(Rated R)
Hollywood usually does o.k. in court room dramas and on/in/under water flicks. This one has all of the above. It’s the true story (based in the 50’s and 60’s) of Carl Brashear (Oscar winning Cuba Gooding Jr.) from a family of Kentucky sharecropper who leaves it all to join the newly-integrated Navy. After two years of letters, they finally accept him into the Dive School program. DeNiro plays the hard-drinking instructor Billy Sunday sans Brashear’s ambition, first tormenting than mentoring Brashear. Sunday has as much a troubled past as legendary as his successes. Brashear, expected to quit, shines (with that Gooding “Show Me The Money” charm). DeNiro is a killer with his legendary “Cape Fear” appeal. The story’s turn takes place years later when the two join forces to fight Navy bureaucracy after Carl suffers a crippling injury. It’s “A Few Good Men” (except this time Gooding has the lead) but on a softer old-fashioned level sprinkled with inspiration, a lot of tears and a lot of lung capacity. Gooding can now hold his breath under water for almost three minutes. Charlize Theron and Hal Holbrook also star, but it’s DeNiro and Gooding that ARE the movie in the perfect marriage of star and role.
