Men of Honor (2000)
Coming Out at 10 November 2000 in theaters.
Biography, Drama
Men of Honor is drama film, starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr.. The film was directed by George Tillman Jr. It is inspired by the true story of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, the first African American master diver in the United States Navy.
Carl Brashear leaves his native Kentucky and the life of a sharecropper in 1948 by joining the United States Navy. As a crew member of the salvage ship USS Hoist, where he is assigned to the galley, he is inspired by the bravery of one of the divers, Master Chief Petty Officer Leslie William “Billy” Sunday. He is determined to overcome racism and become the first black American Navy diver, even proclaiming that he will become a master diver. He eventually is selected to attend Diving and Salvage School in Bayonne, New Jersey, where he arrives as a boatswain’s mate second class. He finds that Master Chief Sunday is the leading chief petty officer and head instructor, who is under orders from the school’s eccentric, bigoted commanding officer to ensure that Brashear fails.
Brashear struggles to overcome his educational shortcomings, a result of his leaving school in grade 7 in order to work on his family’s failing farm. He receives educational assistance from his future wife, a medical student who works part-time in the New York Public Library in Harlem. Brashear proves himself as a diver by rescuing a fellow student whose dive buddy abandons him during a salvage evaluation. Unfortunately, due to the racism of the commanding officer, the student who fled in the face of danger is awarded a medal for Brashear’s heroic actions. Likewise, during an underwater assembling task where each student has to assemble a flange underwater using a bag of tools, Brashear’s bag is cut open on purpose. Brashear nevertheless finishes the assembly and graduates from diving school, earning the quiet and suppressed admiration of Sunday and his fellow divers. Sunday is later demoted to senior chief by the commanding officer for standing up for Brashear and allowing him to pass.
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Writer: Scott Marshall Smith
Stars: Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook, Michael Rapaport, Powers Boothe
Cast:
| Robert De Niro | … | Master Chief Billy Sunday |
| Cuba Gooding Jr. | … | Chief Carl Brashear |
| Charlize Theron | … | Gwen Sunday |
| Aunjanue Ellis | … | Jo |
| Hal Holbrook | … | ‘Mr. Pappy’ |
| Michael Rapaport | … | GM1 Snowhill |
| Powers Boothe | … | Captain Pullman |
| David Keith | … | Captain Hartigan |
| Holt McCallany | … | MM1 Dylan Rourke |
| David Conrad | … | Lt. / Cmdr. / Capt. Hanks |
| Joshua Leonard | … | PO2 Timothy Douglas Isert |
| Carl Lumbly | … | Mac Brashear |
| Lonette McKee | … | Ella Brashear |
| Glynn Turman | … | Chief Floyd |
| Dennis Troutman | … | Boots |
| Joshua Feinman | … | DuBoyce |
| Theo Nicholas Pagones | … | FC Mellegrano |
| Ryan Honey | … | Surveyor 2nd Yarmouth |
| Chris Warren | … | Young Carl Brashear |
| Lester B. Hanson | … | Admiral Yon |
| Jack Frazier | … | Rear Admiral French |
| David Richard Heath | … | Medical Officer |
| Demene Hall | … | Mrs. Biddle |
| Alimi Ballard | … | Coke |
| Shawn Michael Howard | … | Junie |
| Troy Lund | … | Blonde Gate SP |
| Henry Harris | … | Rescued Pilot |
| Matt Dotson | … | Marine Guard at Hearing |
| David Meyers | … | Dr. Cudahy |
| Richard Perry Turner | … | Dr. Dinkins |
| George ‘Chick’ Rankins | … | Cab Driver |
| Richard Sanders | … | Donny Moor Bartender |
| Henry Noble | … | Black Inductee |
| Dennis Bateman | … | Navy Instructor |
| Eric Newsome | … | Naked Grunt |
| Steven Clark Pachosa | … | Navy Recruiter / Chief Petty Officer |
| Marilyn Faith Hickey | … | Pinch-Faced Woman at Detox Center |
| Bruce Burkhartsmeier | … | Presiding Officer |
| Michael Tyrone Williamson | … | Waiter |
| Michelle Guthrie | … | Therapist |
| Michael Patrick Egan | … | Sailor |
| Scott Kraft | … | Ropeleski |
| Tim Monsion | … | News Reporter |
| Dulé Hill | … | Red Tail |
| Timothy McCuen Piggee | … | School Master |
| John Polce | … | Hospital Security |
| The Count | … | Band Leader |
| Allen Gerbino | … | Aerial Coordinator / Pilot #1 |
| Art Gotisar | … | Pilot #2 |
| Robert Blanche | … | Shore Patrolman |
| Ivory Leslie Dilley | … | Frantic Girl |
| Chad W. Smathers | … | Drowning Boy |
| Wayne Morse | … | Navy Orderly |
| Rachel Jahn | … | Candy Striper |
| Jon Du Clos | … | Sunday’s Assistant |
| Leon Russom | … | Decker |
| Richard Radecki | … | Fan Tail Chief |
| Randy Flagler | … | Bomb Chief |
| Jeremy Taylor | … | Deckhand |
| Ayanna Berkshire | … | Jazz Club Dancer |
| Carl Brashear | … | Nightclub Patron |
| Heath Centazzo | … | Navy Deck Hand |
| Mark Correy | … | Hero Ensign |
| Jayson Crittenden | … | Naval Recruit |
| Joe Guarneri | … | Navy Deck Hand |
| Ethan Hoyt | … | Naval Officer |
| Chris Krueger | … | Deep Sea Diver |
| Jonah Loeb | … | Navy Soldier |
| Koko Masako | … | Cigarette Girl |
| Roger Petan | … | Hospital patient |
| Tyler Posey | … | Boy |
| Geno Romo | … | Diver |
| Laurie Slater | … | Ballroom Dancer |
| Bruno Van Zeebroeck | … | Winch Operator During Leg Accident |
| Kevin Michael Watson | … | Naval Officer |
| Brad Everett Young | … | Shocked Navy Diver |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia