If you want to join the Navy, damn it, go see this movie.
But for the rest of you, a warning: when clips from a film about the Navy are used by the Navy to inspire people to join the Navy, one should be wary. There may be a bit of over-the-top preaching about the honor, the tradition, and the greatness of the Navy in George Tillman Jr.'s latest film .
The setup: Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), the son of a Southern sharecropper, must overcome racism and then physical disability to become the first black Master diver in the US Navy and the first amputee to be reinstated to active duty in the Armed Services. Shortly after President Truman desegregates the military in 1948, Brashear joins the Navy at age 17, and is disappointed to find that, due to his color, he is only allowed work in the kitchen. Aboard the U.S.S. Hoist, Brashear first sees Master diver Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro) in action, saving lives while putting his own in danger, spurring him to seek his dream of becoming a Master diver.
After incredible diligence in applying to diving school, he is accepted. It is here he again meets Sunday, his instructor, who has since fallen into alcoholism after being taken off of active duty due to injuries suffered while on the Hoist. Once in school, Brashear finds he has the will, but not the education, to pass diving school - he had dropped out of school in seventh grade to help his father with his farm. He turns to Jo (Aunjanue Ellis), a librarian, medical student, and obvious love interest to help him pass the written side of school.
As the film continues, obstacles are placed in Brashear's path time - most the results of the racism of the other men and the wacky head of the school, Mr. Pappy (Hal Holbrook) - but he perseveres by sheer will. Over and over.
For the most part, the film does not develop its characters fully. The only person who seems to change at all is De Niro's Sunday, whose racist tendencies are questioned by his respect for Brashear. Every other character in the film seems to be stuck in one gear: either "bad" and racist or "good" and accepting.
To be fair, this is an incredible story of will and fortitude, as evidenced by Brashear's life and career being documented in the naval archives - an honor bestowed upon only seven enlisted men in the history of the naval archives. He broke both physical and color barriers, and is a testament to hard work and focus.
Unfortunately, the film has taken great liberties with the actual facts of his life and is a paint-by-numbers effort, a shallow attempt at bringing the spirit of Brashear's life to the screen. One can imagine that with a smaller budget and no-name actors, this would be a good TV movie of the week. There is nothing horribly wrong with any aspect of the film, but nothing much rises above the merely adequate. The acting, of course, is a high point, but the great cast has nowhere interesting to go with this mundane script.
And, it must be said - in a movie about people diving deep into the ocean, there is almost nothing below the surface. But, if you want an inspiring story and an easy, unchallenging, formulaic film to watch, this is it.
