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- "Men of Honor"
(Reviewed October 25, 2000)
- Here's the oddest movie comparison of the year: This by-the-numbers cheapo exercise in patriotic feel-good civil-rights earnestness reminded me of "The Little Vampire." In that
dud,
kid actor Rollo Weeks did not seem to realize he was in a movie that was total crap, and he turned in a great performance. In this one, De Niro is absolutely perfect as a hardass Navy diving instructor,
but he does not seem to realize that he is the only person in the film who is bothering to try to act.
Cuba Gooding Jr. is uninvolved and unconvincing in the lead. Charlize Theron is unbelievably
miscast as De Niro's wife. Hal Holbrook sleepwalks through his tiny role as the eccentric and racist top officer at the Navy base. And a nasty captain at the end of the film is as one-dimensionally nasty and
ludicrous as a cardboard cutout of a Nazi with fangs and horns pasted on.
But De Niro, Christ, the guy is so good you wish the whole movie had been based on his character. It boggles the mind
that
this is the same guy who played Fearless Leader in "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" this summer.
Back Row Grade: D (saved from an "F" by De Niro, a god among
men)
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