An Officer and a Gentleman

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
Director: Taylor Hackford
Cast: Richard Gere, Debra Winger, Lour Gossett Jr., David Keith, David Caruso
Memorable Line: " I got no place else to go."

An Officer and a Gentleman is, in many ways, a through-back film, but ads both a modern sensibility and some modern steaminess.

The Plot of An Office and a Gentleman
Zack Mayo (Gere) is the typical lone wolf, the guy who's had a rough life and knows no one will watch out for him, so he's not counting on or connecting with anyone. He has only one goal -- become an naval pilot. And nothing or no one is going to stand in his way. Well, except for maybe the tough-as-nails, training sergeant (Gossett) who sees Zack's lack of connection with the other trainees as a character defect that Zack must overcome to become a successful pilot and person.

The only two people Zack even tries to connect with are his lone friend and fellow aviator trainee, Sid (Keith), and a local girl, Paula (Winger), who Zack sees as a only a good-time girl while he is in town.

Both events and people begin to work on Zack. Training Sergeant Foley not only places tremendous physical pressure on Zack through the demanding training, but also emotional leverage to get Zack to open his eyes to the benefits and necessities of connecting and depending on others. Paula also works on Zack to show him that those around him can be trusted and dependable, but Zack had difficulty finding a way to trust even though both Sergeant Foley and Paula know that Zack will never be truly happy until he can find a way.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of An Office and a Gentleman
The performances in An Officer and a Gentleman are really stellar. Both Gere and Winger bring their A-Game. Gere's performance sizzles in his aloofness. Winger shows the depth of desperation of being trapped in a dead end life while also showing she can't compromise her core values to escape, betting it all on truth and honesty. Gossett Jr. has the part of a life time with Sergeant Foley. Yes, he puts on the drill instructor role and commends it, but he also brings depth and wisdom to the character. David Keith (an actor who has an ascending career in the '80s) plays the "aw-shucks" friend who is really living someone else's life and does it quite believably. Also, you will catch David Caruso in one of his first big screen roles as one of the other trainees.

Taylor Hackford knew what he had to do with this movie and that was taking the old fashioned romance and layering it with modern story telling and approach. The depth of the characters and their psychological make-up is broader than movies in the romance genre in the past. The treatment is updated, too, as the intimate scenes are elevated in steaminess to an almost incendiary level. The direction is crisp and Hackford knows how far to take a scene and make it work.

The one thing I really liked about the story is that these people seemed real. The life they live, the places they inhabit, and the whole culture of the movie seems reals. These are mostly lower class folks trying to make it by and maybe getting a break to find a way up at least one wrung of the ladder.

Now, with all that being said, this is a Hollywood movie and there is a predictability about it. Still, it's the journey the character's take that it most important and what draws us in.

Summary Judgment on An Office and a Gentleman
An Officer and a Gentleman is romance cut out of modern clothes and one that is worth watching in spite of the contrived conventions of the genre. Plus there are some tremendous performances.