Review of An Officer and a Gentleman

Calling "An Officer and a Gentleman" the best film Mr Richard Gere has ever appeared in may seem like damning it with faint praise.However,it is a personal triumph for him as the arrogant - seeming Naval officer - cadet with a chip the size of the U.S.S. "Missouri" on his shoulder. Son of a roistering sailor who makes "Popeye" seem like Tiny Tim,Zack Mayo - in desperation seeking a family - type environment - enlists in the U.S.Navy O.C.S..Toughened on the streets of Navy Towns all over the world he possesses fitness and bloody - minded determination but little else.The Navy's task is to maintain his two attributes but teach him others that might seem antithetical,teamwork,compassion and awareness of others. Tney've been making movies about these kind of things since that rather strange Mr Griffith first pointed a camera and shouted "action". The tough D.I. who you just know will end up respecting the squad maverick,the feisty gal you go to jeer but stay to cheer,the screw - up whose life the maverick will save,the best friend who will die so that the maverick can redeem himself,the way the squad gradually becomes a team and grows to love the gruff D.I...................yes it's all the stuff of a hundred clichéd films from West Point to Catterick. Mr Gere and Mr Gossett(along with Mr Jack Webb the best D.I. on film, Mr F.Lee Ermey being ever - so - slightly a fictional creation of the anti - military Mr Stanley Kubrick and Mr Gustav Hasford)dominate the movie.Miss Deborah Winger seems rather unhappy as the factory - girl/Cinderella who finally gets her handsome prince.I found the obligatory sex scenes unconvincing and uncomfortable. Mr Gere however,displays the necessary energy,resentment and sheer grit to convince as the none too pleasant hero. Some may find the rather totalitarian assumption that the repression of individuality is somehow a good thing a little disturbing.But ultimately,Authority is seen as a rather benign paternalism which Mr Gere clearly accepts having rejected that of his own father. Happily,"An officer and a Gentleman" is more "Carry on Sergeant" than "Full Metal Jacket" in that it shows the more acceptable side of military training and shows it as being rather like that at a rather posh school,where the former rebel gets the prize for "Improvement",i.e. conforming.But,somewhere in Zack Mayo,there is still the spirit that made him the rebel he was.