Movie Review: Annapolis

Annapolis, the US Naval Academy, takes in a small fraction of its candidates in to its officer training program. To be selected is a credit to the individual's academic performance and personal character.

Jake (James Franco), a metal riveter, dreams of attending Annapolis. He watches it across the bay every day as he works along side his father on the ships the new officers will soon command. Actually, the dream was not his, but his now deceased mother. Jake wishes to honor her memory; he will become the hero that she wanted him to be. In the past he has given up his dreams and settled for less, but not this time.

Jake's persistence in applying to the Academy has paid off for him. He is surprised at the end of his shift at work with the offer of a waitlist appointment to the Annapolis to fill in for a candidate that can't make it. Jake quits his job and goes to follow his dream despite his non-supportive father.

The story follows Jake through his first year at the academy. The "Plebes", as the first years are called, are put through grueling physical and mental challenges. The challenges are meant to weed out the unexceptional from the pool and find future officers.

Many of the Plebes fail in one particular challenge and are singled out and ridden till they break and quit. Jake becomes the one that is being ridden constantly as he has not had the time to prepare with the pre-learning required for all Plebes. Jake seems determined to make it through.

The demands on Jake are enormous and he has become the weak link in his class, and the entire group is paying for his mistakes. He struggles not only with the need to accomplish his training, but he also struggles to not repeat his history of giving up.

The characters in this story are strong. Don't let me confuse this with well developed… they are strong. They are strong willed, disciplined examples of what we would expect an officer to be, or even what a candidate would be. We witness the officers, midshipman, demonstrate restraint in the face of lust and vengeance for the greater good.

The plebes are closer to us in that each has his share of faults. These faults keep their characters human and give us a foundation of attachment. We can understand why they may not make it, and we root for them.

The problem that this movie has is in the story. There isn't much of one. Ok, they struggle… shouldn't we expect that? They train and learn… yes, this happens at a school. They prepare for a tournament… ok, a little more story here, but not enough. There is nothing that I would call interesting or exceptional about how the story develops. This is a "G.I. Jane" wanna-be movie without the antagonist of politics.

I would not recommend this to anyone unless they had plans to go into the armed services. Then, at least, it could serve as glimpse in to their future.