Brooding James Franco has
already played James Dean in a TV movie, and seems to be channeling him in this
angst-y tale of an underdog rebel who enlists in the Naval Academy to fulfill a
promise to his departed, saintly mom and maybe, just maybe, prove something to
his impassive father. Yeah, this movie won’t exactly wow you with its
originality. There’s the semi-abusive commanding officer, the bonding with
fellow recruits, the rigorous training. But, as I said about Glory Road,
a movie full of clichés can still be perfectly enjoyable if it doesn’t lay them
on too thick. So even though, for example, the subplot with Jordana Brewster as
a potential love interest is pretty ho-hum, I’ll take that over that corny,
up-where-we-belong crap any day. For me the most interesting part of
Annapolis is when one of the cadets wants to snitch on his roommate for
violating an idiotic, unfairly given order. Is this an honorable adherence to
duty or mindless deference to authority? I’d have liked the film to tackle that
issue, but here it’s just one of those things that can happen. It’s just an
episode on the hero’s personal journey as he fights (literally—he’s a boxer)
to prove himself to his Academy superiors, his dad, and maybe, just maybe, to himself.
posted 9/17/13
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