The inspirational and true tale of one black man who tries his hardest to become a deep sea military diver. Cuba Gooding Jr. is this man and the hard ass who is training him is none other than Robert De Niro.
Men of Honor seemed like another boring military film that focuses on one character who must overcome adversity while training to become a part of a special unit in the service. Then of course there will be the officer who trains them, he will be a hard ass who doesn't take any B.S. from anyone. The more he pushes you, the harder you become, the two usually hate each other at the beginning, but then come to terms and respect each other. In some cases they even end up liking each other. The third act of the film usually details the life of the character after he graduates the class. Men of Honor follows this criteria to a capital T.
With that being sad, I still found myself interested in the characters and the performance. This is an interesting film that pits two leading men who seem to have had bad luck with roles in this recent generation. Cuba Good Jr. can't seem to find his footing after winning an Oscar for Jerry Maguire, today the poor guy is in the direct to video market. In this performance he tackles it with true pride. His determination to provide the role with some credibility shines through. I usually find his work to be more or less with every film. Men Of Honor is one of his better performances. Robert De Niro has taken a big hit since his heyday. It seems that ever since the one role in Rocky and Bullwinkle, his script choices have been pretty dull. Some people refer to his roles post 2000 to be the sell out years. Men of Honor might be an exception, he brings his usual De Niro self to an otherwise thankless role. We don't know much about his character, other than he has a short temper and refuses a lot of orders.
The film has a one dimensional presentation and it hurts the plot and characterization. Despite this, it does hold together well for most of the running time. I always find that after the training sequences of the film are over, they tend to drag on afterwards. This film is no different. The most interesting part of the film is over and yet we are still sitting here watching events unfold that we have little interest in. The romance between Cuba and his gal is thin and Charlize Theron is given so little to do I wondered why she was even in the film.
Men Of Honor has everything that an inspirational film that is based on a true story should have. Our man character is black and has to overcome the racism of everyone around him. Nothing new, but knowing that it was based on a true story does lend to some moments where we respect that character for what he accomplished. Some scenes are really well done, specifically one where one character receives a medal of honor, which should have went to Cuba, but because he was black they gave it to the one guy who didn't deserve it.
The film is long and drags after the more entertaining parts are finished, but it's not a total loss. I can recommend it for people who are into the military film genre, this one has great performances that overcome a lazy script.
Men of Honor seemed like another boring military film that focuses on one character who must overcome adversity while training to become a part of a special unit in the service. Then of course there will be the officer who trains them, he will be a hard ass who doesn't take any B.S. from anyone. The more he pushes you, the harder you become, the two usually hate each other at the beginning, but then come to terms and respect each other. In some cases they even end up liking each other. The third act of the film usually details the life of the character after he graduates the class. Men of Honor follows this criteria to a capital T.
With that being sad, I still found myself interested in the characters and the performance. This is an interesting film that pits two leading men who seem to have had bad luck with roles in this recent generation. Cuba Good Jr. can't seem to find his footing after winning an Oscar for Jerry Maguire, today the poor guy is in the direct to video market. In this performance he tackles it with true pride. His determination to provide the role with some credibility shines through. I usually find his work to be more or less with every film. Men Of Honor is one of his better performances. Robert De Niro has taken a big hit since his heyday. It seems that ever since the one role in Rocky and Bullwinkle, his script choices have been pretty dull. Some people refer to his roles post 2000 to be the sell out years. Men of Honor might be an exception, he brings his usual De Niro self to an otherwise thankless role. We don't know much about his character, other than he has a short temper and refuses a lot of orders.
The film has a one dimensional presentation and it hurts the plot and characterization. Despite this, it does hold together well for most of the running time. I always find that after the training sequences of the film are over, they tend to drag on afterwards. This film is no different. The most interesting part of the film is over and yet we are still sitting here watching events unfold that we have little interest in. The romance between Cuba and his gal is thin and Charlize Theron is given so little to do I wondered why she was even in the film.
Men Of Honor has everything that an inspirational film that is based on a true story should have. Our man character is black and has to overcome the racism of everyone around him. Nothing new, but knowing that it was based on a true story does lend to some moments where we respect that character for what he accomplished. Some scenes are really well done, specifically one where one character receives a medal of honor, which should have went to Cuba, but because he was black they gave it to the one guy who didn't deserve it.
The film is long and drags after the more entertaining parts are finished, but it's not a total loss. I can recommend it for people who are into the military film genre, this one has great performances that overcome a lazy script.