Men of Honor (2000)

"Riveting! A must see movie.  New York Post
"A film that will knock your socks off!  USA Today
"Two thumbs up!  Ebert and Roeper and the Movies

Editor's Note An heroic life gets a suitably dramatic retelling in George Tillman, Jr.'s docudrama MEN OF HONOR, based on the true story of Carl Brashear, the first African American to become a United States Navy master diver. The film employs the conventional yet pleasurable against-all-odds narrative. Carl Brashear (played with noble grace by Cuba Gooding Jr.) is the son of a degraded Southern sharecropper. Determined to succeed in the vocation he believes he was born for, Brashear enlists in the navy. Once there, however, the determined young man finds his dream inaccessible--thwarted by the forces of institutional and personal racism. When, after a long and difficult struggle, he is finally allowed into diving school, he finds himself under the authority of Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro), a former master diver whose injured lung has left him permanently above water. Sunday becomes simultaneously Brashear's most vicious adversary and most loyal supporter, motivating him to succeed. The story that follows is a highly emotional wave of ups and downs: Brashear overcomes one barrier only to be met by the next, even larger one. MEN OF HONOR is at times heartbreaking and painful to watch, but the triumphant ending makes for a deeply satisfying payoff.

	Charlize Theron
	Cuba Gooding, Jr.
	Hal Holbrook
	Robert De Niro
	George Tillman, Jr. - Director
	Anthony B. Richmond - Director of Photography
	Mark Isham - Musical Score
	Robert Teitel, et al. - Producer
	Scott Marshall Smith - Writer

"If [the navy divers]'s lucky, he dies young two hundred feet beneath the waves. Because that's the closest he will ever get to becoming a hero."----Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro) to diving trainees

"Some things just don't mix, do they?"----Mister Pappy (Hal Holbrook) to Billy Sunday

"Why do you want this so badly?"----Jo (Aunjanue Ellis)|"Because they said I couldn't have it."----Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding Jr.)

"Since when does deserving mean anything?"----Billy Sunday to Carl Brashear

USA Today
"...Cuba Gooding Jr. [gets to] flex both physical and acting muscles for once....De Niro cagily crafts Sunday, a composite character, into a memorable and complex creation..." 11/10/2000 p.8E

Movieline's Hollywood Life
"...Gooding conveys fierce dignity and simmering power..." 12/01/2000 p.39

Box Office
"...Gooding's solid performance is one of the most powerful aspects of MEN OF HONOR....[He] creates a credible depiction of Brashear's phenomenal strength of character..." 11/01/2000 p.161

Total Film
"...Gooding Jr. is effortlessly appealing as Brashear and you'll root for him to succeed....Very noble..." 04/01/2001 p.95

Los Angeles Times
"...Gooding and De Niro have the talent to pull it off, and the film emerges as a dynamic entertainment with the punch of an especially spectacular sports event..." 11/10/2000 p.C2

Chicago Sun-Times
"...[Cuba Gooding Jr.] delivers a strong, convincing performance....The movie sells itself..." 11/10/2000 p.33

James Berardinelli's ReelViews 7 of 10
Men Of Honor tackles military racism during the '50s and '60s in a straightforward manner. Some scenes are probably overplayed, but the technique is effective at underlining the kind of opposition encountered... the acting by Gooding Jr. and DeNiro is of a high enough caliber...