The strawberries are still missing; the steel balls continue rolling nervously around in Captain Queeg’s sea-weathered mitts. And Showtime’s “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” is yet another revisiting of the Herman Wouk courtroom saga. A deliberately spare, stripped-down take on the stage adaptation of the novel, it is also the last directorial effort of William Friedkin, who died in August.
Those looking to make absolute sense of Friedkin’s involvement might reflect not on the director’s more lavishly imagined and celebrated films—“The Exorcist” or “The French Connection”—but on those that dealt with gray areas of morality and law: “To Live and Die in L.A.,” “Rules of Engagement” and even “Cruising.”This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law.