Uplifting stories are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. As the recent "Pay it Forward" and "Billy Elliot" prove, most are conventional and lack originality. They are content to force the same cliches down audiences' throats in the hopes that people will embrace them despite their predictability.
On the surface it appeared that "Men of Honor" would be another in a long line of these movies. A courageous man fights the odds and the system to overcome his adversaries and triumph. Nothing new there. But thanks to convincing performances from stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Robert De Niro it transcends the genre and earns the viewer's adoration.
Gooding, Jr. stars as Carl Brashear, a poor black man who dreams of becoming a Master diver in the Navy. His father wants him to make something else in order to escape the hard life he has lived. He shows a young Carl his hands and insists that he never end up like him. A life of hard work and nothing to show for it. Before leaving for the Navy, the only thing his father tells him is to never quit.
Carl starts out his Navy career as a cook on the U.S.S. Hoist. One afternoon he decides to take a swim on a hot Friday, even though colored men are only supposed to swim on Tuesday's. He gets himself into trouble but wins the respect of Captain Pullman (Powers Boothe). With his help, Carl becomes the first African-American allowed into the Navy's diver school.
It's all uphill from there for Carl. The rest of the men hate him and refuse to sleep in the same room as him. Only one man (Michael Rapaport) even talks to him. The head of the school (Hal Halbrook) and the instructor, the tough and mean Billy Sunday (De Niro), are going to make sure that he fails.
There are a few subplots along the way, including Carl's romance with a local med student (Aunjanue Ellis) and Billy's rocky relationship with his young wife (Charlize Theron). Both the stories and the actresses are given little screen time and it seems they could have been dropped altogether without detracting from the movie, but no matter. The damage is little.
We know how this is all going to end, so the important thing is how we get there. Thanks to the lead performances, a tight script by Scott Marshall Smith and assured direction from Milwaukee native George Tillman, Jr. ("Soul Food"), the ride is an invigorating one well worth taking.
Gooding, Jr. and De Niro are at their best. The former hasn't been this good since his Oscar winning role in "Jerry Maguire." He hits all the right notes here and gives a strong performance. De Niro doesn't break new territory but is as reliable as ever. The fact that you sympathize with his character is a testament to how good an actor he is.
"Men of Honor" is like a trip to an amusement park you have been to many times before. You have been on the rides a hundred times but somehow it's still thrilling to go on them again. There's nothing wrong with a familiar story if it's one that is well-told. Pardon the expression, but this is one movie worth diving in to.
Grade: B+
"Men of Honor" is open now.
