Later in life, the two men meet up again, when their natural sense of honour and their refusal to buckle under to the bureaucracy which is taking over the Navy turns the former foes into allies. And it is Billy, finally recovered from the alcoholism that has blighted his career, who helps Carl win his final battle: to be reassigned to active diving duties after an accident during the recovery of the nuclear warhead ‘lost’ off the Spanish coast results in him losing his left leg.
It is quite a story, and it comes as no surprise that the American Veterans Foundation should recently have voted Men of Honor the Best Patriotic Picture of the year, nor that the Navy co-operated fully in its making. “It’s a very inspirational story, one that transcends race,” says Lieutenant Commander Darren Morton, Director of the Navy Office of Information-West. “The script has a lot of sensitive scenes, but I was never offended either as a Naval officer or as an African-American. In the end, an ethnic member of the Navy achieved his dream at a time when society at large often failed its minorities.”
Equally worthy of attention is the fact that, in the handful of foreign territories in which the film has so far been released (including such disparate places as Mexico and Singapore), audiences have responded just as strongly. It would seem that the concept of ‘honour’ - invoked by Carl in his final appearance before the review board which will decide whether he can go back on active service - is a universally recognised one, especially when dramatised as effectively as it has been by Scott Marshall Smith.
Jo (Aunjanue Ellis) helps Carl (Cuba Gooding Jr) get the
education he will need if he is to complete diver training - a relationship that will later develop into marriage.
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At the heart of the movie, though, is the age-old story of an individual’s triumph over adversity. “When I read the script and then met Carl Brashear, I related very strongly to his experience,” says Men of Honor director George Tillman Jr, himself an African-American who has had to keep his eyes firmly on his own career targets.
“Carl comes from a solid, loving family, but he had goals outside their lives. Determined to succeed against all odds, he stayed focused, overcame setbacks and even lost track of those supporting him because of this tenacious tunnel vision.
“I realised that some of these aspects related to my path as a film-maker. And I believe audiences will find a part of themselves in Carl - the best part of themselves, perhaps the part they haven’t used lately.”
Equally important to the success of the film are the nuances in Robert De Niro’s performance. If it had been made at the time at which it is set, Men of Honor would almost certainly have demonised Billy Sunday, making him the hateful obstacle to Brashear’s noble ambition. But the complexities that lie behind Sunday’s toeing of the official Navy line on African-American sailors while constantly rebelling against authority in other respects, are evident long before the second half of the film, when the two men join forces against the men of dishonour. Like Brashear, Billy is a man who cannot help but buck the system.
“Billy Sunday has the dynamic of being a racist,” says Tillman. “But he has other dynamics, too. Robert De Niro adds great dimension to what is already on the page.”
