Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000

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I only regret that I didn't finish this review yesterday as I had planned to; I wanted this to be a salute to son and my father - both of whom served their military time in Korea - on Veterans Day. I'm proud of them both for having done what they did, and am very happy that they both came home from their individual tours. And though my son was an Army Man, he - and countless Black military men and women - owes a debt of gratitude to Carl Brashear, the U.S. Navy's first Black Diver. THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) Sonora, Kentucky in the 1940s saw Mac and Ella Brashear (Carl Lumbly and Lonette McKee) living off the land as sharecroppers. As hard a life as it was for them, they wanted much more for their son; Mac insisted that his boy stay in school, not stay home and work the land with them. But when times got hard, the son had no choice but to quit school and help his father. When their son Carl (Cuba Gooding Jr.) grew up, he enlisted in the Navy, hoping to do the thing he loved best - dive - and make his father proud of him. As Carl left home, Mac admonished him out of love to never come back to Sonora, and to keep his eyes on the prize. The memory of his father's words, and his own determination, stayed deep in Carl's heart. But the sixties weren't much better for a young Black man in the minimally desegregated military. Brashear soon realized that while President Truman ordered the Navy to let Blacks in, the Navy didn't have to like it - nor did they have to allow Blacks to do anything but, in the words of Chief Floyd (Glynn Turman), "be a Navy cook, a White Officer's valet, or leave the Navy". Brashear, though, had other plans. Chafing against rules that applied unfairly to Blacks, Brashear's brash actions impressed Captain Pullman (Powers Boothe) of the U.S.S. Hoist enough that he was allowed to serve as a Search And Rescue swimmer - though Brashear quickly learned that he still wouldn't be fully accepted by his fellow seamen, nor by the Navy, for some time to come. This point was driven home after he convinced Pullman to transfer him to Navy Diving School, under the command of Master Chief Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro), a hard-drinking, tough S.O.B. who Brashear first learned of during his time on the Hoist. Sunday, like the rest of the military, had no love for "uppity" Blacks, and like fellow Diving School students Rourke (Holt McCallany) and Isert (Joshua Leonard), Sunday and his commanding officer, the very strange Mister Pappy (Hal Holbrook), did everything they could to convince Brashear to give up on becoming a Navy Diver. But again, Brashear, befriended by fellow student Snowhill (Michael Rapaport), had other plans... THE UPSHOT Past the story itself, past the history, past the drama of it all, Men Of Honor is a beautifully shot and acted film, showcasing the many talents of its director, George Tillman Jr., and stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Robert De Niro (my lord, can that man act his butt off!). It stands up there with the likes of Remember The Titans as one of the best films of the year, if only on the merits of those three alone. Gooding first caught my eye in his introductory role in John Singleton's Boyz In The Hood. His Denzel Washington impersonation in "Boyz" only hinted at his ability to strike at the heart of his movie characters, but Loud tripe like Chill Factor left a bad taste in my mouth for Cuba; good to see that he's back on the right track in Honor, playing a heroic figure with enough personal ambition to keep his Carl Brashear, human. And though Billy Sunday is an amalgamation of many of the men the real Carl Brashear served under, De Niro plays Sunday with a fierceness I'm starting to think only De Niro is capable of; not too melodramatic nor over-the-top, De Niro's Sunday was a character you could love to hate, and hate to love, all at the same time. Director Tillman brought out the best in Gooding and De Niro, entertaining the audience while we were being educated; and all the while, remembering that while Brashear's story had an epic sweep, it had to remain a personal story about what drove Carl to be the best. Fortunately for Honor, it had much more going for it than just the talents of three good men. Of the supporting cast, actor Michael Rapaport must again be noted in my reviews. Like fellow actor David Morse, Rapaport's talent has been unsung for far too long. This is the third film I've seen him in in the last two months (the other two being Bamboozled and the otherwise-unmentionable Lucky Numbers), and each time, he's stood out among the crowd in noteworthy performances. His solid turn in Honor, then, was expected, but nonetheless appreciated. Somebody get this man a leading role! (Yeah, I know; but Zebrahead was a long time ago...) But the story itself, the history, the drama of it all, cannot be ignored. It's "easy" to make a movie about the Black struggle for equality in America, and simply point at the racist White people and institutions and say "Bad, Bad people! Bad, Bad institutions!". That Honor went deeper than that, went further past Brashear's struggles with racism and told a more full story about Brashear's struggles with himself, truly elevated this movie above the pack. The shame of it all is that it takes movies like Men Of Honor and HBO's Tuskeegee Airmen to teach some of us - me included - about many of Our Firsts; notably, Our non-sporting and non-entertainment Firsts. Sure, I was told of Jackie Robinson in grade school, as I'm sure many of today's schoolkids are being taught about him. But what about pioneering Black cowboys, and Black doctors, and Black airmen, and Black divers? Are these heroes being taught? If not, shame on America's schools for "forgetting". And, shame on America's parents - me included - for not making sure our children have a more balanced education. For students of American history, for those who knew but forgot, for those who are deluded into thinking It's All In The Distant Past, for those who want to remember American war heroes - or even for those who just want to see a damn good movie, Men Of Honor is a must-see. THE "BLACK FACTOR"    [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith] I grouse a lot about the state of mainstream Black Cinema in the States; and though it still walks on wobbly legs, looking back at this year alone, I recall many good projects starring, and helmed by, talented Black actors, actresses, writers and directors. George Tillman Jr, director of Honor and Soul Food, can certainly be counted amongst those talented folks; and with Men Of Honor, he raises the stakes significantly. The question is not "Will Tillman's name be added to the list of America's most talented Black directors?"; the question is "Will Tillman's name be added to the list of America's most talented directors?" Period. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE On a personal level, Men Of Honor was a inspiring tale of one man's triumph over adversity; and on the larger scale, a wonderful way to honor our nation's war heroes on Veterans Day. Even those who had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, toward a truly integrated military. MEN OF HONOR:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/