify him being considered a maniac, which is why Keefer dissuaded Maryk from reporting it to their superior.

The third witness is Junius Urban, Quartermaster Third Class of the Caine. He states that he was in the wheelhouse when Maryk relieved Queeg of his duties and that also present were Keith and Stilwell. The ship was in bad shape and he was scared while Maryk and Queeg argued vaguely about the direction of the ship when the former simply told the latter, who appeared to be acting sanely, “I relieve you.” Urban’s nervousness and lack of clarity about what was going on around him during his testimony leads the court to question him regarding his age (20) and education level (high school diploma), but he justifies that he was not in the position to listen to such an argument between his superiors and that he liked Queeg. Greenwald then asks Urban, who claims to have never seen Queeg do anything insane, whether he knows what a paranoid personality is and can identify it in someone; when Urban expresses visible confusion, Greenwald ends the cross-examination.

Recess

The court-martial takes a recess, during which Greenwald approaches Challee, who has planned to call forth a dozen members of the Caine to corroborate Urban’s testimony, and successfully makes a negotiation with her - Greenwald will concede that all of the members will corroborate Urban if Challee concedes that none of them knows anything more about paranoia than Urban. Greenwald then reveals that he is on medical leave, was appointed to defend Maryk by the judge-advocate mere days ago, and though a member of the bar, has had limited experience practicing law. In light of these circumstances, the court gives Maryk and Greenwald two minutes for them to discuss and the former to decide whether he wishes to continue having Greenwald defend him. During their discussion, Maryk is pessimistic about his prospects and asks Greenwald why he did not cross-examine Keefer, to which he replies that his and the only winning strategy is to paint Maryk as a hero. Maryk ultimately agrees to Greenwald continuing to defend him.

The Prosecution’s Case, Continued

The prosecution’s fourth witness is Keith, the assistant communications officer of the Caine and officer of the deck on the 18th. He states that Maryk relieved Queeg because the latter had lost control of himself and the ship was in danger of foundering. When Challee cites Keith’s relative inexperience at sea compared to Queeg, Keith responds that if Queeg were not in possession of his faculties, he would be more capable of determining whether a ship was in danger. He continues that he and Maryk found the decision to continue going south ill-advised. When questioned about his absolute loyalty to Queeg, Keith explained that he was antagonistic towards his superior on specific occasions of perceived mistreatment of crew members, such as when he restricted Stilwell to the ship for 6 months for reading on watch and refusing to grant him leave in December 2021 and Maryk stepped in to give him leave. Challee interrupts him, citing that as an instance of Stilwell, Keith, and Maryk’s disloyalty to Queeg. Though flustered, Keith continues citing other instances of mistreatment, such as when he cut off Internet access for half a year because he was not invited to a movie screening by mistake, restricting water use during a heat wave. When Challee asks him whether any of his punishments have been against regulations, he concedes so and admits that while he initially liked Queeg, he eventually found him tyrannical and incompetent. When pressed about whether he disobeyed Queeg because he perceived him as insane or because of his grudge against him, Keith claims to not be able to recall his state of mind. Greenwald cross-examines him by asking him to state all of the reasons for his dislike. Keith continues by citing an incident in December 2022 where Queeg attempted to smuggle a crate of liquor aboard but shouted contradictory orders that rattled the sailors loading the crate, causing it to go overboard, and then charged Keith with being responsible for the loss and extorted $1000 from him. However, his chief reason for disliking Queeg was because of his cowardice during dangerous missions, which he personally witnessed on numerous occasions as officer of the deck. After forcing Keith to note that Queeg has never been charged for these alleged acts or that there are no official records to substantiate his claims, Challee questions the veracity of the liquor incident and accuses him of spreading malicious rumors about Queeg and insinuates that he is committing perjury. She then asks whether Keith really believes Queeg had lost his mind on the morning of the 18th, to which he responds that he is uncertain of his or Queeg’s mental state at the time.

The next witness is Captain Randolph Southard, Operations Officer of the fleet that the Caine belonged to, who has been called in as a witness due to his experience and expertise in the handling of ships such as the Caine. He tells Challee that in such a situation, the only option would be for the ship to go south, as ordered by Queeg’s superiors and executed by him, and turning north, as Maryk insisted, would be dangerous. Greenwald then asks whether the situation would be different if the worst-case scenario - the ship were at the center of the cyclone - were to happen. Southard concedes to having never maneuvered a ship in this situation and clarifies that only in this extreme scenario would it be advisable to turn the ship north. Challee then asks Southard who on the ship is best equipped to determine whether a ship is about to sink, to which the latter replies the commanding officer (Queeg).

The prosecution’s sixth witness is Lieutenant Commander Dr. Joan Lundeen, M.D., Head of Psychiatry of the U.S. Navy’s Medical Corps at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Francisco. She confirms to have served as the head of the medical board that examined Queeg and discharged him with a clean bill of health and states that it is not possible for Queeg to have been so mentally unstable on the 18th to justify being relieved. At Greenwald’s prompting, Lundeen reveals that his overall problem is suffering from an inferiority complex, but he has become well-adjusted because he is a naval officer, and is therefore very careful about maintaining it and prone to be harsh when subordinates make mistakes. However, when he makes mistakes, he tends to revise reality in his mind and absolve himself of blame. Upon realizing that Greenwald is leading her to conclude that Queeg has a paranoiac personality, Lundeen clarifies that it is not disabling and that it can be very difficult to detect because the person appears normal. The court then asks whether someone with a mild, non disabling, case of this condition, has a tendency to make erroneous judgments during emergencies, to which Lundeen answers in the affirmative, because commanding officers are humans, after all.

The next witness is Dr. Allen Bird, M.D., who was called to serve on the evaluation team with Lundeen and which unanimously determined that Queeg is and has always been mentally fit for command, even though they found in Queeg an obsessive personality with paranoid features. Greenwald begins his cross-examination by asking Bird to agree to the rough correspondence of the psychoanalytic terms “disturbed” and “adjusted” with the layman terms “sick” and “well”. Then, Bird expresses that Queeg suffers from an inferiority complex but while it disturbs him, it does not disable him because he compensates for it through his paranoia and his military career. He then concedes that Queeg is disturbed (not adjusted) but refuses when Greenwald attempts to get him to conclude that Queeg is sick. Greenwald counters by asking whether this disturbance might disable Queeg given the extremely high requirements of a commanding officer and implying that Bird was not qualified to make the assessment because he appears to believe that the requirements to be a skilled psychiatrist are higher than those to be a commanding officer in the U.S. Navy, but Bird defends himself as being qualified because he would have refused to serve on the board otherwise and restates that Queeg is not disabled.

The Defense’s Case

The defense’s first witness is Maryk himself, who claims that before he relieved Queeg, the ship was in poor shape and he had spent an hour trying to convince him to turn the ship to the north, to no avail. Greenwald then asks him about the medical log, which Maryk reveals he began keeping after the yellowstain incident. He describes that on the third day of a minesweeping operation with 2 other MCMs, the Caine had detected some acoustic mines and been ordered to destroy them. However, Queeg ultimately chose to not set the explosives, citing malfunctioning equipment, and the crew dropped a yellow dye marker over the side of the ship to indicate where the mines were and the Caine simply left at full speed, despite another ship’s wish for it to slow down. The court questions Maryk regarding the equipment and he responds that he checked it with technicians on the ship and verified that it was working normally. Greenwald continues by asking Maryk why he did not immediately report his concerns about Queeg’s mental health, to which he replies that he wanted the support of multiple incidents to strengthen his case. He continues by citing several incidents, such as when someone kept a coffee machine plugged in for too long and it burned out and Queeg ordered all of the officers to sit as a trial of inquiry that lasted 36 hours to find the culprit, at the expense of continuing the ship’s normal operations, when Queeg restricted water use for the whole crew for 2 days during a dust storm because he caught someone taking a shower, and when Queeg blindly applied his experience from a past experience to catch those who had eaten some strawberries by ordering a meticulous search of the ship and having everyone strip searched because he believed someone made a duplicate key to the fridge, which lasted 3 days. No key was ever found, but when Maryk perceived delight as Queeg tried out each potential duplicate, Maryk showed Keefer the log. Maryk then claims that after the storm had blown out the next morning, Queeg met him privately and made a deal that he would not write Maryk up for mutiny if he could regain control of the Caine, but Maryk refused. He concludes by answering the charges, summarizing that he willfully relieved Queeg, had the authority of the aforementioned articles, and was justified because of Queeg’s mental state during an emergency. During Challee’s cross-examination, she first forces Maryk to admit that no official records can corroborate his statements, emphasize the perceived act of disloyalty when he granted leave to Stilwell, and embarrasses him by publicizing his unimpressive academic record, which she uses to reason that his justification of relieving Queeg because of his perception that he was mentally ill is ridiculous, but Maryk maintains that on the morning of the storm, his diagnosis of Queeg’s mental state was accurate.

The next witness is Queeg himself. Greenwald begins by asking him about the offer he allegedly made to Maryk to hush things up but he denies that this offer was ever made. When next asked about the $1000 from Keith, Queeg first states that the crate contained uniforms, books, navigational instruments, etc and that Keith was the one shouting contradictory orders, then, upon further pressing by Greenwald, claims to have misspoken and that this crate was lost back in 2014 and the one Keith was involved in contained liquor but denies that he gave those orders or that he refused to sign Keith’s leave papers until he paid the money. When asked about an incident where the Caine appeared to have cut its own tow cable, Queeg claims that he successfully maneuvered the ship out of the situation and that Keith has been spreading nonsense. Regarding the yellow dye marker, Queeg claims to not remember and that if it was dropped, it would’ve been to mark a mine the Caine had detected, forcing Greenwald to withdraw a question regarding Maryk’s accusation of his display of cowardice during the operation. The court then insists Queeg search through his memory for the answers to specific questions. First, he again expresses that the operation was aborted because the equipment was faulty and justifies leaving instead of choosing to repair the equipment by saying they had to give the other ships space. Greenwald resumes his examination, asking whether he habitually retired to his room during minesweeping operations, agitating Queeg, who states that it was Maryk and Keith who were being cowardly and leaving Queeg with more work than he should have. The court then asks Queeg why he tolerated Maryk and Keith’s behavior if they were so poor, to which he claims that he is actually softhearted and does not want to ruin their military careers. Greenwald then asks about the condition of the ship on the 18th, which Queeg states was not in danger because he was in complete control of it. Queeg is then given a chance to address all of the claims in Maryk’s log. He begins by discussing the strawberry incident, claiming that Keith and Maryk had double-crossed and turned everyone else on the ship against him and that Maryk omitted the important detail that he had determined theoretically that someone had a duplicate key and can disprove Maryk’s claim that the crew members working in the mess hall had eaten them. He segues to the water incident, clarifying that it was because some crew members were taking 7 showers a day, and then returns to the strawberry incident, claiming that Maryk and Keith, in typical fashion, undermined his authority by screwing up the key search. He then brings up his meticulous recordkeeping to cover up for the poor accounting by other crew members and clarifies that the movie operator started the film before he arrived and not a single crew member noticed that he was not present, which he perceives as a grave insult and act of disrespect to his command, his agitation increasing throughout the process and culminating in a tirade against the poor discipline aboard the ship and how he enforced it. After Queeg calms down, Greenwald asks him to read a copy of the fitness report he wrote to Maryk in July 2022, after many of the aforementioned events had occurred. Queeg prefaces by saying that knowing how such a record can affect a person’s career, he tried to go easy on them. In it, Queeg expressed that Maryk has improved in his performance and is outstanding and virtuous in various ways, including being “unflaggingly loyal” and fully qualified to command a ship like the Caine. Challee declines to cross-examine him.

The End of the Court-Martial

Initially, both the defense and the prosecution decline to offer closing arguments but at the court’s prompting, Challee claims that she has nothing to refute in the defense’s case because it is no case at all, as it has nothing to do with the charge and instead turned the court-martial of Maryk into one of Queeg, forcing him to defend himself against numerous malicious rumors without adequate preparation, and to rule in favor of the defense would be to set a precedent. However, Challee is confident that the court will not be manipulated by the defense’s case but nevertheless recommends that Greenwald be censured by the court for conduct unbecoming a Navy officer. Greenwald explained that he reluctantly accepted this assignment and knew that his only chance of winning would be to prove that Queeg was mentally incompetent, the most unpleasant duty he has ever performed, but one incumbent upon him. He reiterates Queeg’s agitation during the testimony and asks the court to simply imagine what he might have been like during the height of a storm.

Before recessing (and arriving at a verdict), the court first offers its ruling on Challee’s recommendation that Greenwald be censured. It determines that while his conduct has been puzzling, he has not been in contempt.

After the court-martial, Greenwald tells Maryk that if the verdict is an acquittal, it will arrive soon, and if not, it will not be for weeks. Maryk thanks Greenwald for his defense and tells him he “murdered” Queeg on the witness stand, which he agrees to. As Greenwald prepares to leave, Maryk reveals that Keefer received a $10,000 advance on his Multitudes, Multitudes that morning and has invited Maryk and Greenwald to a party that night to celebrate. He tells Greenwald that he will go if he does, but the latter leaves without giving a definitive answer.

The Party

Greenwald arrives at the party to the jubilation of the other guests who ask him to make a toast, but he says that he is drunk because he was meeting Challee over drinks beforehand. However, he reveals that he will be returning to his ship the next day. At the crowd’s prompting, he decides to give a speech. He first teases the Navy brass with Keefer but then says that if he were to write a war novel, he would make Queeg and those like him the hero because they were protecting the country while he and Keith and Keefer and everyone else in the room was enjoying the pleasures made only possible by their service. When Maryk tries to get him to stop and enjoy the party, Greenwald calls the celebration a scam and him partially guilty. He also accuses Keefer of planted the idea that Queeg was a dangerous paranoiac in Maryk’s mind once he saw his log, making up the nickname “Old Yellowstain”, drilling the articles into Maryk, and getting cold feet when they were about to show the log to their superior, and decided to hide from the spotlight. He concludes that Keefer is the guilty party because had he not drilled those ideas into Maryk, he could have cooperated with Queeg in reversing the ship’s direction or continuing southward instead of getting him relieved and the Caine decommissioned when it was most needed. He reprimands Keefer for manipulating others into taking down Queeg and not only getting off clean, but with a deal for a book criticizing the Navy. Greenwald reveals that he only defended Maryk because he realized that Keefer should have been tried and the only way to defend him was to “murder” Queeg, and he is exasperated that he had to do it and ashamed that he did it because Queeg, who has served the U.S. for 21 years, deserves better. He finally agrees to toast Keefer and his book, drinking some of the liquor in his glass and flinging the rest at him, leaving a “Yellowstain” on him.

Cast

• Kiefer Sutherland as Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg, Acting Captain of the U.S.S. Caine
• Jason Clarke as Lieutenant Barney Greenwald, defense attorney
• Jake Lacy as Lieutenant Stephen Maryk
• Monica Raymund as Lt. Commander Katherine Challee, lead prosecutor
• Lewis Pullman as Lieutenant Junior Grade Thomas Keefer
• Jay Duplass as Lieutenant Alan Bird
• Tom Riley as Lieutenant Willis Keith
• Lance Reddick as Captain Blakely, head judge
• Elizabeth Anweis as Lt. Commander Joan Lundeen
• Francois Battiste as Captain Randolph Patterson Southard
• Gabe Kessler as Petty Officer Third Class Junius Hannaford Urban
• Gina Garcia-Sharp as the court stenographer
• Stephanie Erb as Rear Admiral Lucille Stutz
• Dale Dye as Vice Admiral R.T. Dewey
• Denzel Johnson as Prosecution Paralegal J.P Simmons

Production

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is a film that I have long awaited to make, originally written by one of the masters of his time, Herman Wouk. I knew that I wanted to create a highly tense, pressurized scenario which would move rapidly along like a bat out of hell. I intentionally chose to keep the issue of right and wrong as ambiguous as possible. I was consistently impressed with the level of expertise that our actors brought to their roles and I believe that these are some of the best performances I have ever seen.

—William Friedkin, speaking about the film

In September 2021, William Friedkin announced plans to develop an adaptation of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial and that he was beginning the process of casting the film. The following year, in August, Deadline Hollywood officially reported that a new adaptation of Herman Wouk's novel The Caine Mutiny directed by Friedkin was in the works for Paramount Global Content Distribution and Showtime Networks. Kiefer Sutherland was announced to star, with Friedkin having altered Wouk's script himself to reflect a more modern timeline, setting it in the Persian Gulf, as opposed to the original's World War II setting. Principal photography began presumably in January 2023 and was completed sometime before star Lance Reddick's death in March. In the wake of his death, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro posted a tweet, praising the actor's performance in the film.

Del Toro himself served as back-up director on the film for liability reasons, due to Friedkin's age, and had sat beside him every day during the shoot. Since the production had been operating on a tight schedule, Friedkin expected that everyone come to the set prepared so as to avoid doing any retakes. According to del Toro, rather than scold a particular actor who stumbled over a crucial line several times, Friedkin instead asked, "You wanna do it in an hour or so? Or we pick it up tomorrow?":

"The gesture was healing, soothing and put the entire set back in control. I had seen, at the ripe age of 58, that of th[e] many tools in Billy's arsenal, kindness was one of the most effective ones."

Release

In March 2023, Paramount Global Content Distribution revived Republic Pictures, with The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial announced as one of its first acquisitions. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial had its world premiere on September 3, 2023 at the 80th Venice International Film Festival where it screened out of competition. Upon its release, Paramount+ announced it will premiere the film in all international markets where the service is available. The film was released on October 6, 2023 on Paramount+ with Showtime followed by a linear release on Showtime on October 8.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 40 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "The final film from a master of the medium, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial serves as a gripping reminder that a single setting, a solid cast, and some sharply written dialogue is sometimes all you need." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Pete Hammond, in his review for Deadline Hollywood, wrote that the film is "solid and no-frills".

External links

• The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial at IMDb