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ARTICLE
Movie Review: Annapolis
by Renee Vorbeck Published: January 27, 2006
Rating: Country: USA Release Date: January 27, 2006 Distributor: Touchstone Pictures Director: · Justin Lin Cast: · James Franco: Jake Huard · Tyrese Gibson: Cole · Jordana Brewster: Ali · Donnie Wahlberg: Lt. Cmdr. Burton · Vicellous Reon Shannon: Twins · Roger Fan: Loo Related Sites: ·IMDb: Annapolis
Grade: C-
This movie starts off with sweat. This was my first indication that this is a guy movie. Take the sport of boxing, add a shipyard, sprinkle in a couple of women, dress up some men in an uniform, and surround everything with a navy academy; then, you’ll have the setting for "Annapolis." So it should be of no surprise that the audience was 90% male. I would have placed this movie (based on its advertisements) in the military category. After viewing it, I placed it in the sports film category. See if you agree.
James Franco (Jake) plays a man who grew up right across the river from his dreams (or his mother’s dreams) without having the means to fulfill them -- not until Lt. Commander Burton (Donnie Wahlberg) takes a chances on him. Lt. Commander Burton happens to be the admissions officer of the Navy academy where Franco dreams of going. Coincidence? I think not. What really becomes obvious in the setup of this story is that the Lt. Burton finds Jake winning a boxing match with a very tough opponent. Even I saw the save-the-day fight in Jake's future. All of this occurred just five minutes into the movie. After the not-too-bright Jake gets into the academy, he is partnered with three other misfits. They all reported to a Midshipman, Lt. Cole (Tyrese), who targets Jake as the changeable character. This change comes about through tough discipline.
Ladies, before you refuse to attend this male genre movie, know that there is plenty of eye candy. If you like your men with a six pack and plenty of body sweat, then you have come to the right movie. I did notice Tyrese got more than his share of water in this film. Pay close attention in the final boxing scenes to see Tyrese get a large amount of water dumped on him. I’m going to write that one off as a great movie effect.
If you thought this was going to be a good movie for the underdogs, you might want to rent “An Officer and a Gentleman” starring Richard Gere or “Rocky” starring Sylvester Stallone; they are both a much better selection. The above mentioned movies had main characters whose chemistry created a great love story on the way to self discovery. You will not find the same chemistry or self discovery in this movie. The only relationship that had some redeeming value is the one between Jake and Twins (Vicellous Reon Shannon). I did believe that they were friends. I had a question about how Twins could be in a military school for a year doing calisthenics and not lose any weight -- just a thought.
All in all, I felt this movie lacked character development and could have focused more on the different relationships. Eye candy is good for a treat, but everyone looks forward to a great movie.
