Men of Honor (2000)

The story of Carl Brashear, the first African-American U.S. Navy Diver, and the man who trained him.

Director:

George Tillman Jr.

Writer:

Scott Marshall Smith

Stars:

Cuba Gooding Jr., Robert De Niro, 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:

caucasian | nurse uniform | female nurse | nurse hat | navy | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The year after this film was released, Cuba Gooding, Jr., portrayed Doris Miller, the first African-American to be awarded the Navy Cross, in Pearl Harbor (2001).

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Goofs

When Carl Brashear is in his hospital bed, in 1968, Admiral French and Captain Hanks wear the Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. That ribbon was established in May 1980, and made retroactive to August 1974.

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Quotes

[Sunday blasts Snowhill with the water-hose]
Billy Sunday: Snowhill, get your Wisconsin ass back in the barracks.

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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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Alternate Versions

DVD includes several deleted scenes cut from the final film:

• Billy lies drunk on a beach and is caught by Military Police; the film then cuts to the opening scene showing just why he is in handcuffs.
• Carl finds Pappy's dog and he makes a white officer wash the poor animal in lye because carl touched it.
• an alternate ending showing just what exactly happened to Billy

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Connections

Referenced in MacGruber (2010)

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Soundtracks

Stars and Stripes Forever
Written by John Philip Sousa
Arranged by Will Schaefer
Courtesy of Associated Production Music

User Reviews

A great film from George Tillman Jr.

TIllman Jr.'s drama about the first African American Navy Master Diver (Gooding Jr.), who defies all odds and achieves his goals despite a strict embittered trainer. The screenplay is not bad, a bit extreme at times, but the direction and acting is first-rate, and this film is inspiring and achieves what its supposed to do. I liked DeNiro in the lead, although its not on par with his masterful works (taxi driver, godfather and all the others) it is as good as his other good performances such as in King of Comedy or Angel Heart. DeNiro is always convincing and believable here, very good performance, Gooding Jr. is not bad, definitely one of his better performances. --- IMDb Rating: 6.6, my rating: 9/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Navy Diver

Filming Locations:

Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$32,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,339,465, 12 November 2000

Gross USA:

$48,818,921

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$82,343,495

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