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Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Recently, I watched An Officer and a Gentleman. I’ll let my feelings be known in a little while about it in a second, but first, I want to come up with a definition of what I think it means to be an officer and a gentleman. Now, I am NO expert in being an officer. I grew up in a very strong military family, so I have an idea. I would venture that an officer is a person who is a leader or ranking member in the military. Not too hard. Now, what does it mean to be a gentleman? I am from the South and have a few ideas on what it means to be a gentleman, even though I still mess up more times than I like in this area. Is a gentleman defined as any man of good and courteous conduct? In the military, being an officer and a gentleman is such a high standard that it is actually an offense if violated. Article 133 of the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice is called Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. Where any commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
An Officer and a Gentleman is a supposed to be a love story but in ways doesn’t feel like a love story at all until the very end. I don’t know about you, but when first watching this film, the lead character is definitely NO officer and a gentleman. Far from being an officer and a gentleman, but at the end, while dealing with LIFE, he becomes one in almost an old-timey military tale. The tale you hear your grandpa state of how he was in the military and met this girl, and they fell in love. Now before this excellent review, significant props must be given to the performance of Louis Gossett Jr. for his role and winning the Academy Award.
An Officer and a Gentleman takes place in and around the Aviation Officer Candidate School. The story follows Zack Mayo (Gere), who is a loner and has a strained relationship with his father since childhood. Mayo grew up with his father, who was a naval seaman and stationed in The Philippines, after his mother’s suicide. His father really didn’t want to give the young Mayo and guidance and pretty much neglected him and didn’t want him around. Once as an adult, Mayo decides to enlist in the navy and become a jet fighting officer. Mayo arrives at the naval air station on Whidbey Island, Washington, ready to take on a thirteen-week training program. Mayo is quickly introduced to his drill instructor, Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett Jr.), who loves to belittle the recruits to make everyone “DOR” or drop on request. Foley emphasizes DOR with every syllable. Foley also warns the recruits against the “Puget Sound Debs,” local girls who try to trap the candidates so they can leave their pain in the ass life in the factories behind. Mayo and his best friend, Sid Worley (Keith), meet two of the local girls, Paula Pokrifki (Winger) and Lynette Pomeroy (Blount). Mayo and Pokrifki hit it off, but the commitment of being together scares Mayo along with the constant hardship of Sgt. Foley.
Now, I really don’t know what to say about this story. Is it a good love story? Sure. I guess. The main character, Mayo, story is one many people go through. You meet a person and not really want to commit. Straight up scared of the whole commitment thing, but you really, really care for the person. Now, his homeboy Sid, on the other hand, is so caught up in his girl, it’s not even funny. Now the messed up thing about this is that homegirl doesn’t even like him and just wanted to get out and be an officer’s wife. That is pretty messed up right there. So overall the story is meh, but I will say that the ending
The best part of the whole movie is the interaction between Gere’s Mayo character and Gossett Jr.’s Sgt. Foley character and the entire training program. First off, what was up with Sgt. Foley and his Cobra Kai outfit? Would’ve given Sho’Nuff a run for his money. Yet the interaction between the two characters was great. Mayo as the rebellious type who resents the whole wide world while Sgt. Foley is the one who doesn’t have time for anyone’s s**t because he has so many come and go. Some of the best parts of the whole movie is when Mayo gets caught violating rules and must do some hard time. This is where the line, “I got nowhere else to go,” comes in.
For the acting, Gere and Winger are the stars of the movie. They do a great job with the love affair and sometimes hate romance. Gere played Mayo as that rule-breaking, cool person who tries to get around everything. Yet deep down, he is a scared man looking for love. Winger is that sweet girl who I actually liked because she wasn’t trifling.
Now the applause should go to Louis Gossett Jr. He did win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in this role. He brought it as Sgt. Foley. Now, it has been said he learned from the great R. Lee Ermey, who was the famous Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. Gossett Jr. did recite a famous line from that movie word for word.
An Officer and a Gentleman is an okay love movie. One where you know the outcome of it. It is a film more about the growth of a person who is scared of commitment but eventually finds love while being in the military. A person that goes from nothing to being an officer and a gentleman.
