An Officer and a Gentleman

Loser/loner Zach Mayo enlists in the Navy because he wants to inject a little direction into his wayward life. During his 13-week boot camp, he gets taught a lot of lessons of discipline, friendship and ultimately, love, as he starts off as a son trying to escape his father’s past, and ends up as an officer and a gentleman.

Inspirational and timeless, this romantic drama melds together a tight script, strong performances by its lead actors, and a universally positive message regarding the defiance of one’s own demons, and the success drawn from one’s own determination, hard work and true heart. This movie is made for the romantic in all of us, as well as the loners that we’ve all experienced being at one point in our lives. How does one get past the fact that there is no one around them willing to lend them any love or support? How does one triumph over all adversities despite the plethora of obstacles standing in their way? Well, besides listening to hours of endless Tony Robbins motivational tapes, there is only one way that we could all muster a little personal self-confidence, and that is sheer persistence, will power and heart! If you really want to do something, and I mean REALLY WANT TO DO SOMETHING…you should be able to do it, no matter what obstacles lie in your wake. This movie presents us with a great example of just that.

This film drills this philosophy right into our brains to the point where I actually felt like going out and “doing something”, just for the sake of the thrill that the film gave me. Then I realized that it was three in the morning, I was tired, and in my PJ’s, so I left it until the next day :). All that, and you get an interesting story about the trials and tribulations of boot camp Navy candidates, plenty of fully developed characters, a great performance by Louis Gossett Jr., and a wonderfully sugared romance which begins on notes of despair but ends in true inspiration. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot…Richard Gere is also quite good in the movie. This is a wonderful film that will make you laugh and cry, smile and cringe, and give you more reason to believe in yourself, and follow your dreams till their end. If candidate Mayo-naisse can do it, we all can !!!

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian