Men of Honor (R) No Rating
Cuba Gooding Jr. plunges into an ocean of military-drama clichés as the U.S. Navy's first Black deep-sea diver.
Story
The standard biopic plotline, based on the life story of Carl Brashear, follows the uneducated sharecropper's son (Gooding) as he braves 1950s-era racial discrimination for the right to risk his life in one of the most dangerous occupations in the armed services. At the Navy's elite salvage school in New Jersey, master diver Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro) gives Brashear the "Officer and a Gentleman" treatment, singling him out for special punishment at the request of the base's insane racist commander (Hal Holbrook). Will the hero overcome the obstacles in his path to becoming a master diver himself?
Acting
Gooding's glowing likability is the main factor keeping the film's saintly conception of Brashear from getting annoying fast. The one-dimensional character lacks a single flaw for an actor to grab onto, but Gooding's enthusiasm is contagious (remember that Oscar speech?) and he gets surprising mileage out of it. De Niro's trademark intensity is put to only minimal use in a variation of the cantankerous drill sergeant part familiar from half the military flicks ever made.
Direction
George Tillman Jr. ("Soul Food") delivers some effective if obvious action-drama in the film's first half, which chronicles Brashear's tireless efforts to earn his Navy flippers. Unfortunately, Scott Marshall Smith's screenplay gets a bit water-logged dealing with the hero's subsequent career both above and below the waves. (One key development closely parallels John Wayne's role as a Navy flier in another true story, 1957's "The Wings of Eagles.) All this sets up a particularly weak courtroom finale reminiscent of another slew of movies, including "A Few Good Men" and "Rules of Engagement."
Bottom Line
"Men of Honor" accomplishes its basic mission without diving too deeply into its characters or dramatic situation.
To get the full Quicklook Films experience, uncheck "Enable on this Site" from Adblock Plus
box office top 10
Civil War Released: April 12, 2024 Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura 11.1M
Abigail Released: April 19, 2024 Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens 10.2M
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Released: March 29, 2024 Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry 9.5M
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Released: April 19, 2024 Cast: Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez 9M
Spy x Family Code: White Released: April 19, 2024 Cast: Takuya Eguchi, Saori Hayami 4.9M
Kung Fu Panda 4 Released: March 8, 2024 Cast: Jack Black, Viola Davis 4.6M
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Released: March 22, 2024 Cast: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon 4.4M
Dune: Part Two Released: March 1, 2024 Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson 2.9M
Monkey Man Released: April 5, 2024 Cast: Dev Patel, Sikandar Kher 2.2M
The First Omen Released: April 5, 2024 Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy 1.7M