Light fare that is worth diving into...

Part love story and part coming of age story, `An Officer and a Gentleman' tends to work on most accounts; surprisingly so. I say surprisingly since I am not a fan of Gere and found the films prose to be a little, how would you call it, weak; but I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this movie. Parts are a little preposterous, or should I say a little overdone (the ending in particular is a tad over the top) but for the most part the film seems genuine.

The film tells the story of Zack Mayo, a young man who joins the Navy almost to spite his overbearing father but more-or-less to find himself. He's a lost soul who has no where else to go. He has sixteen weeks of training under the harsh thumb of Drill Sergeant Foley, and over the course of those sixteen weeks he bonds with his fellow trainees and falls in love with a local girl named Paula Pokrifki.

When approaching the budding romance between Zack and Paula the film works very well. Debra Winger is a stunning actress who commands ones attention and truly knows how to make her character appear real and genuine. Paula is a very three dimensional character even if she doesn't have a lot of screen time. We can see her character shift from a young girl looking for some fun to a young girl fallen in love, and her grasp of her characters inner battle between right and wrong is crisp and clear. Richard Gere is also quite convincing here as well, using his charm to break through the cold way in which he approaches relationships in general. He is much more effective when broaching the coming of age portion of the film, allowing his back-story to play precedent and influence his characters ambitions (his breakdown during intense training is a pivotal scene that is acted with fervor and dedication). It is a very strong performance from an actor I usually find bland and overrated.

I am shocked that Louis Gossett Jr. won the Oscar for his clichéd portrayal of Drill Instructor Foley. I found nothing truly memorable about this performance, and would have rather seen David Keith nominated for his heartbreaking portrayal of the troubled Sid Worley. He is especially effective in his later scenes where we witness the weight of reality crushing down on his world. Lisa Blout has a stinging turn as the local girl trying to trap Sid, and Robert Loggia has a very good cameo in the beginning of the film but is not used afterward, which is sad, because I really like him.

In the end I can highly recommend this film. It is nicely crafted and very enjoyable. Sure, it isn't the most enlightening film out there, and it does come off a little `simple' at times, but the acting is for the most part memorable and the character development is a lot more stable than most films in this genre. Winger is outstanding (so deserving of the Oscar nomination) and Gere is surprisingly deep here.

[Wednesday, December 31, 2008]

Worth Two Thumbs Up

This 1982 flick was kind of a bitter sweet movie that was touching, heartfelt, that would make you smile and want to cry, since it's a movie about a young man(Richard Gere) who decides to join the Navy to do something with his life to get away from his sleazy alcoholic father who ends up going through hell & back while serving in the Navy and falls head-over-heels in love with a foxy down on her luck small town lady(Debra Winger)who brings out the best in Zach(Richard Gere) and supports him throughout his whole ordeal in the second half of this movie topped off with a touching heartfelt ending to the movie when Gere picks up Winger & takes her out of the factory while they play the pretty love song "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker.

Therefore, that song "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker always makes me think of this movie, since it was released around the same time as that song was.

Richard Gere and Debra Winger were a hot and cute looking couple, especially in their sexy touching lovemaking scene in the middle of the movie showing Winger & Gere in bed together in total nudity showing us everything, but Wingers coochie and Gere's pee pee, which reminds me that Richard Gere always seemed to have a way of getting his main female co-stars into bed in most of his movies back in the 1980's, but I guess that's another thing that made Gere a sex symbol back in the 80's.

This DVD also has bonus features showing the director(Taylor Hackford) and co-stars from AN OFFICER & A GENTLEMAN 25 years later talking about their experience & memories while filming this movie back in 1982, but I don't know whatever happened to Debra Winger and I don't understand is why didn't they show Debra Winger talking about her experience doing AN OFFICER & A GENTLEMAN in the bonus features, especially since Debra Winger was one of the main co-stars in this movie.

This movie takes me all the way back to memory lane when AN OFFICER & A GENTLEMAN was released in the movies back in the Summer of 1982 when we were still going through the recession we had back in 1981-1982 when Ronald Reagan was president.

So if you liked AMERICAN GIGALO, BREATHLESS, or PRETTY WOMAN, you shall like AN OFFICER & A GENTLEMAN, since Gere does his same kind of sexy acting techniques that he used with other female co-stars in a lot of his other movies.

[Thursday, December 11, 2008]

Good Movie, But Poor Guide to Dating

It is great to watch a young and buff Richard Gere evolve from a self-serving bad boy to a caring and involved friend. I absolutely love the scene where Zach helps Segar walk the wall of the obstacle course, including watching the guys go wild with happiness over their triumph.

Debra Winger is a good actress, and you have to hand it to both Gere and Winger that they could pull this movie off when their lack of rapport was legendary. To be fair to Gere, Winger (at least at that time) was known as a habitual problem infant on the set of this and other movies. I believe shortly after filming AOAAG she went into rehab.

I enjoy this movie for a lot of reasons, but I would hate for young girls to watch this and think that the young women (Paula and Lynette) could be so easy and still get the guys in the end. If Paula had had more self-esteem, she would not have allowed Zach to "kiss it all better" after behaving so badly toward her in the hotel room.

Easy girls may get the guy for the short haul, but the Paulas and Lynettes are unlikely to form quality, lasting relationships with men that truly respect and value them.

That said, we generally watch movies to escape and to be entertained, and overall this is a compelling, well-acted movie that I still watch from time to time.

[Thursday, October 23, 2008]

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