Inspiring Story for Anyone with a Seemingly Impossible Dream

To be perfectly honest, when my brother rented Men of Honor last week I was pretty sure that I wouldn't like it; I thought it would be a war movie with plenty of bloody action to keep my brother enthralled. As it turned out, I was entirely mistaken. This amazing true story of a young African American who went against all odds to become the first U. S. Navy diver was a thoroughly enjoyable viewing experience from beginning to end.

We get our first glimpse of the protagonist, Carl Brashear, when he is a young boy swimming to the bottom of the swimming hole near his home. Soon after, we watch as he refuses to go to school, instead opting to stay home and help his father finish plowing the field. Flash forward, and Carl (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a young man of about seventeen on his way to enlist in the Navy. He is successful in his endeavor but discouraged when he winds up as a ship's cook. Ever defiant, Carl literally takes the plunge -- off of the ship's main deck -- when the white enlistees are enjoying themselves in the water. Because of his speed in the water, the observing officer allows him to be a Search and Rescue Swimmer.

This is a major step up, but when Carl watches Master Diver Billy Sunday (Robert DeNiro) dive off the deck to save someone, he goes straight to his commanding officer and tells him that he intends to enter the Navy Diving School. Meanwhile, Sunday faces disciplinary action because of his insubordination when he insisted on making that dive and his irate response to the doctor's statement that he would never dive again. Fate brings Carl and Sunday together again two years later, when Carl receives his admittance into the Diving School.

Right from the start, Carl faces major obstacles to his education. No one brings him into the camp all day, and when Sunday returns at sundown he is still determined to get rid of this new recruit. It isn't going to happen. He finally admits Carl, but only one person in the entire camp is content to share a bunk-house with him. This nervous but friendly young man soon pays for his kindness to Carl in an exercise that results in his being kicked out of the school.

Every day, both Sunday and Carl's fellow students conspire to make him miserable, but Carl is determined. His dedication eventually wins him the admiration of his mates and his instructor, and his intellectual insufficiency is amended when he seeks tutoring from a young librarian who eventually becomes his girlfriend. But just as graduation seems a certainty, the camp's demented leader, Pappy (Hal Holbrook), becomes more determined to keep his school from graduating an African American. When Sunday's warnings to Carl are ignored, his final project is sabotaged, resulting in his remaining underwater for nearly ten hours, insisting upon assembling his project even though the required pieces are scattered across the the ocean floor. He is half-frozen when he comes up, but he is also a diver, despite Pappy's displeasure.

As the years go by, Carl grows ever closer to his goal of Master Diver, while Sunday faces disciplinary action again and again for his hot temper. In fact, Sunday's life is in shambles. We see him convalescing in a hospital after a nasty brawl, and on the television is Carl, who is diving to recover a bomb. After a close shave, Carl makes it back up, but before the day is over a freak accident comes along that may rob him of his dream forever...

Don't miss this incredible account of one man whose determination overcame every obstacle, and another who learned what honor truly was by watching this determined new recruit. DeNiro and Gooding in particular put in impressive performances here.

If you happen to have a DVD player, there are lots of extra features on the DVD version. These include a "making of segment", an interview with the real Carl Brushear, and about a dozen deleted scenes, the most powerful of which, in my opinion, is a scene in which the school's dogs have a race and Carl's team's dog wins. As Carl parades the pug around in victory, Pappy, who is watching from his tower up above, demands that one of the other recruits wash his dog with lye. This painful scene is yet another powerful example of the rampant racism that Carl faced during his education.

Although the language and some of the subject matter is not suited for young children, I would recommend Men of Honor to teenagers and adults without hesitation. Rent it and be inspired.