REEL CRITICS

Check it out now, the dunked soul brother

In 1948, there were three options for an enlisted black man in the

U.S. Navy: “to be a cook, an officer’s valet or to get ... out.” Carl

Brashears, the son of a Kentucky sharecropper, chose none of the above.

Instead, as we witness in the biopic “Men of Honor,” he went on to become

the Navy’s first African-American diver and to achieve the rank of master

chief, the highest rank for an enlisted man.

This engaging, old-school movie is pumped-up and predictable, from its

slices of ham and cheese to the requisite emotional finale that gives new

meaning to the phrase “12 Steps.” But like me, audiences are sure to

enjoy it for its portrayal of a man determined to achieve a goal in spite

of the huge personal costs and shameful treatment heaped upon him.

Brashears (Cuba Gooding Jr.) joins the Navy soon after President Harry

Truman orders the desegregation of the armed forces. He had only a

seventh-grade education and his father’s admonition to “do his best.” His

talents as a swimmer bring him to the attention of an officer who

recommends him for a post on the USS Hoist as a rescuer.

It is on the Hoist where Brashears meets his destiny. The first time

he sees a man outfitted in the ponderous, unwieldy deep-sea diving gear,

he is transfixed and realizes this is what he is meant to be. It is also

his first glimpse of Master Chief Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro, still

sporting his haircut from “Rocky and Bullwinkle”). Sunday is an expert

diver but pugnacious and with little heed for rules.

After two years of writing letters, Brashears is finally admitted to

the Navy Divers School in New Jersey, where Sunday happens to be the

instructor. There he must endure not only the rigors of training and a

lack of formal education, but notable slights and bigotry that becomes

life-threatening. This is where the film becomes truly engrossing and

where you want to know more about Brashears and the times he lived in.

The movie fast-forwards over the years, from one dramatic incident to

the next. Sunday and Brashears manage to bond somewhere in the late ‘50s

to early ‘60s, although we’re not given any real insights into that

relationship. And there is no explanation for the odd coupling of the

alcoholic Sunday and his rather tarty wife (Charlize Theron).

The underwater scenes are very exciting, extremely well done and make

you aware of the real dangers that deep-sea divers must face.

Big-budget Hollywood movies seem to consistently recycle famous

cinematic moments. De Niro, given free dramatic rein as Billy Sunday (who

is a composite of real-life characters) chews up the scenery in an accent

very much like his villain in “Cape Fear.” He makes the Lou Gossett

character in “An Officer and a Gentleman” look like a wimp by comparison.

Brashears’ training scenes are like that other “Rocky” movie -- a man

doing push-ups silhouetted by the setting sun. And in the big courtroom

scene, I expected De Niro to yell either “You can’t handle the truth!” or

“You walkin’ to me?”

The true standout of the film is Cuba Gooding Jr., who brings as much

energy and conviction to this role as he did to his Oscar-winning turn in

“Jerry Maguire.” It must have been quite daunting to have the real Carl

Brashears, now 70, on the set as technical advisor. I hope he’s pleased

with this version of his amazing life story.

“Men of Honor” is rated R for language.

* SUSANNE PEREZ, 45, lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant

for a financial services company.

‘Wonder Boys’ perfectly cast, well done

“Wonder Boys,” from acclaimed director Curtis Hanson (“L.A.

Confidential”), stars a perfectly cast Michael Douglas as a 50-ish

English professor named Grady Tripp who wrote a good novel seven years

ago, and now, everyone believes, has writer’s block.

Grady has been working on his second novel for so long now, that it

runs well over 2,000 single-spaced pages and includes the genealogies of

every character, including the horse.

The film, which was originally released earlier this year, follows

Grady around a Pittsburgh campus in winter during a literary festival

immediately after Grady’s wife has just left him.

During this period, several characters drift in and out of his life,

including James Leer (Toby Maguire), an aspiring writer who is a

compulsive liar; Hannah Green (Katie Holmes), a student who rents a room

in Grady’s home and would like to have a relationship develop; exalted

novelist Q (Rip Torn); Grady’s mistress, Sara (Frances McDormand), who

happens to be the wife of the English department head (Richard Thomas);

and Gary’s literary agent Terry (Robert Downey Jr.).

The movie is a low-voltage screwball comedy; not fast-paced like

vintage Marx Brothers’ films but slowed down in an attempt to recreate

real-life speed. The slow-paced comedy is probably a result of Gary being

completely stoned on pot during the film.

In spite of a fairly large cast, each character is well developed and

almost becomes Altman-esque. Each character interacts with the others,

ponders each others’ role and generally avoids a deliberately colorful

representation of what each character may represent to the viewer.

The ability of screenwriter Steve Klovs and his collaboration with

Hanson in developing such a well-rounded film make the “Wonder Boys” one

of the year’s best.

“Wonder Boys” is rated R for language and drug content.

* ROB OROZCO, 29, is an attorney who lives in Newport Beach with his

wife and two cats.