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Men of Honor
Cuba Gooding Jr. to me has always been an actor who had a lot of talent but tended to be a very one note performer. His roles are generally ones where he has to play a high strung, almost manic individual. He does this very well but I like to see actors stretch themselves and try something different. With this movie, Gooding does just that.
Giving another high energy performance in this movie would have made the character completely unbelievable. Instead, Gooding reels himself in and plays it very understated. He plays Carl Brashear, a young man who grew up the son of a sharecropper. His father drives his son hard to do better in life than he did. When Carl joins the Navy, his father tells him not to ever come home until he becomes the best that he can be.
Unfortunately, in the Navy during the 1950s, a black man had only two jobs available to him, cook or a valet to an officer. Neither choice is acceptable for Carl who eventually forces his way into the Navy's diving program. There he comes under the instruction of Master Chief Billy Sunday (De Niro). Sunday is an abrasive, egotistical, bigoted dictator of an instructor. He was once the Navy's best diver but injuries and a total lack of respect for authority have forced him into an instructional role.
Brashear and Sunday don't like each other. Sunday is determined to prove that a black man simply can't cut it as a diver. Brashear is determined to prove that he can do anything. The movie nicely avoids a ridiculous display by Sunday to undermine Brashear's efforts. Instead, Sunday rests on his conviction that Brashear simply can't make it. He doesn't need to do anything awful to see fail, he just has to run his course and let Brashear fail on his own.
This movie works because of the great performances turned in by Gooding and De Niro. Their characters are well defined and developed. Gooding in particular shines because he plays very much against type. Instead of the usual high energy display he is nicely reserved. The energy is their but it simmers under the surface, giving Brashear a relentless drive to succeed.
Sunday is every bit as driven. Unfortunately he is burdened with a serious self destructive streak fueled by a drinking problem. He reaches the top of his profession on pure skill and talent. But his personal demons keep knocking him from the perch. That makes the two of them an interesting pair. Very similar men but one has to fight to get the top while the other has to fight himself to stay there.
There are some flaws in the film but they don't matter too much in the face of such excellent performances. The middle of the story is a bit jumpy without a clear line of progression. Charlize Theron's character is largely wasted. She doesn't get much of a chance to make an impression on the story. Finally the score can at times be a bit overbearing.
But these are minor complaints in a story that brings us memorable characters we can really care about. It matters to us what happens to them and that gives the events real weight. That makes for a damn good movie.
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