''Men of Honor'' (released in the UK and Ireland as ''Men of Honour'') is a 2000 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

directed by George Tillman Jr. and starring

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

and

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appeared ...

The film is inspired by the true story of

Master Chief Petty Officer U.S. Coast Guardmaster chief petty officercollar device U.S. Coast Guardmaster chief petty officersleeve rating insignia United States Navymaster chief petty officer collar insignia United States Navymaster chief petty officer shoulder ...

Carl Brashear Carl Maxie Brashear (January 19, 1931 – July 25, 2006) was a United States Navy sailor. He was a master diver, rising to the position in 1970, despite having his left leg amputated in 1966. The film ''Men of Honor'' was based on his life. Ea ...

, the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

master diver in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Plot

leaves his native Kentucky and the life of a

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

in 1948 by joining the

. As a crew member of the salvage ship USS ''Hoist'', where he is assigned to the galley, he is inspired by the bravery of one of the divers,

Leslie William "Billy" Sunday. He is determined to overcome racism and become the first black American Navy diver, even proclaiming that he will become a master diver. He eventually is selected to attend Diving and Salvage School in Bayonne, New Jersey, where he arrives as a boatswain's mate second class. He finds that Master Chief Sunday is the leading chief petty officer and head instructor, who is under orders from the school's eccentric, bigoted commanding officer to ensure that Brashear fails. Brashear struggles to overcome his educational shortcomings, a result of his leaving school in the seventh grade, in order to work on his family's failing farm. He receives educational assistance from his future wife, a medical student who works part-time in the New York Public Library in Harlem. Brashear proves himself as a diver by rescuing a fellow student whose dive buddy abandons him during a salvage evaluation. Unfortunately, due to the racism of the commanding officer, the student who fled in the face of danger is awarded a medal for Brashear's heroic actions. Likewise, during an underwater assembling task where each student has to assemble a flange underwater using a bag of tools, Brashear's bag is cut open on purpose. Brashear nevertheless finishes the assembly and graduates from diving school, earning the quiet and suppressed admiration of Sunday and his fellow divers. Sunday is later demoted to senior chief by the commanding officer for standing up for Brashear and allowing him to pass. The paths and careers of Brashear and Sunday diverge. Brashear rises quickly through the ranks, even becoming a national hero in the 1966 Palomares incident for recovering a missing hydrogen bomb and for saving the lives of Navy crewmen. Sunday continually loses his composure around officers who disrespect his accomplishments, until he is finally demoted to

chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi� ...

and relegated to menial duties. He becomes a brooding alcoholic displeased with his lowered rank. The two eventually meet again after Brashear's left leg was so mangled in the Palomares incident that he feels that his only chance to return to active duty and a relatively normal life is for the leg to be amputated and replaced with a prosthesis. Until this time, no Navy man had ever returned to full active duty with a prosthetic limb. Sunday again trains Brashear and aids him in his fight against the Navy's bureaucracy and an antagonistic Navy captain (Brashear's and Sunday's former ''Hoist''

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

) in order to return to full active duty and fulfill his dream of becoming a master diver. They succeed in getting Brashear reinstated. In the epilogue, it is noted that two years later Brashear becomes a master diver. It is added that he does not retire from the Navy for another nine years.

Cast

as Master Chief Leslie 'Billy' Sunday (based on Boatswain's Mate First Class Harry M. Rutherford) *

as Boatswain's Mate Second Class (later Master Diver)

** Chris Warren Jr. as Young Carl *

Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 20 ...

as Gwen Sunday *

Aunjanue Ellis Aunjanue L. Ellis ( born February 21, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Men of Honor'' (2000), ''The Caveman's Valentine'' (2001), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), '' Ray'' (2004), '' The Express: The Erni ...

as Jo Brashear *

Hal Holbrook Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called '' Mark Twain Tonight!'' ...

as Camp Commanding Officer 'Mr. Pappy' Captain USN. *

Michael Rapaport Michael David Rapaport (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. Beginning his career in the early 1990s, he has made over 100 appearances in film and television. His film roles include ''True Romance'' (1993), ''Higher Learning' ...

as Gunners Mate Snowhill, Brashear's barracks mate and a

stutterer Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

. *

Powers Boothe Powers Allen Boothe (June 1, 1948 – May 14, 2017) was an American actor. He won an Emmy in 1980 for his portrayal of Jim Jones in '' Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones''. He also played saloon owner Cy Tolliver on '' Deadwood'', "C ...

as Captain Pullman * David Keith as Captain Hartigan *

Holt McCallany Holt McCallany (born Holt Quinn McAloney; September 3, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for portraying FBI Special Agent Bill Tench on the series '' Mindhunter'' (2017–2019) and has had leading and supporting roles in various television ...

as Machinist's Mate First Class Dylan Rourke *

David Conrad David Conrad (born August 17, 1967) is an American actor. From 2005 to 2010, he starred in the television series '' Ghost Whisperer'' alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt. Early life Conrad is the youngest of three sons born to James Watson Conrad, ...

as Captain Hanks *

Joshua Leonard Joshua Granville Leonard (born June 17, 1975) is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his role in ''The Blair Witch Project'' (1999). He has since starred in films such as '' Madhouse'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006), '' Higher G ...

Petty Officer Second Class Petty officer second class is the fifth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, just above petty officer third class and below petty officer first class, and is a non-commissioned officer. It is equivalent to the rank of se ...

Timothy Douglas Isert *

Carl Lumbly Carl Winston Lumbly (born August 14, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Dick Hallorann in '' Doctor Sleep'', NYPD detective Marcus Petrie on the CBS police drama ''Cagney & Lacey'', CIA agent Marcus Dixon on the ABC espion ...

as Mac Brashear, Carl's Father *

Lonette McKee Lonette Rita McKee (born July 22, 1954) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Sister Williams in the original 1976 musical-drama film ''Sparkle''. McKee also had notable roles in such movies as '' The Cotton Club'', ''Jungl ...

as Ella Brashear, Carl's mother *

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson ...

as Chief Floyd * Joshua Feinman as DuBoyce

Production

The film features the classic US Navy Mark V diving equipment used by the Navy from 1915 until 1985. The equipment was custom made by DESCO, who manufactured the gear for the Navy along with three other makers. The helmets used were actually commercial helmets (which have larger glass windows or "lights") on Navy breast plates, allowing greater visibility of the actors. The divers wore equipment weighing about .

Reception

The film opened at the third position at the North American box office behind ''

Little Nicky ''Little Nicky'' is a 2000 American fantasy comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Brill, Adam Sandler, and Tim Herlihy, and starring Sandler in the title role, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., an ...

'' and ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...

'', which was on its second week at the top spot. ''Men of Honor'' was met with mixed reviews. It currently has a 42% rating at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

with the consensus stating: "De Niro and Gooding Jr. manage to turn in performances that make this by-the-numbers inspirational movie watchable."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film three stars out of four, calling it "an old-fashioned biopic" but criticized Theron's appearance in the film, calling it "professional but unnecessary to the picture".

Historical accuracy

While the film portrays a Wisconsin recruit as the only white recruit to remain in Carl Brashear's bunk, the actual individual was a Brazilian diver named Alberto José do Nascimento, who was also dark skinned. Alberto also helped Brashear save a fellow recruit who was trapped underwater during a training exercise.

Soundtrack

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and ...

's soundtrack was released as an album in 2000.

References

External links

* * * * * {{George Tillman Jr. 2000 films 2000 drama films 2000s English-language films 20th Century Fox films American drama films American films based on actual events Drama films based on actual events Films about amputees Films about racism in the United States Films about the United States Navy Films directed by George Tillman Jr. Films featuring underwater diving Films produced by Robert Teitel Films scored by Mark Isham Films shot in Portland, Oregon Military courtroom films 2000s American films