DeNiro treads familiar territory as the racist hard case, Sunday, but in typical fashion, he still manages to give a deeper portrayal of a man facing down his demons and overcoming his prejudices. Audiences love to root for the underdog and Men of Honor serves up a worthy candidate to direct such admiration. Cinematically, Men of Honor doesn't stray outside of the formulaic box which doesn't make the film feel altogether fresh. While I couldn't help feeling as though I'd seen this story done before that doesn't negate the fact that Brashear's incredible journey from sharecropper to Master Diver is a life well worth celebrating and honoring. Gooding and company have done a fine job translating that life on film and introducing a generation to an American hero.
Films based on true stories are unique cinematic animals.
Men of Honor was cobbled together with the same cut-rate glue they used to assemble The Perfect Storm . The film follows Brashear's life from his family's Sonora, Kentucky dirt farm to a military career during which he became the first black deep-sea diver in U.S. Navy history. Of course, the journey from Point A to Point B is full of adversity, mostly at the hands of the racism Brashear encountered in the '60s Navy. He starts his career as a cook on the seas of the South Pacific, of all the horrible things. He immediately takes a dislike to Brashear's hue and makes him work 10 times harder than anybody else in the training program.