As its title suggests, Men of Honor resembles a political speech delivered by a candidate who’s determined to win.
It salutes the underdog and appeals to our basic good instincts. It doesn’t flinch from harsh realities, but refrains from viewing wrongdoers with unfocused wrath. Obviously, director George Tillman Jr. sought to make a good, old-fashioned movie. And Men of Honor is both good and old-fashioned.
In this based-on-fact story, which Bill Cosby executive produced, Cuba Gooding Jr. plays gritty Carl Brashear, bound for glory as the first black Navy diver. Robert De Niro plays training officer Billy Sunday, a composite of several tough guys who initially stood in his way. Sunday, who has his own demons to exorcise, places painful hurdles in Brashear’s path, but we all know that before the movie is over, his jeers will turn to cheers.
Both stars give conventionally strong performances that are intriguing for unconventional reasons. Mr. Gooding’s quietly effective performance is the antithesis of his Oscar-winning abrasive-but-appealing Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire. Carl Brashear’s fires smolder inside his tightly coiled psyche. Conditioned by the prejudiced environment, he conceals much of his anger, letting it show only in his eyes.
Mr. De Niro’s performances always bring complex and often contradictory responses, and Billy Sunday is no exception. But he’s a foolproof character, one of the few that the usually risk-taking actor has portrayed. Even his comic turn in Meet the Parents involved more risk. If Carl Brashear adheres to his can-do mantra step-by-step, Billy Sunday’s journey from resistance to respect is equally predictable. Much like compadre Al Pacino, Mr. De Niro has started wooing the audience feverishly, as if making up for lost time.
Still, the role calls for growls, grimaces and grumblings in an assortment of shapes and tones. And no one can growl, grimace and grumble with more variety than Mr. De Niro.
The movie devotedly follows Brashear’s progress from pariah to patriarch. The son of a Kentucky sharecropper, he never forgot his pledge to his father always to do his best.
But the screenplay treats Mr. De Niro’s character in a fuzzy fashion. He’s enduring a troubled marriage to a much younger and very restless woman, played by the ubiquitous Charlize Theron. We want to know more about this mismatched couple’s background, but never do.