|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Rice Thresher
Phone:
|
Garret Merriam thresher staff Review: *** (out of five) As far as military dramas go, Men of Honor is definitely atypical. There are no fight sequences, no glorious death scenes and not a single gun drawn or fired. However there are several battles of will, many tests of courage and countless conflicts of character. Another thing that sets the film apart from most of its kind is that it is based on a true story. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Carl Brashear, the son of a Kentucky sharecropper. Brashear joins the newly integrated Navy out of a love for the water and a desire to make a better life for himself and his family. Determined by a promise to his father to be the best, Brashear quickly finds himself frustrated when he is stuck in the galley along with all of the other black sailors. After witnessing an amazing life-saving rescue by Master Chief Diver Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro), Brashear decides he will become a Navy diver at any cost. After two years of writing letters, he becomes the first black person accepted into the dive school program. But Brashear's travails are just beginning when he ends up at the Dive School under training officer Sunday, who has no intention of letting Brashear pass his course. Sunday, who now has injured lungs and can never dive again, torments and taunts Brashear in attempt to get him to drop out. The torture only makes Brashear more determined to succeed. The film's best features are strong performances by Gooding and De Niro. Gooding carefully resists overacting the part by showing the strength of his character's determination in subtle ways. De Niro, though playing a racist antagonist through most of the film, manages to evoke sympathy for the pathetic and washed-up master chief. The chemistry between the two in numerous head-to-head conflicts is dynamic and powerful, making for the best scenes in the film. The supporting cast with actors such as Michael Rapaport and Powers Boothe delivers a suitable performance, but even headliner Charlize Theron is only on screen for about five minutes. While most of the confrontation scenes are well done, at times they become a bit much. Here and there, the attempt to be inspiring backfires and borders on cloying melodrama. As is to be expected in a movie about diving, there are some good underwater sequences. One scene depicts Brashear rescuing another trainee when the salvage ship they are working on suddenly shifts and totters over the edge of an underwater cliff. Another impressive scene shows Brashear's close encounter with a submerged Russian submarine while searching for a lost nuclear warhead. On the whole, Men of Honor is a well-made and enjoyable film despite a somewhat predictable plot progression. Strong lead performances and exciting underwater sequences make the film worthwhile.
- back - |
|
|
Search the Thresher pages:
This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of: The Rice Thresher, Rice University MS-524, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA. The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu |
