Men of Honor (2000)

The story of Carl Brashear, the first African American, then also the first amputee, US Navy Diver and the man who trained him.

Director:

George Tillman Jr.

Writer:

Scott Marshall Smith

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron

11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Master Chief Billy Sunday
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Chief Carl Brashear
Charlize Theron	...	Gwen Sunday
Aunjanue Ellis	...	Jo
Hal Holbrook	...	'Mr. Pappy'
Michael Rapaport	...	GM1 Snowhill
Powers Boothe	...	Captain Pullman
David Keith	...	Captain Hartigan
Holt McCallany	...	MM1 Dylan Rourke
David Conrad	...	Lt. / Cmdr. / Capt. Hanks
Joshua Leonard	...	PO2 Timothy Douglas Isert
Carl Lumbly	...	Mac Brashear
Lonette McKee	...	Ella Brashear
Glynn Turman	...	Chief Floyd
Dennis Troutman	...	Boots

Storyline

The story ultimately revolves around two "men of honor"; their relationship, their individual and joint failures and triumphs. Carl Brashear is determined to be the first African American Navy Diver in a time where racism is rife. Leslie Sunday is his embittered trainer, determined to see him fail. Fate, challenges and circumstances eventually draw these two men together in a tale of turbulence and ultimately triumph.

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Plot Keywords:

navy | african american | training | determination | racism | 

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Taglines:

History is made by those who break the rules.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Navy Diver

Filming Locations:

Cathlamet, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$32,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£453,448 (UK) (30 March 2001)

Gross:

ESP 480,280,323 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, State Street Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2009 the USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7) was named in honor of Master Chief Boatswain's Mate (Master Diver) Carl M. Brashear (1931-2006), who joined the U.S. Navy in 1948. He was a pioneer in the Navy as one of the first African-Americans to graduate from the Navy Diving School and was designated a Navy salvage diver. He was the first African-American to qualify and serve as a master diver while on active duty and the first U.S. Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury he sustained during a salvage operation. After 31 years of service, Brashear officially retired from the U.S. Navy on April 1, 1979.

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Goofs

When Carl swims away from the warship at the beginning of the movie, bubbles from the safety divers can be seen popping up in front of the camera.

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Quotes

Mr. Pappy: [in his flat, Sunday just walked in] Did you know that ordinary house dust is composed primarily ofhuman skin ?
Billy Sunday: No sir, I didn't know that.
Mr. Pappy: [chuckles] Makes you think twice about who you invite into your home.

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Crazy Credits

The woman in the detox center is listed as "Pinch-Faced Woman at Detox Center"

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Connections

Referenced in Full Frontal (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Say When"
Written by Johnny Bristol
Performed by Marvin Gaye

User Reviews

Much like the spirit of films like The Hurricane and Glory, Men of Honor grips us and makes us really feel for a man struggling to make his dream come true.

Men of Honor stars Cuba Gooding Jr., as real life Navy Diver Carl Brashear who defied a man's Navy to become the first African American Navy Diver. Sometimes by his side and sometimes his adversary there was one man who Carl Brashear really admired. His name was Master Chief Billy Sunday (Robert DeNiro). Sunday in a lot of ways pushed, aggravated and helped Carl become the man he wanted to be.

I loved Cuba in this film. His portrayal here is as liberating and as powerful as Denzel Washington was in The Hurricane. Through every scene we can see his passion, motivation and stubbornness to achieve his dream. We can see the struggle within in him as he embarks to make his father proud. I also loved how the director created and brought forth a lot of tension in some of the key diving scenes. Brashear's encounter with a submarine during a salvage mission is heart-stopping and brilliant.

The only fault I could see would have to lie in the supporting cast. Cuba and DeNiro's characters are very intricate and exciting to watch. Which does make you a little sad when they have to butt heads with such two-dimensional supporting characters. The evil Lt. Cmdr. Hanks, Sunday's wife (Charlize Theron), the eccentric diving school colonel (Hal Holbrook) and Cuba's love interest are the characters I found to not have very much depth. What could have made these characters more substantial and more effective was a little more time to develop them. Why was that colonel always in his tower? How come Sunday's wife was so bitter and always drunk?

Another curious question has to be this. What happened to Carl Brashear's wedding? I mean if this film is chronicling this man's life wouldn't his wedding be an important event? Maybe it's just me. Men of Honor, however, is a perfect example of the triumph and faith that the human spirit envelops. This film will inspire and make you feel for this man's struggle. Which I do believe was the reason this powerful story was told. My hat goes off to you Carl Brashear. I really admire your strength.