Compare And Contrast Patton And A Few Good Men

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While their storylines are extremely different, both movies Patton and A Few Good Men have central themes of military, discipline, and conflict. Patton, released in 1970, focuses on World War II General George S. Patton’s wartime accomplishments and controversies. Actor George C. Scott plays Patton in this biographical film and Jack Nicholson plays Col. Nathan R. Jessup in A Few Good Men. Released in 1992, A Few Good Men instead focuses on the death of a Marine in Guantanamo Bay and the following lawsuit. In both films, these actors delivered amazing and organic performances that allowed the audience to fully immerse themselves into the films.
In Patton, the audience can quickly pick up General Patton’s quirky and tough personality. Scott threw himself into his character in a different way. As soon as being assigned commander of U.S. …show more content…

Scott’s character, I felt, was not as cocky and arrogant as Jessup and instead commanded the room with this body language and intelligence. Scott was able to convey to the audience his character’s internal struggle. The scene that comes to my mind, is when Patton goes into the infirmary tent and discovers a soldier with “battle fatigue.” At the time, battle fatigue was equatable to PTSD and Patton did not believe in the idea of battle fatigue. He only believed that these soldiers were cowards, and Scott was able to portray this tension perfectly. He first treated a soldier with physical injuries with an extreme amount of tenderness and respect. While watching closely, I believed that Scott brought himself to tears, but kept them in to capture Patton’s respect for his men and the injured.

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