Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a young man in the U. S. Navy when he decides that he wants to become the first African-American Navy diver. Fighting intolerance and racial hatred, he perseveres.
That’s the story in a nutshell, but we don’t live in a nutshell, and thankfully neither does this movie. Some background material is provided about Carl, including his upbringing and first experiences with the elite Navy divers, but much of the time is spent on the diving school Carl attends in order to become a certified diver.
His constant nemesis at the school is Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro), who until only very recently was one of the most accomplished divers in Navy history. Sunday was injured trying to save a fellow sailor, diving too quickly after he had just come up from the depths. Now, his lungs are so fragile that any change in pressure will kill him. So, diving is out and schooling the youngsters is in.
Sunday hates Carl. It’s a hatred born of both an intolerance toward African Americans and a profound resentment of the Navy for the loss of his job (insubordination played a role, too). You’d expect there to be hazing of the brash young recruit, and there is some of that, but only on the part of Sunday; the rest of the class (all white) doesn’t really harass Carl all that much. That’s all relative, of course, but there’s an unmistakable focus on Sunday as the aggressor, not the class.
Carl is tough. Based on a true story (as they say in the film biz), this movie is told from his point of view. There are some cliches thrown in, but who’s to say whether they’re not accurate? Anyone’s life has cliches, and any time a biographical movie is made cliches will pop up. So one cannot fault the writing. It’s quickly paced, so you don’t lose sight of the issue.
The movie, you see, wants you to know how strong-willed Carl is, how good of a man he is, and how he overcame some incredible odds to succeed. It does not want the audience to focus on racism. While racism undoubtedly played a role in what Carl had to experience, it is not an issue that, in the minds of the filmmakers, should take precedence over the man himself.
Flash forward a little after the diving school, and you have two men whose lives have taken strikingly different paths (a la A Star Is Born, perhaps); Carl continues to prove himself as one of the best – perhaps even the best – divers in the Navy. Sunday, on the other hand, continually runs afoul of his superior officers, and finds himself busted down in ranks. It’s a very well played dichotomy – Carl the rising star, still a thorn solely on the basis of his skin color, and Sunday the sinking stone. One bubbles to the surface, while the other wallows around the murky depths.
But while storywise the focus is on Carl Brashear, the real show here are the galvanizing performances of De Niro and Gooding. While it’s true that Robert De Niro could play this role in his sleep, it’s so gratifying to see him screaming and yelling like he does in any of his tough-guy roles. This guy suddenly doesn’t bear any resemblence to the dad in Meet the Parents! And Gooding – well, he won an Oscar not too long ago for his work in Jerry Maguire. Often such an honor so soon into a movie career spells employment death for actors and actresses, but Gooding has, like Carl Brashear, persevered wonderfully. His performance is packed with nuance, an appealing and honest portrayal of an obsessive, talented man.
The only real downside to the movie is the title itself. It’s not exactly attention grabbing, and it’s fairly nondescript. If you were in the Navy, maybe you’d identify with the title right off the bat, but most people would need to hear that De Niro was involved with the project, and even then might not do it without knowing something about the plot. A little tip to the marketing fellas – let’s try to get some titles that say what they are, okay?
Men of Honor: 7.5 (add .5 if you like De Niro)
